“To the Pure, I am pure. To the pure, everything is pure.”
I heard the Lord spoke to me this morning….:)
Psm. 19 says: “the fear (reverential honor and respect) of the Lord is PURE”.
Gods’ definition of purity evidently has less to do with “religious piety”, which is often a disguised form of hypocrisy. Rather it is something that goes far beyond our human senses and human judgments, something God “pre-deposited” in our heart. While it might have been buried in the dust and hidden in the darkness, yet “at the right time” is distined to be awakened into the dawning of His Light when He calls and we respond.
Something was in Abram that set him apart from all the other Chaldean. Later God would see fit to make him a “Hebrew” and changed his name. He became our “father of faith”. Something was in Abel that pleased God. Even Cain and him all brought the best they could offer before Him, God showed favor to him rather than to his brother. Evidently there was something in Cain, with which God was not very impressed. It defiled his sacrifices. Something was in Jacob that would confer him a destiny with God’s “love” and “favor”. It was the very opposite to what was in Esau, so much so that later God would pronounce this judgment: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (despised, rejected, displeased)”. Something was in Peter and John, that even when they were but uneducated and “irreligious” fishermen, the Lord saw their hearts and called them to follow him. Something was in Paul, even while he was a high-ranking Pharisee pursuing the demise of His disciples, the Lord Jesus saw in him a heart, which would be able to answer His calling to make him a perfect vessel to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles.
Sadly, most of humanity are often oblivious to such a purity in others, while tend to judge such from the “outer appearance”, or as Paul rightfully put it, “according to the principles of this world.” Here are few instances:
- Joseph was cast away by his brothers.
- Moses was often challenged by the people, even the Levites (his tribe), even his own family (wife, brother, and sister).
- David was often ridiculed by his brothers, close relatives and the Israelites, even after he became king, even by his own sons and subjects.
- Our Lord, Jesus, was called as “mad (insane) ” by his own family. He was evidently often ridiculed and poked at by his own siblings, whose hearts, however, were also changed when they began to see Him as who He really is.
With a pure heart, we are “honored and favored” by God. As a result, we are able to “not judge” things as our canal nature used to dictate. We are free from the intrigues of man and the devises of our sinful nature. In other word, we are “safe” from the wicked (corrupted) generation (people), and from “ourselves” (the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life), because God is ready to “draw close to” and be “with” one who has a pure heart. And there will always be the promised peace, love and righteousness in the Holy Spirit, who is always ready and happy to find residence in such a heart.
What is the real difference between Saul and David then? What was in Samuel that would humiliate him while he was carrying out God’s command with all his good piousness and obedience? It seems to me there is a difference that God is very much mindful of in the hearts of the three. Or else, why would He ordain such story in such historical moment? He endowed them all with his favor and used them for His good plan and pleasures. Each, according to the standard of man, would be considered “blessed”. Yet, through their life story we can easily detected the different favor they found in the eyes of the just God. What matters is their heart, the Lord clearly revealed it to us.
What is our response to this? Are we to evade a genuine search of our heart if God is pleased to do so? The answer obviously is NO, Never! I think we all will want a heart of David. Let us pray so! Yet it was not an easy thing to develop. David knew it well.
“Search me, oh Lord, see if there is any hurtful(harmful) ways in me.” That is things that are displeasing in God’s sight and works as a stumbling block in our relationship with Him, things that would cause “dis-peace” in our heart and in the heart of God. Good news is God the All Knowing and the All Just is also our GOOD Father who is “quick” to forgive and “slow” to anger (be agitated or invoked). “Blessed is the man whose sins the Lord does not count against him.” In this, we can encourage ourselves with the ways and the heart of our Father in Heaven.
David was not without faults, yet God sees in him a “heart after my own heart”. Now let’s pray together:
Father God, do you favor us with a heart like David’s, even more, the very heart of Your Son, our Precious Lord, who is “abundantly able” to write the “testimony” of Your Own Heart onto our heart. Make us ONE with You in Christ Jesus.
Lord Jesus, we thank you for the precious blood you shed for us, that we can make peace with the Holy Father. Now please continue to purify us. Please intercede for us when we stumble, fall short, even transgress or rebel again you. Be merciful to us. Keep us so that we can be perfected in You thru and thru. Amen.
