Psalm 24 - Sunday
A couple of weeks ago now we talked about our tendency to build to allow for the worst case scenario’s in our lives. Consequently we become like the foolish man who wanted to build a seaside condo, with sliding doors looking out on the beach and the tranquil seas. It’s a beautiful thought if the seas stay calm and the storms pass you by. We talked about the people in the city of New Orleans who actually built below sea-level. In retrospect that seems like such a silly thing to do.
The Great Flood:
INGERSOLL 12:5-29
5 In the forty second year of Bim's life on the twenty seventh day of the eleventh month - on that day all the springs of the great sump pump burst forth, and the floodgates of the drainage pit were opened. 6 And water seeped into the basement for twenty four. 7 On that very evening, after the twenty third hour, Bim returned from work. And upon entering the place of his dwelling, he came upon his wife who was sore distressed. 8 And his wife said unto him, "I have been to the basement. And I have seen the basement. And the basement is flooded. And it is not good." 9 So Bim went to the basement and looked upon the face of the waters and saw that it was so. And Bim was sore distressed. 10 Bim wept. 11 There was a sound like unto the sound of many angry hornets. And the sound thereof came from the dryer. Bim said to himself, "I shall go to the fuse panel and I shall say to the dryer fuse in the midst of the other fuses .... "Come out from among them and be seperate!" 12 And a voice spake unto Bim asking, "What about the current?" And Bim said, "But this is a basement. The waters are not even flowing. What current?" And the voice said unto him, "The electrical current, you idiot!" 13 And when he came to his senses, he realized there might be electrical current upon the waters. 14 So Bim reached down and touched the waters and found that there was no current upon the face of the waters. 15 And another voice spake unto him saying, "Take off your sneakers ... for this is soggy ground." And Bim removed his sneakers from his feet. 16 And it came to pass as he was about to step into the waters he thought, "If I had faith, I could walk upon the waters and would not touch the waters. And then if the current should course through the waters, I would be safe." 17 And so, mustering up all of his faith, he stepped out believing he would not sink into the waters. And he stepped out . . . and sank into the waters. 18 Oh well . . . it was worth a try.
19 And it came to pass that as he made his way through the waters thereof, he beheld a pillar of smoke rising from the other part of the basement. 20 And there were, coming from within the smoke, a multitude of sparks and fire like unto . . . a multitude of sparks and fire. 21 And at the bottom of the pillar of smoke a power bar lay in the water. And the waters which lay between the plug contacts were boiling furiously and the arcing was sending forth the sparks and the fire. 22 And Bim reached up and unplugged the power bar so as not to become smitten. 23 And this was good. 24 And to make a long story less long than if it had been made to be longer, the landlord was called who, in turn, called the plumber who, in turn, came unto Bim's dwelling place and replaced the failing sump pump. 25 And by now it was the third hour of the morning of the following day. 26 Eventually, the waters upon the surface of the basement receded . . . like unto a receding hairline. 27 And it came to pass in the days that followed that Bim and his wife had one steeenking mess to clean up. 28 And something told them that the whole thing would turn out for good. 29 And that would be good.
If you’ve ever had a flood in your home, you want to move to higher ground. You want to remove any possibility that this might happen again.
And so the message this morning is a challenge to move to higher ground – spiritually speaking to build in a place that precludes the possibility of disaster. Let’s read the scripture together from Psalm 24.
" Of David. A psalm. The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 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. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory. Selah" (Psalm 24, NIV) [1]
It is generally believed that the Psalm is written to commemorate David’s second attempt to return the Ark of the Covenant to the house of God in the city of Jerusalem. The first attempt was aborted because God struck down a servant who attempted to steady the teetering ark as it rocked along on an ox-cart. David with all good intentions did not fully respect this piece of furniture which symbolized the very presence of God among His people.
Nothing runs uphill naturally. Engaging the hill.
God has more for us than groveling in His presence. Standing in the presence of God.
Clean hands don’t stay clean naturally. Respecting the existence of what we cannot see.
A pure heart is a pummeled heart. Opposition purifies our motives. It doesn’t come easy and we have a part to play.
Not everyone wants to be with God. Hard to imagine but it’s the absolute truth. And hell may be nothing more than living toward what you want, just as heaven is a natural consequence of a life lived God-ward. So hell would be the natural end to a life lived toward self-interest.
Clean hands – cleansing rituals in the OT.
Hand creams at the hospital.
Going higher – getting away from the seashore.
The genius of Christian spirituality is to integrate (the) spirit of possession with the spirit of dispossession. The spirit of dispossession implies that all the good and delightful things of this world are never allowed to own, possess, or shackle me. Dispossession implies that I am always free, my own person, liberated from the tyranny that possession can easily exercise over us.
n John Powell in Through Seasons of the Heart. Christianity Today, Vol. 33, no. 16.
CLEAN HANDS DOCTRINE - Under the clean hands doctrine, a person who has acted wrongly, either morally or legally - that is, who has 'unclean hands' - will not be helped by a court when complaining about the actions of someone else.
Unclean hands can be used as an affirmative defense in cases where the complaint is equitable.
In family law, the doctrine is invoked most often in two situations. First, a parent who kidnaps and then later requests custody will often be denied custody unless the child is in danger of harm from the other parent. Second, a spouse who conceals assets or otherwise misappropriates marital property during the marriage or separation will often be penalized in the division of property at the divorce by being awarded less than her fair share. This, of course, requires that the innocent spouse learn of the concealment or misappropriation.
The Pure
The Greek word for “pure” is katharos (used 27 times in the New Testament). Fundamentally, it signifies that which is clean, or free from contaminating substance (cf. Danker, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 489).
The term is used literally, for instance, of the “clean” cloth in which Jesus’ body was wrapped after his death (Mt. 27:59). In the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the word is employed in a ceremonial sense of the purification from leprosy. It also can apply to the release of certain unfortunate individuals from “unclean spirits,” i.e., demons, the persons then, by implication, become “clean.”
On the other hand, the katharos may be engaged in a higher sense. William Barclay contended that with a spiritual import, “pure” may describe the heart that is free of unadulterated “motives” (Commentary on Matthew, I.101). It perhaps represents that ideal state of mind of the person who longs to serve God and others for the sheer unselfish joy of honoring the Creator, and thus free of base motives. What a lofty disposition that would be.
We see the world with the state of our own hearts as a frame of reference. We suspect others because we know that our own motives are duplicitous.
Edersheim in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah outlines the most elaborate of Jewish washings.
Water jars were kept ready to be used before a meal. The minimum amount of water to be used was a quarter of a log, which is defined as enough to fill one and a half eggshells. The water was first poured on both hands, held with the fingers pointed upwards, and must run up the arm as far as the wrist. It must drop off from the wrist, for the water was now itself unclean, having touched the unclean hands, and, if it ran down the fingers again, it would again render them unclean. The process was repeated with the hands held in the opposite direction, with the fingers pointing down; and then finally each hand was cleansed by being rubbed with the fist of the other. A really strict Jew would do all this, not only before a meal, but also between each of the courses.
Did you know -- In 1842 the first bathtub was denounced as a "luxurious and democratic vanity". Boston made it unlawful to bathe, except on doctor's prescription. In 1843 Philadelphia made bathing illegal between November 1 and March 15.
How tragic most Christians have adopted a similar schedule of spiritual cleansing. We would rather put up with the stench of our unconfessed sins than come clean before God!
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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.