There are at least two aspects to purity of the heart in Psalm 24. Jesus reserved some of his toughest words for those who spent all their energy on looking holy on the outside but were anything but on the inside. This is what Jesus accused the Pharisees of doing in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 23:25). It is possible for us to do the right things without pure hearts. It includes washing - of course - but also, giving to the poor, acting justly, not abusing positions of power and so much more. Having clean hands is a way of talking about doing the right thing on the outside, like with out behaviour. The verses tell us exactly what kind of worshipper God is looking for - and it is those whose hands are clean, but also those with 'clean' hearts. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Saviour.' (v. Psalm 24 reads like this: '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. We can wash the outside of our bodies and everything around us, but still have thoughts and behaviours that are doing us no good. That's true in ancient Bible times and true today.

No amount of hand washing will give us a clean heart.

The Bible writers would say that the need for internal cleansing is just as obvious as this need for external washing. In fact, large sections of the Old Testament are dedicated to keeping people clean from ceremonial hand washing and the removal of dirt from everyday items, right down to how we should clean ourselves after going to the toilet. But what does the Bible have to say about cleanliness and hygiene? Psalm 24 He made £9 (and in case you were wondering, he planned on buying a kebab with the proceeds). UK Government ministers have been emphasising the need to wash our hands, perhaps based on recent research into hand washing that showed of all people in the UK, 31 per cent of women and 57 per cent of men don't wash their hands after going to the toilet.Įarly on in the coronavirus pandemic, our supermarkets were sold out of hand sanitisers and hand wash, and we read the news about how a student was temporarily excluded from her school for selling his hand gel for £1 a pump. Have the hands of the world ever been cleaner than they are in this moment? The answer is: probably not.

Pure heart clean hands