Living Before the Face of God

Day 46:  Psalms 24:1-6

            Psalm 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. 2For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.

            Very simply the earth belongs to You, Lord, because You made it. All that is belongs to You, Or Triune God! You planned it, created it, formed it, sustain it, and move it towards Your most perfect and glorious will. No one else has a right to the universe. Psalm 95:4-6 tells us:

 “In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”

            Lord, as all things are Your possession by the right of Your creation, so we also belong to You. You are not only the ex-nihilo Creator of all that is. You are also the sustainer, the director, the former of these clay vessels. Oh, what is man that You take notice of him?! 

            We are as nothing, as a breath compared to the vastness of Your eternity. We are as fragile as quick dying weeds. Yet, You have loved us with everlasting love. You have placed value on us by Your creation of us and Your attention to us. You declared us Yours and purchased us with the price of the blood of Your Son making us extremely rare and precious because we belong to Him. O Lord, thank You for giving us what we do not deserve, what we barely can appreciate. We are Yours. We belong to You. All that is belongs to You, but You have taken special notice of those You have called to Yourself.

            If we wonder why God makes the rules for the universe, it is because the world belongs to Him. He knows what is best. He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, all wise, all loving, purely holy, and true. He has not only established the universe, but He has given it natural, moral, and spiritual laws by which it is to run. Just as there are consequences for disobeying the laws of gravity on earth, so there are spiritual consequences for disobeying the law of God among His creatures. The results may not always seem so immediate, but the consequences come upon those who disobey.

            Psalm 24:3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. 5He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah.

            In one sense, it is only Jesus who could come before the Father, but because of God’s infinite love, grace, and mercy, the Lord Jesus lived the holy life that we could not live and died the sacrificial death that we could not die, so that through Jesus and His righteousness all who truly repent and believe in Him could come into His presence.

God calls us to holiness but is also aware of our sin and frailty. Do you see who may come to the Lord? Only the pure and righteous may come. But have not the Scriptures repeatedly told us that we are not holy? Romans 3:10 says, “there is none righteous, no not one.” Only Jesus could enter the heaven of heavens for us. All the blessings we have come in Jesus. He has opened the way for us and in Him alone we have the blessings of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Our righteousness comes from the God of our salvation.

            Is this not true of Jacob? It was not Jacob’s righteousness that saved Jacob. Jacob was a rascal, a trickster, who tricked his brother, his father, and his father – in – law. But Jacob sought God’s aid. He turned to God that God might help him and bring him back to the Promised Land. It was Jacob who wrestled with the angel and whose hip was put out. It was Jacob who divided his wealth and possessions because he was afraid. Jacob did not have holiness in Himself. His was a righteousness of faith.

            O Lord, I only come to you by faith in Jesus. The only way any of us come to You is by faith in the only One whose hands were totally pure and whose heart was always right with you! Jesus was never idolatrous. Jesus never swore deceitfully, though Jacob did swear falsely. But Jacob could repent and seek the Lord. Jacob would return home humbled by God Himself.

            Lord, when I forget and somehow imagine it is my righteousness that has brought me back to Your throne, I am reminded that Christ alone is my righteous. Christ is our righteousness (I Corinthians 1:30).