By Susan G. McIntosh / susan@actsfoundation.com / January 13, 2010
For the last three or four mornings of 2009, the Lord woke me with Psalm 24 as the prayer focus. It is easy to rattle through a familiar passage like this chapter, especially if you have memorized it. The Holy Spirit led me to take one verse at a time and many of the key words I looked up in Strong's Concordance so as to better understand the original Hebrew meaning. I was so impressed with the reminder that God made the earth and all of us in it. He is strong and mighty, mighty in battle, and the Lord of hosts of angels. Iran's President Ahmadinejad has made it know that he would like to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and America as well. His speeches and threats are disconcerting. However, Psalm 24 corrects our vision! Our prayer times are transformed from begging this man is restrained to instead boldly declaring that the Lord God Almighty rules and reigns over Iran, Israel, and America! After all, our Heavenly Father is the one Who owns the earth and every person on it--The LORD STRONG and MIGHTY, the LORD, MIGHTY IN BATTLE, the LORD of HOSTS! The King of Glory!
Psalm 24's predominate theme is the King, His Glory, and His Kingdom—a 2010 theme I am hearing from that others also that God is putting in the hearts of many Christians worldwide. The first verse of chapter 24 in itself is an amazing comfort for those of us living in the US right now because our government in America is spending and borrowing money as though there were no payback coming. I would be truly worried if I did not have the comfort that America and every nation ultimately has to answer to its owner, GOD, the King of Glory.
Our part? We, as intercessors, have an incredible position in the spirit realm. We are at the gates of the cities in which we live. Our prayers keep the everlasting doors lifted up. I especially enjoyed discovering a clearer meaning of verse 2. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in His holy place? He that has clean hands and a pure heart...” Ascend here does not indicate that we have to struggle to make it up into the holy place with the Lord. One of the translations of the word ascend means “fetched up” or “promoted”. God puts us to this place. Yes, we need to keep clean and pure. Clean hands refers to the things we do and pure hearts refers to our thinking and meditating, our inner being. Cleaning house is not necessary if we keep a clean house. Clean our hands and hearts is not impossible if we choose to live clean. Discipleship requires discipline, Amen! We are human and do on occasion contaminate ourselves with the world even momentarily at times and God knows this. He has provided confession, repentance, and forgiveness – the redeeming steps of Kingdom grace. We can live in alignment.
The promise and reward for living in this hill of the Lord, this holy place with Him, close to His heart, and where the Kingdom action is launched is “we shall receiving blessing from the Lord and righteousness for the God of our salvation.” In this place, God continually downloads into us His blessing and His right-ness, His righteousness. Heavenly Hosts surround Him. At the sign of trouble we can catch eyes with Him and breath a prayer. Picture Him smiling at you, turning just a little, putting His fingers to His lips and whistling for assistance. Wham, thousands of angels show up to receive a Kingdom assignment from Him--the Strong and Mighty One! Then, off they go to carry out His desires. Now I understand better what it must have been like for the shepherds, “and suddenly there was with the angel a Heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth [in your town, your nation and mine], Peace, Good Will toward men.” We ask, “Who is this King of Glory” with whom we are privilege to stand? “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. [So,] lift up your heads, O, you gates and you lift up you every lasting doors! And the King of Glory shall come in [in 2010]. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts! He is the King of glory!” 2010, I believe, is the year when we are truly going to experience firsthand the King of Glory!
© Copyright 2010 –ACTS Foundation, Inc.
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