Give Us Clean Hands

Yesterday during worship we looked at Jeremiah 10. It’s a warning of the foolishness of idols and a reminder of our need to devote ourselves fully to the true and living God. We closed with a song by Chris Tomlin, “Give Us Clean Hands,” which is a good reflection on this idea.

We bow our hearts, we bend our knees. Oh Spirit, come make us humble. We turn our eyes from evil things. Oh Lord, we cast down our idols.

The words are directly inspired by the words of Psalm 24:3-6:

Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?

Who may stand in his holy place?

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the LORD

and vindication from God their Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek your face, God of Jacob. (NIV)

The reference her to God of Jacob in connection with those who seek your face remind us of Jacob wrestling with “a man” when he was preparing to face his brother Esau after many years, (Genesis 32:22-32). Jacob believed that in that wrestling match, he had come face to face with God. It’s a reminder that

There are a couple of important things to remember for next Sunday. We will be having a wiener roast at 4:30pm at Matt and Molly Hilt’s place at 6512 E 1950 North Road—just a bit east of North Danvers. There is plenty of parking and an indoor area, if needed. This would be a great event to invite your friends and neighbors to!

Immediately following the worship service, we’ll have a short business meeting to discuss the stained glass windows and to vote on whether or not we want to appoint a task force to look into their renovation. There is more complete information elsewhere in this E-Gram. Remember that this vote doesn’t obligate us to do anything. It’s just about whether we proceed by appointing a task force to look into the need for renovation, how it could be accomplished, and to explore different ways that we could pay for any needed renovation work. If formed, the task force would come back to the congregation with a full proposal at a later day and we would be vote on whether or not to do that.

On a personal note, I’m writing this from Lexington, KY. I made it down last night. Josanne has been here for the last few weeks with her Dad, James Gayheart. We’ve been praying for him and most of you know that he’s on hospice. We think he is down to his last few days in this life. We would covet your prayers over the next few days. I’ll try to keep everyone informed about what’s happening down here.

God bless ,Brian

Scripture readings for next Sunday

Jeremiah 13—What is God illustrating with the belt and the wineskin here?

Matthew 9:14-17—How does Jesus’ parable related to Jeremiah 13?

Psalm 139—What does this psalm make you think and feel about your purpose?

Ephesians 2:1-10—How does salvation restore us to God’s purpose for us?