The invitation is clear: come into the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving, with raised voices, with bent knees, and with open hearts. God is not just a distant, transcendent King—He is also the intimate Creator who formed the depths of the earth and the heights of the mountains with His own hands. He is the One who holds us, molds us, and calls us to be pure clay—flexible and stable, not flimsy or stubborn. Just as David demonstrated a heart that could be shaped by God, we are called to have hearts that are neither easily swayed by every voice nor hardened and unmovable, but hearts that are responsive to the touch of the Divine Potter.
There is a pattern in the life of faith: God molds, God holds, God brings victory, and then God gives rest. This is seen in creation, in the story of Israel, in the life of David, and ultimately in the work of Christ. The call is to participate in this process, to allow ourselves to be shaped by God’s hands, to respond with joyful praise, and to bow in humble worship. The presence of God is not just something we approach; it is something that now dwells within us through the Holy Spirit. If David could dance with abandon when the ark returned, how much more should we rejoice, knowing God’s Spirit lives in us?
Yet, there is a warning: do not harden your hearts. The natural drift of the human heart is toward stubbornness, toward becoming “stiff-necked,” toward resisting the very hands that would shape us for our good. The pain of God’s discipline is far better than the pain of destruction that comes from resisting Him. The Lord’s hands are not only hands that mold, but hands that hold us even when we try to pull away—through suffering, through failure, through shame. He will not let us go, even when we fight Him.
The good news is that the Director of this claymation story became clay Himself. Jesus entered into our humanity, was broken for us, and rose again to give us new hearts—hearts that can be made pure, flexible, and stable by His Spirit. The invitation is to come honestly, to let God search and soften our hearts, to refuse the excuses of our inner “lawyer,” and to let Him do the impossible work of making us new. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Let Him mold you, hold you, and bring you into His rest.
Psalm 95:1-11 (ESV) — > Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
> let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
> Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
> let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
> For the Lord is a great God,
> and a great King above all gods.
> In his hand are the depths of the earth;
> the heights of the mountains are his also.
> The sea is his, for he made it,
> and his hands formed the dry land.
> Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
> let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
> For he is our God,
> and we are the people of his pasture,
> and the sheep of his hand.
> Today, if you hear his voice,
> do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
> as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
> when your fathers put me to the test
> and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
> For forty years I loathed that generation
> and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
> and they have not known my ways.”
> Therefore I swore in my wrath,
> “They shall not enter my rest.”
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