Blessed are those who have purity in their minds and consciences, in their thoughts, wills, and affections.”Ĭlean hands and a pure heart make no allowance for living a double life or participating in any duplicitous or deceitful behavior. Jeremiah Burroughs said, “By the heart we are to understand not only the will or affections, but all the faculties of the soul - the mind, conscience, and thoughts, all is to be understood by heart. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind,” (James 4:8). James supports both of these passages when he says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Who does not lift up his soul to what is false, Psalm 24:3-4, the Old Testament complement to the New Testament beatitude of Matthew 5:8, elaborates on what that means: But what exactly does it mean to have clean hands and a pure heart? What does that look like? In fact, Habakkuk 1:13 says “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor.”įor this reason, our only hope for entering the presence of a just and holy God is to pray as the psalmist, “Create in me a pure heart, O God…” (Ps. God, on the other hand, is infinitely pure by nature. And by nature, our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer. God knows our real character is revealed not by what we do or say, but by what’s in our heart (Matt. ![]() Why, then, do we consider entering the presence of a just and holy God without first tending to that which matters most to Him – the condition of our heart? It would be completely unthinkable to appear before a monarch or a king without giving utmost consideration to cleanliness and a top-notch appearance. Find out more about her here.“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God,” (Matthew 5:8) Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Olga_GavrilovaĬandice Lucey is a freelance writer from British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her family. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and restore a steadfast spirit within me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. A Psalm 51 Prayer for a Clean Heartīe gracious to me, O God, according to Your loving kindness according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my transgressions. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” ( Ezekiel 36:26). “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. What he, and all of us, actually need is a transplant. He desires to have his heart’s compass recalibrated so that North points to whatever delights the Almighty. This heart is not totally free of sin but longs to see God to love and to obey him.Īnd this is the purity of heart, which David longs for. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God” ( Matthew 5:8). By his wounds you have been healed” ( 1 Peter 2:24). “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. We can approach him without pure hearts desirous of purity because the Lord views believers through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ his pure sacrifice. ![]() “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” ( Jeremiah 29:13). The Lord can change anyone, but Christians must turn to God and ask for a change to take place. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” ( 2 Peter 3:9). ![]() On the other hand, by the grace of God we can desire it can come to God seeking his new mercies every day ( Lamentations 3:22-23). What keeps us from God is real sin echoing in a condemning conscience.” John Piper explains, “We know that what keeps us away from God is not dirty hands or soiled clothes or distance from an altar or a priest.
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