WEEK 3: The Invitation Into God’s Presence

Psalm 24

Intro:

There is a right way and there is a wrong way in approaching God (Story: My Nanay’s way for me in approaching her)

God is inviting us to come to Him or to approach him.

What are the dynamics of approaching God?

The Dynamics Of Approaching God According To Psalm 24

God’s Identity (v.1-2) – “… earth/world is the LORD’s”; The basic truth these first two verses is saying is that God is Creator. the first dynamics in approaching God is that you approach according to His identity. Who God is, is His identity. Surely God is loving and forgiving. But remember, He is Creator of heaven and earth. Your attitude in approaching God will be affected by acknowledging this truth.

Our Individual Effort (v.3-4) – “Who shall ascend...hill of the LORD? Who shall stand...holy place? Verses 3-4 is a bit tricky. Many observed and interpreted this wrongly. Thus, applied it in their lives sincerely wrong. Let it be clear that we have have to individually effort “to ascend” and “to stand”. Let me explain (expound; consider key words ascend->mountain; stand->holy place) …

God’s Response (v.5-6) – “… he will receive”; the verse opens with “he will receive” and continuous to identify what will be received from the LORD, i.e. “blessing” and “righteousness” (NIV vindication). Now, let it be clear that is is the LORD who created the heavens and the earth who gives “blessing” and “vindication”. try connecting this to verse four, then you’ll get a clearer picture that it is God who can make your heart clean, as well as can make your heart pure. Both tell about righteousness being bestowed. To whom? To those who ascended the mountain and stood in the holy place? Brethren, you we are like filthy garbage. However, God can recycle us and give us new identities as His children (God’s response) if we do our individual efforts. Gets?

Our Unified Response (v.7-10) – “Lift up your heads (plural, 2x)”; “Who is this King of glory? (2x). Those who made the effort to ascend and to stand are those who must unite to corporately open the gates of our hearts and our homes to God the Creator and King. God is waiting for us as a whole. God is waiting for hearts to open. God is waiting for homes to open up to Him. God is waiting for countries to remove the idols and let Him be known and recognized and approached as He is. He is LORD! He is King! He is Creator!

Conclusion:

There is a dynamics of approaching God. According to Psalm 24, we need to discover God’s identity, do our individual efforts, and surely God will respond as we all the more open our hearts and our homes to the LORD who is Creator and King!