I pray, God, for our world to heal from the evils of racism and discrimination. Lord, I thank you that you are a diverse God, one who purposefully made us to image you in different skin colors, different nationalities and different stories that all tie together in your great redemptive story. Reflection: Are there people in your life that you treat as less than for any reason? Ask God to forgive you and to help you take steps of reconciliation towards them today. A God who will be mighty in our battles and glorious in all he does. And once Jesus enters in to our lives, we get to experience all of the glory and might that this psalm promises us. It is God’s only requirement-oneness with Jesus. Through placing our trust in Jesus’s clean hands and pure heart, we can boldly approach God with any and every need and to seek His blessing. Certainly, we realize that we don’t meet that criteria on our own. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Man Looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.” And this too, is where Psalm 24 takes us by explaining that God desires to be in relationship with those who have a pure heart and clean hands. Galatians 3:28 is just one of many places where we see this, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”Īfter establishing that we all are created equally by God, Psalm 24 then zooms in closer to explain what is required by God to meet with him on his holy hill. Throughout Scripture, we see God level the playing field, reminding us that He does not distinguish between race, gender or nationality but rather, looks to bless those who seek Him. With a reminder that every person, all of creation, every resource-it all belongs to Him. “He’s got the whole world…” That’s how Psalm 24 begins. He clung to the Words of Scripture and sang them in the midst of his pain. He knew that he mattered to God, that he was precious to Him as all of God’s children are to Him. He had to fight against lies that he was “less than” or “inferior” and instead choose to believe what God said about him. He was likely physically and verbally demeaned by owners who possibly distorted Scripture (as many did) to justify their evil treatment of him. Here was someone who had every reason to believe that God didn’t care for him. Somehow this Christian still believed that in spite of all the evidence to the contrary that a loving, all-powerful God was in charge.” Yet, in the face of a life with no promise of freedom, this slave found solace in their faith. Or that slave owner could sell him or her on an auction block on a whim, separating them forever from their family and friends. Their slave owner could beat him or her to death and there would be no punishment. The writer of this hymn was not in charge of their present and had no control over their future. He or she was not considered fully human by a society that viewed bondage as a necessary evil. That man or woman likely experienced more trouble and suffering than most people in our modern age. It was written by a slave whose name we’ll never know. It was born in the fields of the American south. “The history behind this song is fascinating. Many of us grew up singing the song, “He’s Got The Whole World in His Hands” but have you ever heard the story behind this song? If not, get ready to have your faith world rocked. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah” Psalm 24 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Selah Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. “The earth is the Lord 's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
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