This beatitude has a direct temple connection and is based on Psalm 24, one of the psalms of ascent or procession sung by the Levites and priests as devotees went up to the temple in Jerusalem to worship and participate in the sacrifices. Part of this psalm reads:
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
“He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
“This is the generation of them … that seek thy face, O Jacob… .
“Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory” (Psalm 24:3–6, 10).
Though the King James Version of Psalm 24:3 uses the words “hill of the Lord,” the Hebrew is more directly related to the temple: “who shall go up to the mountain of Jehovah,” which is a reference to the Lord’s mountain-house or temple, as we see in Isaiah 2:2. And the phrase “who shall stand in his holy place” directly refers to the temple because a section of the Jerusalem temple was explicitly called “the Holy Place.” The implication of the King James Version of Psalm 24 is that one could encounter God in the temple. The Septuagint (Greek version of the Old Testament abbreviated as LXX) is much more explicit (especially verse 6) in pointing out that the ultimate intent of going up to the temple was to “seek the face of the God of Jacob”:
“Who shall go up to the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place?
“He that is innocent in his hands and pure in his heart; who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.
“He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.
“This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek the face of the God of Jacob… .
“Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is this king of glory” (LXX, Psalm 23:3–6, 10).
All those whose hearts are clean and pure have the promise that they shall see God. The same requirement of purity was and always will be in effect for anyone to enter a temple of the living God, his earthly home, where he might be seen. “It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (D&C 93:1). Thus, the pure in heart are those who forsake their sins, call on the Savior’s name, obey his voice, and keep his commandments—and then they can see God. That is a literal promise. Those who are pure, as he is pure, not only will see him but will remain and live with him forever. That promise is not just for our postmortal life, however. In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord explains one way that God can be seen in this life: “And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it; yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God” (D&C 97:15–16).
To see God, according to Elder Royden G. Derrick, means to come to know God, discover him, visualize him, recognize him, and understand him.30 To see him is to recognize the divine in his children.