![]() What comes in, whether good or bad, will affect what comes out! Remember the children’s song, “Oh be careful, little eyes, what you see?” Well, there’s wisdom in those lyrics! Take heed when it comes to what you (or your children) are taking in during the day. Guard the Heart – Proverbs 4:23 teaches “above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Guarding the heart prevents contamination. Psalm 24:3 asks “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?” The answer is found in the following verse “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” What comes out of a pure heart is not only much easier to clean up than that of a dirty one but it is also is a mark of a Christian. Just like the glasses, what is in our hearts will naturally spill out when we are faced with minor trip ups during the day or major trials and temptations of life. It’s easy to see where I’m going with this. “If this glass gets tipped over, which is the easier one to clean up?” The kids all agreed…the clean water was the winner again. The second half of the lesson was more to the point. Of course, the kids all pointed to the glass of crystal clear water. Then we asked “Which would you rather drink?” ![]() The children watched as the dirt quickly contaminated the clean water. The first glass was left alone but to the second glass we added a scoop of dirt and gave it a good stir. We took two glasses of clean, drinkable water. Many years ago, when our children were younger, we used a very simple demonstration to compare a pure heart with a dirty heart. With those boundries laid it then becomes an appropriate response for the people of God.“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” Matthew 5:8 It is only by the shed blood of Christ and his righeousness that covers us that allows us into the presence of God. ![]() Not only that, before we began singing I read from the Psalm in which the song quotes (can't remember right off hand) and then proceeded to explain that those who worship the true God worship him with clean hands and a pure heart, but the problem is, is that none of us have either. A couple of Sunday's ago I used this song sandwiched in between two Christ exalting songs. I am a worship leader and consider very seriously the lyrics of many songs we sing as the people of God. However, there is still biblical truth in the song. I totally agree with you about the song lacking Christ and Him crucified and if this was the only song sang (or sang with other songs of similar shallowness) then I'd say, argument over. Hello! Just found the site! It seems you and I have a bit of the same mind when it comes to (what I like to call) sound doxology. Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts Give us clean hands, oh God and give us pure hearts Oh God let this be a generation that seeks Oh give us clean hands and give us pure hearts So give us clean hands and give us pure hearts Give Us Clean Hands by Matt Redman and Charlie Hall We bow our hearts, we bend our knees If the message that the church proclaims makes sense without conversion if it does not offend even lifelong believers from time to time, so that they too need to die more to themselves and live more to Christ, then it is not the gospel. The church exists in order to change the subject from us and our deeds to God and his deeds of salvation, from our various "missions" to save the world to Christ's mission that has already accomplished redemption. Michael Horton in Modern Reformation Magazine says It seems that here "the law" isn't so bad and "the gospel" isn't so sweet. Yes, we need the Spirit to make us humble, but first we need Him to regenerate us and give us faith in Christ. And we can have none of this without Christ's death on the cross, his burial and resurrection and our repentance and faith in Him. We are powerless to do all of the good things proposed in the song. This song lacks Christ and Him crucified. Give Us Clean Hands by Matt Redman and Charlie Hall ![]() Ht: Anonymous comment from a couple of days ago. : I'M RECONSIDERING WHAT I HAVE SAID IN THE POST BELOW
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