Isaiah 1:15 - Hands needing washing

 

Human hands might be raised to pass on a blessing from God, or a to give a blessing to God. Even when the Old Testament priests offered up sacrifices for the people, God asked His people to also lift their hands in prayer: representative of giving their whole selves to Him.

But God wants more than animal sacrifices; He wants more than hands lifted in prayer.

He said, "I don't take pleasure in the blood of animals sacrificed to me... don't bother bringing such worthless offerings. I can't listen to your prayers; I cringe and turn away because of all the innocent blood I see covering your hands." (Isaiah 1:11 & 15, KJC paraphrase)

The psalmist wrote,
"Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies." (Psalm 24:3–4, New Living Translation 2015)

And as Paul wrote later,
"In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy." (1 Timothy 2:8, NLT)

These verses indicate that hands can be dirty for a variety of reasons. Injustice to the lives of innocent people. Denying God to be the center of our lives. Not telling the truth. Then there are white-knuckled fists of anger, clenched for a fight. Etc. etc., ad nauseum.

When we lift our hands to God and realize they are dirty, we can do three things:
Keep raising our hands and act as if we're okay. That's self-deception or hypocrisy.
We can hide our hands behind our back and run away. That's guilt and shame.

Job faced this conundrum. He said,
"Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye, you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me." (Job 9:30–31, NLT)

Guilt is a common problem. Even the prophet Jeremiah wrote:
"We lift up our heart and hands toward God in heaven; We have transgressed and rebelled, You have not pardoned." (Lamentations 3:41–42, New American Standard Bible, 1995)

Have you ever had both hands full of a sticky, dirty mess, and you couldn't even touch a door knob or a faucet handle without spreading the mess? What do you do? You hold your hands out and say, "Could someone help me out here a minute?

I said there were three things we could do about dirty hands. The only real solution was summarized by David:
“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, 'I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.' And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (Psalm 32:5, NLT)

Therefore we also pray,
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any [way of pain] in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." Amen. (Psalm 139:23–24, NASB w alternate translation)