Psalm 15
English Standard Version (ESV)
15 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
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My first thought upon reading this is to ask the question, "Who then can be saved?" It is the same question the disciples ask when Jesus tells the disciples that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. I read this and think about how many of these sentences I have failed... I am certainly not blameless. I have spoken evil and lies in my heart. I could go on, but you get the point.
All is not lost, however. We worship a God who longs to save us, who urges us to come back to him. Our God is merciful and gracious. This Psalm is a call into a way of life. It would be easy to read this as a roadmap for earning our way to heaven, but we don't read this Psalm in isolation. When read together with the witness of all of Scripture, we understand that living this way is our response to God's initiating offer of salvation. God has reached out to us, and we who long to live with God forever are called to live in continual response, letting his Holy Spirit guide us, that we may be renewed and refreshed daily, living as though our relationship with God is the fountain and wellspring of all that we are.
May the Holy Spirit guide you today
English Standard Version (ESV)
15 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
*******************
My first thought upon reading this is to ask the question, "Who then can be saved?" It is the same question the disciples ask when Jesus tells the disciples that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. I read this and think about how many of these sentences I have failed... I am certainly not blameless. I have spoken evil and lies in my heart. I could go on, but you get the point.
All is not lost, however. We worship a God who longs to save us, who urges us to come back to him. Our God is merciful and gracious. This Psalm is a call into a way of life. It would be easy to read this as a roadmap for earning our way to heaven, but we don't read this Psalm in isolation. When read together with the witness of all of Scripture, we understand that living this way is our response to God's initiating offer of salvation. God has reached out to us, and we who long to live with God forever are called to live in continual response, letting his Holy Spirit guide us, that we may be renewed and refreshed daily, living as though our relationship with God is the fountain and wellspring of all that we are.
May the Holy Spirit guide you today