Psalms 24:3-6

Psalms 24:3

I. The men who approach a holy God must be holy. Reason and common-sense proclaim, "Like draws to like." The loftiest form of worship is always imitation. "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children," is the inmost meaning of all religion; and as imitation is the truest worship, so some spiritual and moral kindred is an absolute necessity for all men that would draw near to their God.

II. The men who are pure receive purity as a gift from God. God will give righteousness. That means here outward and inner purity, or in effect the sum of the qualifications already insisted on. God demands absolute purity, and He gives a perfect righteousness.

III. The men who receive righteousness are the men who seek it from God. "This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face," and, as the last words ought to be rendered, "This is Jacob, the true Israel." To desire is to have; to seek is to possess; to wish is to be enriched with all this purity.

A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth,December 11th, 1884.