Who can stand in his holy place?
Those with clean hands and pure hearts,
who don’t make vanities the purpose of their lives
or swear oaths just to deceive.
– Psalm 24:3-4 (CJB)
Do you ever avoid approaching God? Or just are not too excited about worshipping him? You know you’re his child, but you don’t go skipping to the throne room to share your heart with him. King David of old might be able to help us here.
In Psalm 24, he asks who is qualified to worship God. Then he answers his own question: Someone who is honest, has clean hands (actions are right), and a pure heart (attitudes are right). Those qualifications are pretty clear to all of us.
Then he gives one more requirement: Those “who don’t make vanities the purpose of their lives”. To understand what vanities are, we need to look at the book of Ecclesiastes. This author (likely David’s son Solomon) tried everything: wine, women, song, lands, learning, power, and popularity. Nothing satisfied. He said it was all vanity, meaning empty. It had no substance, brought no satisfaction, and vanished into thin air in light of eternity.
Are there “vanities” in your life? Things that are attractive in the moment, but don’t bring long-lasting satisfaction? Or activities that distract you from the true purpose of your life? In our hearts, we know the most important purpose is knowing and following Jesus, worshiping and serving God, loving and caring for our neighbor. When the unimportant takes its proper place, God says we will be ready to worship.
We may all have some sorting out to do!
“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.”—Charles Spurgeon