Pure in Heart (Psalm 24)

Psalms 24:3,4 – "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false."

I see the word "idol" and my mind immediately conjures up an image of some wooden figurine, or maybe a big stone sculpture with a long nose and sullen face. It seems crazy to think about worshipping something like that, doesn't it?

The Israelites worshipped a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain with God (Exodus 32). They presented their request to Aaron as a good idea – and I'm paraphrasing here - "Moses is gone, and who knows if he's even coming back for us! We're stuck in the middle of the desert and we need some help. Let's make some gods who will get us out of here!" Aaron even designated the calf as something good. He gathered the people and dedicated the idol as "the Lord who delivered them from Egypt." I imagine they tried to justify this bizarre behavior with a healthy dose of good intentions. But these good intentions led to corruption and perversion by the very next day. And God saw the whole thing happening.

Isn't this the way it works with idols? Today we don't carry around sculpted images or bow to golden calves, but we do lift up our souls to worship things other than the Lord. We too have the best of intentions sometimes, but oh, how quickly those "good things" can turn into sin. And God sees the whole thing happening. We might try to fool ourselves into thinking we can raise one hand in worship to the Lord while we clutch onto our idols with the other. But God says in Psalm 24, (I'm paraphrasing again) "Not in here…you don't come in here with that. Only those with clean hands and a pure heart stand in the holy place before Me." It's time to lay the idols down.

I've struggled this week. While meditating on this Scripture, the Lord spoke to me about the seriousness of idolatry. There are some "good things" in my life that, frankly, were on the verge of becoming idols. Let's be honest here. Good things, even gifts from the Lord, can become idols in our lives. Case in point, Abraham and Isaac. Isaac was the son of promise, Abraham's future, his blessing from the Lord. Still, God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. When God saw Abraham's obedience, when He saw that Abraham withheld nothing from the Lord, even his beloved son, God said, "Now I know your heart is Mine." God knows the human heart and He sees our tendency concerning idols – that's why, today, we also must lay those things on the altar of sacrifice. A child, a spouse, a friend, ourselves, money, a job, a house, a hobby, a ministry, a dream. All these are good things that can become idols if we do not first offer them to the Lord.

Who has your heart? I mean, who really has your heart? Who gets the best of you? What do your thoughts seem to settle on? Where do you channel your energy and your focus? In your most intimate moments with the Lord, does He know He has your heart, your whole heart? That's what He longs for, and honestly, how can we offer Him anything less?

When the battle is on... (Psalm 23)

Well, folks, welcome to the Wordlift Blog. I'm excited to get back to writing. It has been a difficult season to say the least. I thank each of you for your prayers, your cards, visits, emails and kind words throughout this past year. Losing loved ones is never easy, but I am comforted beyond measure to know that my parents are rejoicing in heaven.

I visited the Wordlift website (which has been greatly neglected…sorry!) to see where we left off in our journey through the Psalms. As it turns out, we made it through twenty-two. I think I got hung up on that 23^rd Psalm because I didn't want to think about that "valley of the shadow of death" part in verse 4. Two quick things on that and then we'll settle on another verse of Psalm 23.

First, I'm so glad that we go through the valley and not just to the valley; we don't remain there, but we pass through. Sometimes just knowing the dark days are temporary gives us the courage we need to endure. Second, and most important, God is with us in those times of trouble and pain. We all have our share of trials, and hopefully you have a testimony of God's grace just as I do. Now, on toward today's devotional –

Psalm 23

This walk of faith is rarely easy. There are times when you feel like just hanging it up, times when you are confused and God's voice seems silent, times when you are wounded by the very ones you pour your life out for. Is this life rewarding? Is it worth it? Absolutely. Some days the favor of the Lord is so overwhelming we're busting at the seams. But other times we are assailed on every side by all kinds of evil. It seems the Lord is far away. What is He doing while the enemy of our soul surrounds us sounding the battle cry?

I have to admit, when life turns upside down my mind kicks into high gear. I start trying to figure out the enemy's tactics and God's purposes. Why did this happen? I'll come up with some reasons. Is somebody bringing strife? Who is behind it, why did they say what they said, and what is their motivation? Yeah, I'll try to discern all that so I can stay a step ahead, or maybe I'll confront them and nip it in the bud. I'll make a phone call and find out what someone else knows about the situation. Or maybe I'll just curl up in a ball and cry, dreading what's coming my way. I'll investigate the problem, probe the issue, cower at the fear, stew over the options, or crumble in anxiety at the possibilities of what might happen. Man, I'm tired. I'm struggling to get through. And where is the Lord? What is He doing?

He's preparing a table.

I'm running around trying to work it out.

Jesus is calling me to come and sit.

I'm focused on the problem or the person.

My Father calls me to commune. "Heather, the meal is ready. Come to the table."

In the presence of my enemies, am I too focused on the battle that I miss the table spread before me? To the flesh, this doesn't make sense. In the flesh, we want to attack the problem or run from it. God calls us to do something else: Take our eyes off the enemy, off the problem, and come to the table. This is where we win the battle - in the presence of the Lord. In prayer, in worship, in intimate communion with the Lord who loves us.

Is the enemy clamoring at your doorstep today, threatening loss, destruction or doom? Come to the table. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

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