Scripture Reading(s)
Psalm 15
15:1 O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?
15:2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart;
15:3 who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
15:4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the LORD; who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
15:5 who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.
Reflections
This Psalm describes what the life of a Christian ought to reflect. Compared to perfect and blameless God we are full of sin. I love how in the first verse the Psalmist asks a question that should cause us to humbly admit that we are not perfect and that our God is a perfect example of what is holy and good. Yet, in God’s Grace He still reaches down and is faithful to love us despite our sin.
This Psalm depicts characteristics that we should strive to live out and keep in mind that our God holds the ultimate standard.
- Our deeds are to reflect Christ (vs 2): To walk blamelessly means to live our lives in a way that will not cause us to be accused of living an unrighteous lifestyle. It means to be free of guilt and declared innocent. The psalmist goes on to further say that we are to always do what is right, meaning what is just morally and not going against God’s standard of what is pure.
- Our words are to reflect Christ (vs 2-3) at the end of verse 2 the Psalmist touches on how our Christ-likeness is reflected in our words and what we choose to say. This is mainly an outflow of what is residing in our hearts. If our hearts are dwelling on the things of God, then our words will then represent those things.
- Our actions are to reflect Christ (vs 4-5): How to go about treating others and responding to situations is to be done with love and grace. What others do to us should not sway us from living outwardly for Christ.
These things are not easy to live out. Thankfully we can depend on God’s Grace and goodness to give us the strength we need to live these out daily. The Psalmist ends off with a promise that if we do live these things out then “we will never be moved.”
As with yesterday’s passage, emphasis is given to the protection of the poor and innocent.
who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. (Psalm 15:5)
I won’t make much of this since I already have but I would suggest that God never advocates for anything that would place the poorest and weakest of our society at a disadvantage.
The rest of the passage focuses on “right” living. Many people forget that salvation is through faith but God also expects us to live right. We are not justified by living correctly but we are known by our fruits and our fruits will show God what is really in our hearts.
These are the people who will abide in the tent the tent of the Lord and dwell on His holy hill.