Journal entry from:
December 28,2015
December 28,2015
Worship: Take My Life (Holiness) by Scott Underwood
Holiness, holiness is what I long for
Holiness is what I need
Holiness, holiness is what You
want from me
Holiness is what I need
Holiness, holiness is what You
want from me
Faithfulness, Faithfulness is what I long for
Faithfulness is what I need
Faithfulness, Faithfulness is what You
want from me
Faithfulness is what I need
Faithfulness, Faithfulness is what You
want from me
So, take my heart and form it
Take my mind and transform it
Take my will and conform it
To Yours, to Yours, oh, Lord
Take my mind and transform it
Take my will and conform it
To Yours, to Yours, oh, Lord
Righteousness, Righteousness is what I long for
Righteousness is what I need
Righteousness, Righteousness is what You
want from me
Righteousness is what I need
Righteousness, Righteousness is what You
want from me
So, take my heart and form it
Take my mind and transform it
Take my will and conform it
To Yours, to Yours, oh, Lord (x 3)
Take my mind and transform it
Take my will and conform it
To Yours, to Yours, oh, Lord (x 3)
Video: https://youtu.be/uHeEytocJVY
Witness: The first snow of this winter season lightly covers the ground. It is beautiful but wet. Tonight the wet road will turn slick, making driving hazardous. Especially dangerous is the “black ice” which is unseen to drivers, but deadly if one is not traveling at a cautious speed. This is a danger when one is experiencing the winter of one’s soul. The enemy spreads his black ice on the road we are traveling. If we are traveling carelessly down that road we are sure to end up in a wreck. I have heard him whisper today, “It sure is quiet in the house”, which heightens my sense of loneliness and my joy slips away. I have heard him say, “You are tired. Why not just lie down for a while”, and my day slips away and I am frustrated that nothing is accomplished. In many a subtle and seemingly insignificant ways, he spreads his slippery black ice on my road. However, we know that salt is the enemy of ice. Where do we find the salt that melts the enemy’s ice? The salt is the promises of God. When Satan reminds me of my loneliness I remember:
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." 
Deut 31:8 NIV
When he tempts me to sleep away the day, God promises:
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak. 
Isa 40:28 NIV
Of course, the best time to spread this salt is ahead of time. When I get up and the cold breath of depression blows upon my soul, warning me that the enemy is near, seeking to make me slip and fall in the ensuing darkness, I remember that my Shepherd is with me in the darkness, guiding me through and I spread the salt of His promises before me.
WORD:
| 
Ps 24:1-6 
24 The earth is the LORD 's, and everything in it, 
the world, and all who live in it; 
2 for he founded it upon the seas 
and established it upon the waters 
. 
3 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. 
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD 
and vindication from God his Savior. 
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, 
who seek your face, O God of Jacob.b 
                                                                           SELAH 
NIV | 
Ps 24:1-6 
The King of Glory 
A Psalm of David. 
24  The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, 
the world and those who dwell therein, 
2 for he has founded it upon the seas 
and established it upon the rivers. 
3  Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?  
And who shall stand in his holy place?  
4  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. 
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD 
and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, 
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.                                                                                     
                                                                                                           Selah 
ESV | 
The question has been asked, “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?”. The answer follows swiftly on the breath of those responding, “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.” There are some translational and textual issues in this verse but the first line is clear and translated similarly in both versions (though think “may” is superior). Many see the OT as a religion of externals. While there was much in the way of external practice in the OT, the truth is that there is also an internal aspect as well. The Pharisees had all but forgotten this in our Lord’s days here on earth. Much of His rebukes directed at the Pharisees dealt with this error. Perhaps His most scathing description is found in Matthew 23:27 & 28:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Matt 23:27-28 NIV
Those who wish to enter into the sanctuary of God. Those who wish to enter into His presence must have “clean hands” and a “pure heart” (see Psalm 15:2; Mt. 5:8; 2 Tim. 2:22). That is, their godly action come from a godly heart. I like the way Spurgeon puts it:
Psalms 24:4
Ver. 4. He that hath clean hands. Outward, practical holiness is a very precious mark of grace. To wash in water with Pilate is nothing, but to wash in innocency is all important. It is to be feared that many professors have perverted the doctrine of justification by faith in such a way as to treat good works with contempt; if so, they will receive everlasting contempt at the last great day. It is vain to prate of inward experience unless the daily life is free from impurity, dishonesty, violence, and oppression. Those who draw near to God must have
clean hands. What monarch would have servants with filthy hands to wait at his table? They who were ceremonially unclean could not enter into the Lord's house which was made with hands, much less shall the morally defiled be allowed to enjoy spiritual fellowship with a holy God. If our hands are now unclean, let us wash them in Jesu's precious blood, and so let us pray unto God, lifting up pure hands. But "clean hands" would not suffice, unless they were connected with
a pure heart. True religion is heart work. We may wash the outside of the cup and the platter as long as we please; but if the inward parts be filthy, we are filthy altogether in the sight of God, for our hearts are more truly ourselves than our hands are. We may lose our hands and yet live, but we could not lose our heart and still live; the very life of our being lies in the inner nature, and hence the imperative need of purity within. There must be a work of grace in the core of the heart as well as in the palm of the hand, or our religion is a delusion. May God grant that our inward powers may be cleansed by the sanctifying Spirit, so that we may love holiness and abhor all sin. The pure in heart shall see God, all others are but blind bats; stone blindness in the eyes arises from stone in the heart. Dirt in the heart throws dust in the eyes.
(from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Luther puts it simply:
Psalms 24:4
Ver. 3-4. It is not he who sings so well or so many Psalms, nor he who fasts or watches so many days, nor he who divides his own among the poor, nor he who preaches to others, nor he who lives quietly, kindly, and friendly; nor, in fine, is it he who knows all sciences and languages, nor he who works all virtuous and all good works that ever any man spoke or read of, but it is he alone, who is pure within and without. — Martin Luther. 
(from The Treasury of David, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
If one wonders why clean hands precede a pure heart in order listen to Calvin:
Psalms 24:4
If any man should think it absurd that the first place is given to the hands, we answer without hesitation, that effects are often named before their causes, not that they precede them in order, but because it is sometimes advantageous to begin with things which are best known. 
(from Calvin's Commentaries, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005-2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Yesterday I spoke of the unexamined life. Today I speak of the balanced life. One where hand and heart, the external and internal, must be present in the believer’s life. Wiersbe says of the balanced life:
We must keep a balance between worship and service, between faith and works. A balanced diet of the whole Word of God helps us to maintain a balanced life.
(Be Diligent to Grow Spiritually (2 Peter 3:17-18)
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)
Notice he says, “balanced diet of the whole Word of God helps us to maintain a balanced life”. Lest it be left merely to the external reading of the Word, Wiersbe follows with this observation:
It is the Holy Spirit of God who empowers and enables us to keep things in balance. Before Peter was filled with the Spirit, he was repeatedly going to extremes. He would bear witness to Christ one minute and then try to argue with the Lord the next! (Matt 16:13-23) He refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet, and then he wanted to be washed all over! (John 13:6-10) He promised to defend the Lord and even die with Him, yet he did not have the courage to own the Lord before a little servant girl! But when he was filled with the Spirit, Peter began to live a balanced life that avoided impulsive extremes.
(Be Diligent to Grow Spiritually (2 Peter 3:17-18))
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)
Life in the presence of God is a matter of the hand and the heart. That is, the redeemed hand and heart bought by and cleansed with the shed blood of Christ (Eph. 1:8; Heb. 13:12; 1 Peter 1:17-19).
I will conclude with a quote from a verse from an old hymn written by Charles Wesley that Wiesbe quotes concerning the balanced life:
Faithful to my Lords commands,
I still would choose the better part:
Serve with careful Martha's hands
And loving Mary's heart.
(The Sisters (John 11:17-40))
 (from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 
by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication 
Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)
 
