Friday, August 21, 2020

Psalm 15

 

“Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
 
“He who walks uprightly, and works
righteousness, and speaks the truth in
his heart; he who does not backbite with
his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor,
nor does he take up a reproach against his
friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised.
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
he who swears to his own hurt and does
not change; he who does not put out
his money at usury, nor does he take
a bribe against the innocent.
 
“He who does these things shall never
be moved.”

     Psalm 15 (NKJV)

Only the righteous may dwell with God. Of course, none of us is righteous on our own (e.g., Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10). But the Lord is our Righteousness (Jer. 23:1) and by faith, His righteousness is imputed to us, as it was with Abraham (e.g., Romans 4:22).  That is the positional righteousness we gain at salvation.

 Once converted, we are then to grow in godly character and exhibit practical righteousness by how we live. As expressed in this psalm, this is demonstrated by walking uprightly, speaking truth, and not gossiping or slandering others. We are to love what God loves, hate what He hates. And we are to be sacrificial in our conduct and careful about keeping our word, even if (and especially when) it is hard to do so.

 The reward? We will never be moved.  Jesus Christ is our firm foundation and He shall sustain us. “He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” (Psalm 55:12, NKJV) 

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

 

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

For I am Thy God, and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.”

 Lyrics by J. Rippon (1787)

No comments:

Post a Comment