Psalms 24:3 - Meaning and Application

From this world and all its fullness, the psalmist suddenly turns his thoughts to the great things of another world. That other world rests on something firmer than the seas or the rivers of this one. God has given the things of this world to the children of men, and we owe much to his care for them. Yet they cannot become our true portion.

So the psalm asks about better things in Psalm 24:3. This earth is God’s footstool, and even if we had all of it, we would only be here for a short time. Soon we must leave. Then who may ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who will go to heaven later, and, as a foretaste of that, enjoy fellowship with God now in holy worship? A soul that knows its own nature, where it came from, and that it will live forever, cannot be satisfied after looking only at the earth and all its wealth. Among all creatures, it will not find a true helper for man. So it looks upward, toward God and heaven. It asks, “What must I do to rise to that high place, the hill where the Lord lives and shows himself, so that I may know him and remain in that holy place where he meets his people and makes them holy and happy? What must I do to belong to those whom God counts as his own, in a deeper way than he owns the earth and all that is in it?”

This question is much the same as the one in Psalm 15:1. The hill of Zion, where the temple stood, pointed forward to the church, both the visible church and the invisible church. When the people carried the ark to its holy place, David reminded them that these things were only patterns of heavenly things. They were meant to lead their minds up to the heavenly reality itself.

The answer to this question tells us who God’s own people are, those who will have fellowship with him in grace and glory. They are people with clean hands. They keep away from gross acts of sin, and their lives are not stained by the world or the flesh. No one who was ceremonially unclean could enter the mountain of the temple, and that signified the clean way of life required in all who fellowship with God. The hands lifted in prayer must be pure hands, with no stain of dishonest gain or anything else that makes a person unclean before a holy God.

They are also people with pure hearts. They care about being inwardly as good as they appear outwardly. Religion means little if it does not reach the heart. It is not enough for our hands to look clean to people. We must also wash our hearts from evil and not allow secret corruption to stay there, since God sees it all. Yet those who say they have pure hearts while their hands are full of sin are deceiving themselves. A pure heart is sincere and honest in covenanting with God. It is carefully guarded so the wicked one, that is, the unclean spirit, cannot touch it. It is cleansed by faith and shaped to match God’s image and will. See Matthew 5:8.

They are people who do not set their affection on the things of this world. They do not lift up their souls to vanity. Their hearts are not carried away by wealth, human praise, or bodily pleasure. They do not choose these things as their portion, or chase after them, because they know these things are empty, uncertain, and unable to satisfy.

They also deal honestly with both God and people. In their covenant with God and in their dealings with others, they do not swear falsely, break promises, or use deceit. They do not treat truth lightly, and they do not dishonor God’s name. People who have no respect for truth or for God’s honor are not fit for God’s holy hill.

They are also a praying people, as Psalm 24:6 says. This is the generation of those who seek him. In every age there is a remnant like this, people of this character, whom the Lord counts as one generation, as in Psalm 22:30. They are those who seek God, who seek his face, O Jacob. They join themselves to God to seek him, not only in earnest prayer, but also in serious effort to gain his favor and keep themselves in his love. Since they have made his approval the highest goal of their happiness, they make it the highest goal of their ambition as well. They try to live in a way that pleases him. The way up to the hill of the Lord is uphill, so they must put forth all their strength, as those who seek diligently.

They also join themselves to the people of God in order to seek God with them. Once brought into fellowship with God, they come into fellowship with his people as well. Some understand this as following the example of the saints who went before them, seeking God’s face like Jacob, who wrestled with God and prevailed, sought him and found him, and was named Israel for that reason. Others take it as joining with the saints of their own day, gladly seeking friendship with God’s people, as in Revelation 3:9 and Zechariah 8:23. They unite themselves with them, and when they commit themselves to the Lord, they call themselves by the name of Jacob, as in Isaiah 44:5. As soon as Paul was converted, he joined the disciples, as in Acts 9:26. Some read the phrase as seeking God’s face in Jacob, meaning in the gatherings of his people. The margin’s wording, “Your face, O God of Jacob,” also makes the sense clear. All believers are the spiritual children of Abraham, and all who wrestle in prayer are the spiritual children of Jacob. God never said to such people, “Seek me in vain.”

These are also the people who receive great privileges. They will be truly and forever happy. They shall be blessed, because they will receive the blessing from the Lord, all the gifts that come from his favor according to his promise. Those whom God blesses are truly blessed, because it is his special right to give the blessing.

They shall also be justified and sanctified. Justification means being counted right with God, and sanctification means being made holy. These are the spiritual blessings in heavenly things that they will receive, especially righteousness, the very thing they hunger and thirst after, as in Matthew 5:6. Righteousness is itself a blessing, and we can expect it only from God, since we have no righteousness of our own. Some understand this as receiving the reward for righteousness, the crown of righteousness that the righteous Judge will give, as in 2 Timothy 4:8.

They shall be saved, because God himself will be the God of their salvation. Where God gives righteousness, he surely means to bring salvation as well. Those whom he makes ready for heaven he will also bring safely into heaven. There they will find what they have been seeking, and they will enjoy it forever.