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.
Give us clean hands, Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another.
God let us be a generation that seeks. That seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob.
Last week at church the band played this song. It's called "Give Us Clean Hands." It focuses on humans humbling themselves before the creator of all things. It is pretty powerful stuff. I have talked, in past blogs, about the idea of humbling before God. So I won't drag on about that. Instead I want to look at the phrases in this song. Think of it as a study of sorts.
We turn our eyes from evil things. Oh Lord we cast down our idols.
Give us clean hands, Give us pure hearts. Let us not lift our souls to another.
God let us be a generation that seeks. That seeks Your face, oh God of Jacob.
Last week at church the band played this song. It's called "Give Us Clean Hands." It focuses on humans humbling themselves before the creator of all things. It is pretty powerful stuff. I have talked, in past blogs, about the idea of humbling before God. So I won't drag on about that. Instead I want to look at the phrases in this song. Think of it as a study of sorts.
The first several lines are pretty simple but extremely powerful. Have you ever gotten on your knees and prayed? Worshiped God? It is a strange concept, I admit, but have you ever done something like that for another person? There have been times that I have apologized to people and asked for their forgiveness even gotten on my knees. Look at the first two lines. It is important that those who are already forgiven pay attention to these stanzas (that's a sentence in poetic terms...just makin' sure!). For those that already have a relationship with God need to understand He is not a vending machine. A rewarding, hope-filled life comes from discipline. An issue I struggle with a lot. We bow our hearts and bend our knees. Only then do we have the right to ask the holy spirit to come make us humble. We turn our eyes from evil things and only then do we have the right for God to cast down our idols. God sees our hearts and we in turn need to make changes in our hearts.
The chorus of the song cries out for clean hands and pure hearts. I have had really dirty hands in life. I mean literally. I used to work for a warehousing company and we handled carbon used in filtering water. The carbon would come in on a truck and we were responsible for palletizing it and staking it in a formulated fashion. This stuff would be so thick in the air we needed breathing masks and suits. We tried to use gloves but they didn't work, we couldn't grip the bags very well. By the end of the semi trailer we had been doing it for hours. I would be exhausted. After taking a shower the bathtub would have a ring in it and it would still be deep in the pores of my body, even with suits and all. It was bad. I would look like an eights rocker with eye shadow on for at least a week (please don't picture it, it is a disgusting sight!). My point is it took a long time to get my hands clean. Just as in life our sin, our shortcomings are hard to clean off. It takes an open heart to admit when you are dirty.
When I think about my dirty hands and a heart that needs purity it typically is because I put something before God. I have in other words lifted my soul to another. I have put money, material stuff, my own greed, something other than God as my top priority.
The last part of this song is more of a history lesson than anything else. I believe each generation of passionate followers of Christ strive to be something more than the previous generation. Not necessarily throwing the past away but becoming stronger and more passionate than before. But is that the right idea. Maybe we as a generation just need to say we want to humbly seek you. Help us to just seek you. We don't want to be caught up in the stuff of today but instead focus on you.
The last part of the song is perhaps the most confusing. Seeking the face sounds like a strange concept when dealing with God. Christians since the time after Christ, no strike that since the time of Jacob (so even Jews), sought to see God. It is a basic human desire to see or put an image to what we focus our attentions on (i.e. easier to spend money on what you see now than what you might need it for in the future).
But what the heck is up with the "God of Jacob" part? Well there are several things to look at. Jacob of the old testament is in the direct genealogy of Christ. The more important fact is that of Jacob being a broken human being. He was a kind of guy that caused people to be on edge when he was around. He caused concern. He was a deceiver, a trickster. The coolest part is that although there were plenty of "perfect" people around God chooses to continually seek a relationship with Jacob. It wasn't until Jacob acknowledges his brokenness that his relationship with God begins. God loves sinners and always has. It is only when we understand our broken selves that true healing begins.
I would encourage you to read the story of Jacob and find out why he and the people of today aren't that different. Genesis 25 to 50 (He is an important guy) I would pay special attention to 25 to 27 (he deceitful nature) and 31 to 32 (to see the redemptive power of God).
The chorus of the song cries out for clean hands and pure hearts. I have had really dirty hands in life. I mean literally. I used to work for a warehousing company and we handled carbon used in filtering water. The carbon would come in on a truck and we were responsible for palletizing it and staking it in a formulated fashion. This stuff would be so thick in the air we needed breathing masks and suits. We tried to use gloves but they didn't work, we couldn't grip the bags very well. By the end of the semi trailer we had been doing it for hours. I would be exhausted. After taking a shower the bathtub would have a ring in it and it would still be deep in the pores of my body, even with suits and all. It was bad. I would look like an eights rocker with eye shadow on for at least a week (please don't picture it, it is a disgusting sight!). My point is it took a long time to get my hands clean. Just as in life our sin, our shortcomings are hard to clean off. It takes an open heart to admit when you are dirty.
When I think about my dirty hands and a heart that needs purity it typically is because I put something before God. I have in other words lifted my soul to another. I have put money, material stuff, my own greed, something other than God as my top priority.
The last part of this song is more of a history lesson than anything else. I believe each generation of passionate followers of Christ strive to be something more than the previous generation. Not necessarily throwing the past away but becoming stronger and more passionate than before. But is that the right idea. Maybe we as a generation just need to say we want to humbly seek you. Help us to just seek you. We don't want to be caught up in the stuff of today but instead focus on you.
The last part of the song is perhaps the most confusing. Seeking the face sounds like a strange concept when dealing with God. Christians since the time after Christ, no strike that since the time of Jacob (so even Jews), sought to see God. It is a basic human desire to see or put an image to what we focus our attentions on (i.e. easier to spend money on what you see now than what you might need it for in the future).
But what the heck is up with the "God of Jacob" part? Well there are several things to look at. Jacob of the old testament is in the direct genealogy of Christ. The more important fact is that of Jacob being a broken human being. He was a kind of guy that caused people to be on edge when he was around. He caused concern. He was a deceiver, a trickster. The coolest part is that although there were plenty of "perfect" people around God chooses to continually seek a relationship with Jacob. It wasn't until Jacob acknowledges his brokenness that his relationship with God begins. God loves sinners and always has. It is only when we understand our broken selves that true healing begins.
I would encourage you to read the story of Jacob and find out why he and the people of today aren't that different. Genesis 25 to 50 (He is an important guy) I would pay special attention to 25 to 27 (he deceitful nature) and 31 to 32 (to see the redemptive power of God).
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