Fellowship with God

[Psalms 24]

Parting is not easy, but we must learn to part.  Of course, parting can mean death that a person leaves this world, but also parting is leaving home and parting while dating.  In this diverse parting, we can be sad, weeping and discouraged, and can also be desperate.  But in that separation, we must remember that there is another encounter.  I have been in Korea for about 3 years and enjoyed the blessing of meeting another people while parting with all the family members, church members, friends, and so on.  The first is meeting with God, the second is meeting myself, and the third is the blessing of meeting with co-workers and precious meetings with brothers and sisters in Christ.

In Psalms 24:3, the psalmist David says, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?”  These words tell us who can have fellowship with the great God, the creator of all things in heaven and earth (vv. 1-2).  As we meditate on four things about the qualifications for fellowship with God, based on Psalms 24, I hope that we will also be able to achieve such qualifications.

                First, those who have fellowship with God must be pure.

Look at Psalms 24:4 – “He who has clean hands and a pure heart ….”  This means that those who have fellowship with God must be pure externally or internally.  The word “clean hands” refers to external pure conduct, and the word “a pure heart” refers to internal purity.  In a word, those who are pure in conduct and heart can have fellowship with God.  Of course, the purity we're talking about here doesn't necessarily mean innocence.  This means that the believer belongs to God First Principles and doesn’t serve the two masters, but ‘looks’ for Him to serve only God, and also “seeks” Him (v. 6, Park).

Although external purity is important to us for cleansing, but we must focus on internal purity before that.  The reason is because the pursuit of the purity of our conduct while the heart is unclean is the uncleanness of the whole.  We must clean our hearts first just as we wash our bodies.  In other words, we need to take a spiritual shower.  It is possible by obeying the Word of God: “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Pet. 1:22).  However, it is real challenge for us to keep our conducts and hearts pure living in this sinful world.  So the psalmist Asaph said in Psalm 73:13, “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence.”  Why did Asaph think this?  This is because he was envious of the arrogant (v. 3).  Asaph’s feet came close to stumbling and his steps had almost slipped (v. 2).  Many Christians are tempted to give up their purity in the midst of their hardships, like Asaph while seeing the prosperity of the arrogant and the wicked.  In the end, even though we shouldn’t serve the two masters by belonging to God First, we are serving God and wealth.  But Jesus clearly said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth” (Mt. 6:24).  We shouldn’t serve two masters in our hearts.  We should serve only the Lord.  In doing so, we must keep our hearts well.  And we must serve the Lord with our pure hearts and pure conducts.

Second, those who have fellowship with God don’t lift up their souls to falsehood.

                Look at Psalms 24:4 – “…  Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood  ….”  Here, the word “falsehood” refers to the vain glory of all the world that does not belong to the truth of God and vain greed of the property and profit (Park).  Those who have pure heart and an act of fellowship with God put their will only in God, and not in other empty things.  This is because they are purifying themselves by loving the truth in their hearts and obeying the words of the truth by conduct (1 Pet. 1:22).  Those who purify their souls have no falsehood.  Therefore, they aren’t deceived by falsehood and don’t pursue vain glory and wealth in this world.  They know that the worldly glory and wealth in this world are vain greed.  So they dwell in the truth that purifies their souls.  In other words, because they love God, they obey the Word of God's truth (1 Pet. 1:22).

But when we look back on ourselves, aren't we living faith of ‘the thorn’ in the parable of the sowing?  Seeing the parable of the seed in Luke 8, this is what the Bible says about the seed which fell among the thorns: “"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”  Here we can find three things that block ‘my faith maturity’: (1) life's worries, (2) riches, and (3) pleasures.  When we are worried, anxious, and trying to satisfy ourselves with the pleasures of the world by following idols and serving money in the same level as God, we cannot bring the maturity of our faith even though we hear the word of God.  It would not be an exaggeration to say that this religious life is a ‘thorny’ religious life.  Apostle Paul exhorted in Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.”  We shouldn’t put the meaning in vain.  Everything in the world is vain.  We shouldn’t left ourselves alone in the way that satisfies our lustful desires, so as to hinder our faith's growth.  We must devote ourselves to giving glory to God and fulfilling God's will on this earth.

Third, those who have fellowship with God shouldn’t swear deceitfully.

                Look at Psalms 24:4 – “…  And has not sworn deceitfully.”  Those who are not clean in their conduct and their hearts put their meaning in vain, so they live false life.  Those who live such life aren’t afraid to make false oaths.  However, the word that David didn’t swear deceitfully with God can mean two things:

(1)   In order to have fellowship with God, we must not lie.

Those who have put the meaning in vain lie to fulfill it.  But those who have put the meaning in God don’t lie.  That is, they don’t give false witness (Park).

(2)   We must practice the determination that we have made before God without in vain (Park).

In other words, those who have fellowship with God carry out the vow in their hearts.  We have to practice the vows that we have sworn to our own hurt and must not change (15:4).

We are already cleansed by the word of God, and the word of the Lord dwells within us.  Look at John 15:3-4, 7: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  "Abide in Me, and I in you.   …  "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ….”  We who are being purified by the word of God is like a branch dwelling in the Lord, the vine, and there is no lie in us.  Therefore, we shouldn’t give false witness.  We must tell the truth.  Also, we must live the life of truth.  We must strive to make our hearts and deeds to proclaims the word of God's truth.

Fourth and last, those who have fellowship with God must receive God with all their hearts.

                Look at Psalms 24:7-10: “Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!  Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!  Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”  In these words, David said that the temple door should be open so that the King of glory may come it.  So he said in verse 7: “Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!”  Dr. Yoon-sun Park said: ‘If we don't serve God with all our hearts, then we have not received God as the King of glory.’  Therefore, we must open the door of our hearts as wide as the temple door.  And we must let the Spirit of God, who dwells in us, to work freely.  In the midst of this, we must have intimate fellowship with our great God.

We must separate ourselves from this world full of filthy, empty and falsehood.  We must have an intimate encounter with God in our separation from the world.  We must purify our hearts and conducts in order to have intimate fellowship with God.  We must not put our hearts in empty things and lift our souls to falsehood.  Rather, we must open the door of our hearts wide and accept God with all our hearts.

Longing to have intimate fellowship with God,

James Kim (Dreaming the church that is built as the pure bride of Christ)