Monday
Psalm 15.1 “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?”
Sacred. Holy. Two words you don’t hear every day. I wonder if the church’s anxiety to downplay the distinction between sacred and secular has back-fired? We need words like reverence and awe. They describe our recognition that life has boundaries. The word ‘holy’ lies at the heart of Christian worship: “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, bow down before him, his glory proclaim.” I wonder too if we have become too self-important to feel the need to bow down. We could do with recovering at least some of the Psalm poet’s sense of the holiness, majesty and glory of God.
Tuesday
Psalm 15.2a “The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart.”
Blameless and righteous living has to do with behaviour and action, what we do and why we do it. Righteousness is strongly flavoured with justice, fairness and mercy. To use a phrase too tritely used by politicians – Righteousness is “to do the right thing.” And for the right reasons. The blameless walk is about a way of life, the settled disposition of someone for whom doing what God approves is sufficient reason.
Wednesday
Psalm 15.2b “The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart.”
A blameless walk and righteous action are complemented by speech that can be trusted, and words that can be believed. Now more than ever, in a culture of devalued truth and easily distorted words, integrity in our speech is an important sign of those who take truth seriously, because we take God seriously. The complaint “Nothing is sacred anymore,” suggests that deep down we know that such things as truth, goodness, beauty, God and God’s ways, have a claim on us. God requires integrity, a close match between our words, our heart and the world we live in.
Thursday
Psalm 15.3 “Whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbour, and casts no slur on others.”
Words wound. Words spoil reputations. Words ignite conflicts. No wonder the Bible repeatedly warns against words that are false, malicious, trouble-making, forged in anger and spoken in spite. “The tongue is a fire”, says James. “Every word you speak must be accounted for”, warned Jesus. It isn’t possible to come into God’s presence to pray and praise, if much of our speaking elsewhere causes damage, hurt and misunderstanding. We get to enjoy God’s presence when our daily conversations at home, work and wherever, are consistent with what we say in our worship and prayers; when our words are also blameless and righteous.
Friday
Psalm 15.4 “Who despises a vile person but honours those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind.”
The Psalm-poet warns about bad company. We can be a bit self-righteous if we baulk at ‘despising a vile person.’ To fear the Lord is to put the values and ways of God first in our relationships. So if we make promises we keep them, however inconvenient it turns out to be. In a society like that of our Psalm-poet, doing business depended on keeping your word, being trusted on the strength of a promise. Indeed the steadfast love of the Lord is a belief embedded in a culture where the word was a bond. God doesn’t change his mind about what he has promised – nor should those who come into God’s presence on the strength of those promises. Our word should be as dependable as God’s promises to us. There’s a thought!
Saturday
Psalm 15.5 “Who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.”
What we do with our money, and what we allow our money to do to us, is absolutely central to a life of practical obedience to God, and faithful Christian discipleship. Luther said property is fellowship through created things. Money is a sacrament, a means of grace, a means to the end of loving our neighbour. In a consumerist and competitive world, how we as Christians use our money becomes counter-cultural, subversive of barcodes and Q8 scan codes. Banksy’s newest art says: “When you give to the poor leave the camera at home.” Aye. That!
Sunday
Psalm 15.6 “Whoever does these things will never be shaken.”
Living with integrity is a present continuous process. Integrity is the outcome of habits of thought and action, countless choices for good, so that such behaviour becomes characteristic of the doer. They are predictably trustworthy. That’s a big ask. But the good character of a Christian is a powerful statement, a persuasive argument, a recurring witness to our faith in a faithful God.
This whole Psalm is about how we behave outside the church affecting the quality and sincerity of what we do inside God’s house. Doing righteousness, speaking truth, blameless walk, making our money talk the language of compassion – do these things and life is well founded.
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