Psalms 1–2; 8; 19–33; 40; 46: Lesson 103

Psalm 24

“Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord?”

Temples are holy places that are clean and pure. They can help us imagine what it will be like to be in the presence of the Lord. In Psalm 24, King David invites us to strive to be spiritually clean and pure so we can enter the Lord’s temple and His presence someday. This lesson can help students prepare to worthily enter the temple and eventually dwell in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Student preparation: Invite students to review the temple recommend questions, thinking about their own spiritual preparation to attend the temple. These questions can be found in the appendix of For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices [2022].

Possible Learning Activities

Dirty or clean?

To prepare students to study Psalm 24, consider displaying a picture of a muddy teenager.

You could also bring mud in a bowl and invite some students to put their hands in it. Then adapt the question below by asking the students how they feel.

• When was the last time you were very muddy or dirty? How did you feel?

Consider displaying a picture of the inside of a temple.

If your students have not been inside a temple, consider adjusting the following question to ask how they imagine they would feel inside a temple.

• How do you feel when you enter the temple?

  Consider displaying the picture of the muddy teenager alongside the picture from the temple.

• How would you feel if you were very muddy inside the temple? Why?

• What spiritual lessons can we learn from this?

Ponder how you might feel if you stood in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ while being spiritually muddy or dirty. Then ponder how you might feel standing in Their presence after having been made spotless through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

In your study journal, answer the following questions:

• How important is it for you to be temple worthy? Why?

• How important is it for you to someday dwell with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? Why?

Seek guidance from the Holy Ghost to help you know what the Lord would have you do to worthily worship Him in the temple and someday enter His and Heavenly Father’s presence.

“The hill of the Lord”

To begin studying Psalm 24, consider creating a simple drawing of a hill on the board. Students could draw the same in their journals. Read or summarize the paragraph below.

In Psalm 24, King David used imagery of a hill. Some scripture passages use mountains or hills as symbols of temples (see Isaiah 2:2–3). It is possible that David was referring to the temple, or the presence of God, or both.

You may want to include on the top of your hill a simple drawing of a temple and the words Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. You could draw a stick figure at the bottom of the hill that represents us.

Read Psalm 24:3–6, looking for what we should do to prepare to enter the temple and return to the Lord’s presence someday.

Psalm 24:3–4 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider inviting students to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so they can locate them easily.

After students read the verses, they may have questions about some of the words or phrases. Invite students to ask any questions they or someone in general might have as they read this passage. If helpful, explain that “vanity” refers to pride or arrogance. The phrase “nor sworn deceitfully” could refer to being honest with oneself, others, and God.

Consider writing students’ responses to the following question on the board along the edge of the hill. Your final drawing could look similar to the image below.

• What did you learn from these verses about preparing to enter the temple and returning to the Lord’s presence someday?

As students share what they found in verses 3–6, help them identify the following truth: We must prepare ourselves spiritually to worship the Lord in His temple and to dwell in His presence.

• Why do you think we need to be spiritually prepared to enter the Lord’s temples and eventually His presence?

• How could the Lord’s requirements to be spiritually prepared be evidence of His love for us?

Spiritually preparing

Consider displaying the following instructions and inviting students to complete them individually in their study journal or with a partner.

Choose one of the following phrases from Psalm 24:4 you would like to learn more about.

• clean hands

• pure heart

• not lifted up his soul unto vanity (humility)

• nor sworn deceitfully (honesty)

Find scriptures or statements from Church leaders that help you better understand the phrase. Then answer the following questions:

• Why do you think this aspect of preparation is important to worship in the temple and to dwell with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ someday?

• What are specific ways a Latter-day Saint teenager could work on that aspect of preparation?

• What would you want to share about the Savior with a friend who struggles with that aspect of preparation?

If students need help, you could suggest scripture passages such as the following:

• clean hands (Doctrine and Covenants 88:86)

• pure heart (Mosiah 5:2)

• not lifted up his soul unto vanity (Doctrine and Covenants 112:10)

• nor sworn deceitfully (Alma 27:27)

You may want to direct them to the Topical Guide, Guide to the Scriptures, or Gospel Library.

You could also provide Elder Bednar’s quote from Additional Resources in this lesson.

Invite students to share what they learned with another student or partnership who studied a different phrase. You then could ask a few students to share with the class.

My personal preparation

To prepare your students to make a personal goal, consider showing a video like “Standing in Holy Places” (5:36), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Students could be invited to look for ways the young lady prepared herself to worthily attend the temple.

Students may also benefit from hearing each other’s experiences. For example, they could share how they feel inside the temple or how holding a temple recommend blesses their life.

Reflect on how you are doing with your own spiritual preparation. Ponder what you feel Heavenly Father is pleased with and areas where you could improve.

Answer the following questions in your study journal.

• What do you feel Heavenly Father wants you to do to prepare yourself for the temple and for living with Him someday?

• How can you rely on the Savior for help?

Consider sharing your testimony of the truths students studied. Reassure students of the Savior’s ability to cleanse and help them. You may want to share the following statement to conclude the lesson.

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency shared the following:

My hope for you and for all your beloved family is that you will grow in desire and determination to be worthy to go into the house of the Lord as often as your circumstances allow.

He wants to welcome you there. (“I Love to See the Temple,” Liahona, May 2021, 31)

Memorize

You may want to help students memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase during this lesson and review them in future lessons. The key scripture phrase for Psalm 24:3–4 is “Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart.” Ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix materials under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”

Additional Resources

What does it mean to have “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:4)?

David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

Let me suggest that hands are made clean through the process of putting off the natural man and by overcoming sin and the evil influences in our lives through the Savior’s Atonement. Hearts are purified as we receive His strengthening power to do good and become better. All of our worthy desires and good works, as necessary as they are, can never produce clean hands and a pure heart. It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides both a cleansing and redeeming power that helps us to overcome sin and a sanctifying and strengthening power that helps us to become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength. The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us. (“Clean Hands and a Pure Heart,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 82)

What blessings can I receive by attending the temple worthily?

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency taught:

If you or I should go to the temple insufficiently pure, we would not be able to see, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the spiritual teaching about the Savior that we can receive in the temple.

When we are worthy to receive such teaching, there can grow through our temple experience hope, joy, and optimism throughout our lives. That hope, joy, and optimism are available only through accepting the ordinances performed in holy temples. It is in the temple that we can receive the assurance of loving family connections that will continue after death and last for eternity. (“I Love to See the Temple,” Liahona, May 2021, 30)

What if I feel I have little hope of ever being worthy because I keep making the same mistakes?

Brother Bradley R. Wilcox of the Young Men General Presidency said:

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf has said: “God does not need people who are flawless. He seeks those who will offer their ‘heart and a willing mind’ [Doctrine and Covenants 64:34], and He will make them ‘perfect in Christ’ [Moroni 10:32–33].” … His grace is not just a prize for the worthy. It is the “divine assistance” He gives that helps us become worthy. It is not just a reward for the righteous. It is the “endowment of strength” He gives that helps us become righteous. We are not just walking toward God and Christ. We are walking with Them. (“Worthiness Is Not Flawlessness,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 67)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternative beginning

For an alternative way to begin the lesson, consider sharing the following two scenarios.

1. Sam is hard on himself. He feels he needs to be perfect to enter the temple or be acceptable to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

2. Joshua doesn’t think it’s a big deal to be temple worthy or prepare to meet God. He feels that because God loves him, he will accept him for whatever he does, regardless of if he repents or not.

Students could choose one scenario. As they study Psalm 24, they could look for truths and advice they could share with the young man from the scenario they chose.

Temple recommend questions

To help your students reflect on their own spiritual preparation, share this paragraph regarding the temple recommend questions from For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices [2022]:

One way to assess your progress on the covenant path is to ponder the questions below. They are the questions you are asked when you are interviewed to receive a temple recommend, but don’t wait for an interview. Do your own spiritual checkup. (For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices [2022], 36)

You could then invite students to do their own spiritual checkup by reviewing the temple recommend questions found at “Temple recommend questions for youth.”

Hope that is in Christ (Psalm 24:7–10)

If your students could benefit from a discussion about hope, you could study Psalm 24:7–10 in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Students could first list discouraging aspects of the world today, such as increasing violence or the disintegration of the family. Then explain that JST Psalm 24:7–10 can provide hope in the last days.

Invite students to read JST Psalm 24:7–10, looking for how many times they see the phrase lift up your heads. Ask them to share what they feel this phrase means.

Then invite students to read JST Psalm 24:7–10 again, looking for reasons why we can have hope in these last days.

• How do these phrases help you “lift up your head” (JST Psalm 24:7–10) with hope, despite the problems of the present day?