| Home | About Us | Archive | Articles | Comment | Directory/Churches | Links | News |

 


COVID-19 MCO DEVOTIONALS

Not One Jot, Not One Tittle
Be Strong, Stand Firm
What Price Human Life?
“I Can't Breathe”
CTRL-Z
Praise the Lord, O My Soul
The Blood of Jesus
You'll Never Walk Alone
How Changed Are We?
A Sunday Morning's Meditation on Psalm 24

A SUNDAY MORNING'S MEDITATION
ON PSALM 24
(Sunday, 26 April 2020)
by Ong Kok Bin

This morning we shall meditate on one of the psalms — Psalm 24. Let us read it together first (refer to the right column):

The psalm is most probably associated with the worship life of the Israelite nation. In its worship sentiment, it is very similar to Psalm 15. As we reflect on the psalm, we can readily see three thoughts related to the worship of God:
     a) God is worthy of our worship because the whole world belongs to him; he is its creator
     b) The worshipper who comes to worship God must be clean and pure
     c) God is worthy of our worship because he is King and Lord Almighty.

a) God is worthy of our worship because the whole world belongs to him; he is its creator

     ¹The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
     the world, and all who live in it;
     ²for he founded it on the seas
     and established it on the waters.

God is the exclusive and rightful owner of this earth. We are not its owners; though often times, we behave and think that the world belongs to us. We are mistaken if we have such thoughts. No, we are merely inhabitants of this world. The creator God who brought order, substance and life out of the chaos of the waters (Genesis 1:1f.) is the world's owner. Maltbie Babcock's hymn, “This Is My Father's World” beautifully captures this awesome truth.

The truth is awesome when we realize how small and insignificant we are as creatures of God who placed us in this world. Job, who, in his moment of utmost distress, challenged God to appear before him like a man so that the two “might confront each other in court” (Job 9:32-35; see also chapter 13). Job was mad with God because of his silence when he (Job) wanted answers from him. Yet when God finally did answer Job, it was God who told him to brace himself like a man because God was going to do the questioning and he, Job, would have to give the answers (Job 38:3). How was Job to answer questions such as these:

     “Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?”
     “Who marked off its dimensions?”
     “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb?”
     “Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown dawn its place?”
     “Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?”

At the end of God's questioning, Job could only offer this reply: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

Earlier, in one of his more calm and erudite moments, Job confessed, “In his [God's] hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10).

Yes, we are in God's hands. He is the powerful creator God who can do all things and who owns this world. God made us and placed us in this world for us to be in communion with him. He owns us and we belong to him. He, and he alone, is worthy of our worship. Let us give him the glory, honour and power that is due him.

b) The worshipper who comes to worship God must be clean and pure

     ³Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
     Who may stand in his holy place?
     ⁴The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
     who does not trust in an idol
     or swear by a false god.
     ⁵They will receive blessing from the LORD
     and vindication from God their Saviour.
     ⁶Such is the generation of those who seek him,
     who seek your face, God of Jacob.

God is entirely holy. He dwells in his holy mountain, Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem (see Psalm 2:6; Hebrews 12:22). The psalmist in his call to his community to the worship assembly is asking his congregants to think on who may enter into the holy presence of God: Who may come before this holy God to worship him? “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” We see four conditions are set: holiness of deeds (“clean hands”), holiness of the inward self (“pure heart”), holiness of faith (“not trust in an idol”) and holiness of speech (not “swear by a false god”).

But who possesses all these four conditions? Who has this ‘full flush’ of holiness to come before the holy presence of God? There is none. So, who can worship God? None. But perhaps the psalmist is not setting these four conditions as pre-requisites to ‘gate-control’ his congregants. Perhaps he is using the worship assembly to remind his congregation of the need to cultivate inner and outer ethics of morality and to maintain undivided faith in God. This may very well be true. But still, God is holy and nothing unclean can approach into his presence. The prophet Isaiah understood this clearly. When he saw the numinous holiness of God, he cried out, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).

So, who can worship God? Paraphrasing Leviticus 19:2, God is holy, and his worshippers must be holy too. We might want to give out the Isaiah despairing cry of “Woe to me!” because we know we are unholy. But thanks be to God, he gave us his Son Jesus Christ. The Hebrews writer affirms to us, “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” and because we have been made holy, we are holy! We now have the “confidence to enter the Most Holy place” and it is because of and “by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:10, 19).

c) God is worthy of our worship because he is King and Lord Almighty

     ⁷Lift up your heads, you gates;
     be lifted up, you ancient doors,
     that the King of glory may come in.
     ⁸Who is this King of glory?
     The LORD strong and mighty,
     the LORD mighty in battle.
     ⁹Lift up your heads, you gates;
     lift them up, you ancient doors,
     that the King of glory may come in.
     ¹⁰Who is he, this King of glory?
     The LORD Almighty —
     he is the King of glory.

Gates and doors are for going in and out. In the preceding verses, the psalmist is asking who may enter into the holy space of God. Now, in this section, he is informing his congregants to allow or invite the holy God to enter into their earthly space. God created us to have communion with him. That is, he wants us to come to him and he to us in a fellowship of spirit to Spirit. God is not only holy and to be worshipped; he is “King of glory” and “Lord Almighty”. He is the God who is “strong and mighty”. And he wants to be our helper. When we are afflicted and have no one to help, God is “an ever-present help in trouble”. He is our “refuge and strength” (Psalms 72:12; 46:1). We only need to open our gates and doors to let him in. The apostle Paul was constantly hounded by Jews who wanted him dead. It was because of these Jews that he had to stand trial before King Agrippa. But he told the pagan judge, “I have had God's help to this very day” (Acts 26:22).

Praise be to the Lord God Almighty, the King of glory! He has given us his Spirit to help us in our weakness (Romans 8:26). He has given us his Son Jesus Christ to help us in our unholiness. When we sin we only need to confess our sins. Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. He is our advocate who “speaks to the Father in our defence” and God the Father “is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 2:1-2; 1:9).

d) Conclusion
God is the creator and the owner of this world. Everything in it belongs to him. Specifically, we belong to him. God wants us to enter into his holy presence to worship him. He sent his Son Jesus Christ to give us the holiness so that we can enter into his holy place to worship him. At the same time, he wants to enter into our earthly realm to be our God and King, the Lord strong and mighty. We only need to open the door to let him in.

Hear the voice of Jesus calling at your door this day: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

Will you open your heart's door to Jesus today?

Benediction:
     The LORD bless you and keep you;
     the LORD make his face shine upon you
     and be gracious to you;
     the LORD turn his face toward you
     and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

< prev | next >

| Home | About Us | Archive | Articles | Comment | Directory/Churches | Links | News |


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this page may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without permission, oral or written, from the Church of Christ, Seremban, Malaysia.