2.21.23 | Psalm 24

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TUESDAY PRAYER ROOMS

PRAYER GUIDE

Psalm 24

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

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.

5 They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek your face, God of Jacob.[b][c]

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

Psalm 24 is a passage that sparked a great revival in the Hebrides Islands off the coast of Scotland not too many years ago. Many in the Hebrides were hungry for God and had been gathering together to pray for months at a time. Nothing happened, no real communal breakthrough took place until one night a young man, Bible in hand began reading from Psalm 24:3-4

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god

Looking at his companions, he said, “Brethren, it seems to me so much humbug waiting as we are … unless we are rightly related to God. I must ask myself: Are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?” He then began to pray.… At that moment, something happened in the barn. A power was let loose that shook the parish from center to circumference… God had visited them, and neither they nor the parish could ever be the same again. (The Lewis Revival) 

Questions like…

Are my hands clean? 
Is my heart pure? 

produce in us a sort of reverential wonder.

They help us become rightly related to God. A Psalm like this can help us to seek God with greater honestly and zeal. It moves us from pretense and posturing to vulnerability and authenticity before the face of God.

This Tuesday let the honestly of Psalm 24 lead us to becoming truer worshippers.
Let it remove every mask.
Let it uncover every hidden sin in our hearts
and let it empower us to bring them before the cross of Jesus.

As we prepare to enter Lent and as we continue to seek God for an awakening in our region may we do so with reverential wonder.