Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

January 16, 2017

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”

Matthew 5:8

Jesus again turned to the psalms for his inspiration in the Beatitude, Blessed Are the Pure in Heart: “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob” (Psalm 24:3-6). 

This Beatitude prompts us to consider our attitude about worship and to ponder just how pure are our hearts. First, what does worship mean to you? Generally, people tend to think of worship as an expression of adoration, praise and love to God. Certainly such expressions are included within worship, but does that understanding truly get to the heart of worship? Perhaps we should first ask, why do we worship, what is the purpose, or goal, of worship?

Biblical worship, especially the worship described in the Book of Psalms, has but one purpose: to enter into the presence of God. When we experience the presence of God, our lives are healed and made whole, and we experience the transformation the Apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (The Message). When the Bible describes worship, the people are bowing down; they are kneeling, in reverence and submission to God (See Psalm 95:6-7). To our great shame, the church is very casual and hardly submissive when gathering for Sunday morning worship services. Take a few minutes and ponder what it would be like if the church came together, and with hearts united with a longing to be in the presence of God, submitted to God’s righteous reign in our lives. 

Secondly, take time to ponder and pray Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” We pray and ask God to change our heart because only God can give us a new heart. I love the way Bernard of Clairvaux put it, “So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot even answer for my righteousness!” The only answer for my sins is God’s forgiveness; the only answer for how to live my life is God’s gift of His righteousness.

Jesus promises us, that as we put our whole trust in him, we can allow God to transform our lives so that the things we desire, the things we do, are reflections of God’s heart for humankind. And, thus as we allow God to make our hearts pure, we will see God.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.