Day 53: Palms and Heart
Read: Psalm 24:1–6
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
— Psalm 24:4 (ESV)
Reflect
Psalm 24 asks a serious question: "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?" (v. 3). Verse 4 gives the answer.
"Clean hands." The word is kappayim, "palms" — and in Hebrew it has the ordinary ending for things that come in pairs, as hands do. All that you do.
"A pure heart." The word for pure means clear, clean — nothing mixed in.
Put the two together and you have the whole person. Hands are the outside: what you do, what you touch, how you work and treat people. The heart is the inside: what you love, what you want, what you think when no one is watching.
The psalm asks for both. Whole, from outside to inside.
It is possible to have clean hands and a cluttered heart. You can do all the right things while your inner life drifts. It is also possible to have good intentions and hands that never follow through. God is looking for both to come into line.
And verse 5 says this person "will receive… righteousness from the God of his salvation." Clean hands and a pure heart are what he gives before they are what we bring.
Across Scripture
Psalm 15 asks almost the same question and gives a similar answer. "Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart" (Psalm 73:1). Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). James brings the two halves back together: "Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:8). And Hebrews invites us to draw near "with our hearts sprinkled clean" (Hebrews 10:22).
Sit With It
Where is your outside running ahead of your inside, or the other way around? Bring the one that is lagging behind to him today.
Pray
Clean my hands and purify my heart.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.