January 28
“I will wash my hands in innocence; so I will go about Your altar, O Lord, that I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Your wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells . . . Redeem me and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place; in the congregations I will bless the Lord,” Psalm 26:6-8, 11-12.
In Psalm 26, David, the psalmist, speaks of a special love for the house of God. He begins with the words, “I will wash my hands in innocence.” In Old Testament times, the priests were required to wash themselves before they brought the offerings during public worship. It was a symbolic act. Sinful man cannot stand in the presence of the holy and just God. Earlier, the psalmist wrote, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart,” Psalm 24:3-4. However, we are sinful and unclean.
Therefore, when we come to God’s house, we step into the presence of the holy and just God with the later words of the psalmist in our hearts and on our lips: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me . . . Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow . . . Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me,” Psalm 51:5, 7, 9-11.
We come to God’s house as humble, penitent sinners, and we step before His altar and plead for His grace and mercy. Then we lift up our voices in thanksgiving, because He sent us a Savior, as He had promised from the time that Adam and Eve had sinned. In public worship, we speak of His wondrous works in creating us, redeeming us, and calling us to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Good News of the Gospel – the heavenly Father loved us so much that He sent His Son to save us by His innocent suffering and death.
Yes, we should be eager to come to God’s house where His glory dwells. His glory dwells in the Gospel, which is the message of His mercy and our redemption. When we believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and our Savior from sin, death, and hell, then, the psalmist writes, “My foot stands in an even place.” With our faith in Jesus as our Savior, our feet are standing on solid ground. Our faith rests upon the firm foundation of God’s unchanging and inherent Word.
In another psalm, the psalmist wrote, “I waited patiently for the Lord . . . and He heard my cry . . . and set my feet upon a rock,” Psalm 40:1-2. Our salvation rests upon Christ our Rock and upon His Word – which, like a huge rock, is immovable. The psalmist wrote, “You are my Rock and my Fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me,” Psalm 31:3. With the hymn writer, we pray:
“My hope is built on nothing less
Then Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.” Amen.