Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
The Bible makes a most beautiful connection between our prayers and sweet smelling incense. How remarkable it is to know as a follower of Jesus Christ that, being clothed with His righteousness, my prayer is a sweet-smelling fragrance unto God. But in our devotional passage this morning, David speaks about the lifting up of his hands as being an evening sacrifice. “Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.” (Psalm 28:2) Again, the connection is made between prayer and the lifting up of our hands unto The Lord.
Lifting up our hands unto The Lord is one of the many biblical expressions of worship that is pleasing unto The Lord. In Psalm 63:4 we read, “Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.” Lifting our hands up unto The Lord in The Name of Jesus blesses Him, for it is an expression of surrender and adoration of Who He is. Like any expression of worship, the mere gesture of lifting up of our hands apart from a God-ward affection is vain and empty. But when the people of God lift up hands in the sanctuary and bless the LORD with holy and hungry hearts, the very presence and glory of God inhabits those praises (Psalm 22:3) and fills our hearts with the very fragrance of heaven. Hear the exhortation that the Apostle Paul passed on to Pastor Timothy: “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” (1 Timothy 2:8)
Yes, Lord Jesus, to You we lift our hands this morning, asking for the grace and strength to bring You glory in our lives today. Selah
