When you come to worship do you prepare yourself for a worship experience? What do I mean, prepare yourself? The 24th Psalm addresses this question. In verse 3 it raises the question. " Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?" This Psalm discusses the question about preparation for worship. This Psalm identifies three characteristics of the person who is prepared for worship.
1. The person who is ready for worship has the proper perspective.
This perspective involves acknowledging God’s ownership. "The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein."(vs. 1) We begin by recognizing that God owns everything we possess. If we come to God with a begrudging heart we will not give Him His due.
This perspective involves acknowledging God as creator. "For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters."(vs. 2)
This perspective involves acknowledging God’s awesome nature. "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?" (vs. 3) The Psalmist recognizing the awesome, Holy nature of God.
Illustration: I remember, years ago, reading an Ann Lander’s column in the newspaper. A lady wrote to get Ann’s opinion about a situation with a friend. This lady was required to remove her shoes when visiting this friend. Ann advised her to remove her shoes, out of respect for her friend.
When we worship God we may not have to remove our shoes. However, we should adjust our attitude when entering the presence of a Holy God.
2. The person who is ready for worship has the proper perspective. Next, you will prepare properly.
Proper preparation involves clean hands. He tells us we must have "clean hands."(vs. 4) Sometimes when I visit the hospital I am required to wash my hands before entering a patients room. I would never want to carry a germ into a patients room. As we seek to worship God we should examine our hearts that there not be impure elements in our lives.
Proper preparation involves a pure heart. To the best of our ability we should be certain that our heart is clean before God.
Proper preparation involves evaluating our priorities. The Psalmist says we should not allow an idol into our lives. An idol is anything that comes before God. An idol could be money. An idol could be a hobby. An idol could be another person.
3. The person who is ready for worship will follow the proper pursuit. In other words we get what we go after.
The person who is ready for worship will seek God. The Psalmist said this is "the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face." (vs. 6) I once heard Adrian Rogers say "I don’t know how much you have of God, but you have all that you want."
The person who is ready for worship will seek God’s assurance. "Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle." (vs. 8)In worship, a person seeks a word of assurance that God is in control. In worship, a person seeks a word about God’s love. That is the goal. The Lord God of Heaven desires to reach down and touch you on the shoulder to comfort, encourage, and strengthen you.
