SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/2/2012 8:33:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 15
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 15
Message of the verses: “1 A Psalm of David: O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may
dwell on Your holy hill? 2 He who walks with integrity, and works
righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. 3 He does not slander with his
tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his
friend; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear
the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 He does not put out
his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who
does these things will never be shaken.”
We have
looked at three psalms, 10, 12, and 14 that have talked about the wicked and
how the wicked live and act, and from these psalms we have realized that this
is not the way for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should live their lives. In this psalm we are looking at today we will
find out how believers should live their lives, and as Dr. Wiersbe writes “It’s
important to note that Psalm 15 is not a prescription
for being saved but a description of
how saved people ought to live if they want to please God and fellowship with
Him. The list contains both positive and
negative qualities, and these qualities must be present in all of life at all
times. Believers who would fellowship
intimately with God must follow David’s example and meet three personal
requirements.” We will now look at those
three personal requirements.
Seeking God’s Presence (v. 1): “1 A Psalm of David: O LORD, who may
abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?”
It is thought that this psalm
was written when David successfully brought the Ark of the Covenant into
Jerusalem and placed it in a tent. The
first attempt failed because he did it man’s way and not the Lord’s way, while
with the second attempt David had the Levites carry it with the polls that were
designed by the Lord to carry it.
Mt. Zion
was in the city of Jerusalem and this is where the temple of God would dwell,
but David was speaking of the heavenly Zion where the Lord dwells and this is
how believers today speak of Mt. Zion. “18 For you have not come to a mountain
that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and
whirlwind, 19 and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound
was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. 20
For they could not bear the command, "IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE
MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED." 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses
said, "I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling." 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and
to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of
angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled
in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous
made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that
you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they
refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away
from Him who warns from heaven.”
(Hebrews 12:18-25)
David had
the desire to abide in the tent of the Lord and this means “to sojourn as a
stranger, while to dwell suggests a permanent residential status, Dr. Wiersbe
states that “here the verbs are probably synonymous. Knowing about eastern hospitality, David
wanted to enjoy the benefits of being a resident in God’s house—enjoying God’s
fellowship, God’s protection, and God’s provisions. The Word “dwell” in the
Hebrew is shakan and gives us the
word shekineh, referring to the
presence (dwelling) of God’s glory in the sanctuary (Ex. 25:8).”
Obeying God’s
precepts (vv. 2-5a): We are going to look at three basis areas of life from
verse 2—blamesless character, righteous conduct, and truthful
conversation. We are then going to see
how they are applied specifically and practically in verses 3-5a. If we are right in these three basis virtues
we can then work them out into every area of our life and thus be obedient to
the Lord. Dr. Wiersbe writes “walk,
work, and speak are present participles, indicating that the dedicated believer
is constantly obeying the Lord and seeking to please Him.
Integrity—blameless character (vv. 2a, 4a,
4b): “2 He who walks with integrity,
4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the
LORD;”
We are looking at character in
this section as the title suggests, and this means that what we are
determines what we do and what we say. There are a number of verses suggested by Dr.
Wiersbe that go along with this, but let’s just look at one Mic. 6:6-8: “6 With what shall I come to the LORD And bow
myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With
yearling calves? 7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten
thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8
He has told you, O
man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to
love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”
When we
speak of blameless character we are not speaking of sinlessness, for there is
no one on earth that is sinless with of course the exception of the Lord Jesus
Christ when He walked on the earth. When
we speak of blamelessness we are speaking of soundness of character, integrity,
complete loyalty to God. We can read in
Genesis 6:9b these words, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” There are others like Abraham who God has
said this to also.
David
speaks of integrity and those with integrity will honor those who walk with
integrity as we see in Psalm 119:63: “I
am a companion of all those who fear You, And of those who keep Your precepts.” They will not be deceived by the flatters
(Psalm 12:2-3). They will not be enticed
by the sinful (Psalm 1:1).
We see in
4a that those with integrity, who have a godly character, will not be taken in
by those who are reprobates (troublemakers).
When this goes on in the church there is great confusion it is “Like a
muddied fountain and a polluted spring is a righteous man…who compromises his
integrity before the wicked.” (Proverbs
25:26, Amplified)
Honesty—righteous conduct (vv. 2b, 5a, 5b): “and works righteousness, 5 He does not put
out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.”
People who “work righteousness”
are honest in their dealings with others and they are also concerned with
making sure that there is justice in their land. In some countries this is possible because
people have a right to vote on things and vote for people who are of good
conduct. This was not true in the time
when this psalm was written.
In those
days however it was part of their Law given by God, that interest was not to be
charged to fellow Israelites, and it was also a law that judges were not to be
bribed, for “There can be no justice in a society where money tells the court
what is right or wrong.”
Sincerity—truthful conversation (vv. 2c,
3-4c): “And speaks truth in his
heart. 3 He does not slander with his
tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his
friend; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear
the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change.”
All we have to do is look at the
American elections to show that lies are so very destructive to a society, for
truth is the cement that binds a society together. Ephesians 4:15 says that we are to speak the
truth in love,” for sometimes the truth is hard to take and therefore we need
to lovingly tell others the truth, and this can be used to build relationships
with others, even non-believers who then can be told the truth of the gospel
when a relationship is formed.
When truth
is a part of our character then we will not likely speak any lies for that
could destroy our character. Jesus spoke
of letting your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no. He is saying that if you always are telling
the truth then you need not make a vow when telling the truth for that is a
part of your character.
We only
have to look at the life of our Lord to see how he handled the truth and how
His life was of perfect character, something we cannot obtain, but something we
can strive for with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in all believers and
also by reading God’s Word and listen to it preached by a godly Pastor.
Trusting God’s
Promise (v. 5c): “He who does these
things will never be shaken.”What does this last portion of verse five
mean? “This means that the godly
described in this psalm have security and stability in life and don’t have to
be afraid of earthquakes or eviction notices.”
The word
translated “shaken” in the NASB comes from a Hebrew word that refers to a
violent shaking. So we can see that
God’s promise to the godly is that they are firmly grounded on His covenant
promises and therefore need not fear.
1John 2:17 “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one
who does the will of God lives forever.”
Let us take
a look at a parable from the Gospel of Matthew that is often used to speak to
children, and there are even songs that are made up to demonstrate the truth
that is seen in this parable, but let us look at it today with a view that as
believers we must chose wisely and continue to chose wisely if our lives are
going to count for God. “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these
words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his
house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds
blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been
founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not
act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The
rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that
house; and it fell-and great was its fall."
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that it is a good thing to have
your toes stepped on by the Word of God and by the Spirit of God and that is
what has happened to me today. I need to
make better choices in order to have the Lord say to me when I meet Him “Well
done my good and faithful servant.” This
is the beginning of a new year and that is one of the reasons that I like this
holiday, it is a good time to think about the past and plan anew for the future
of this year. Being a wise man is a good
thing to do anytime, but especially starting out a new year.
My Steps of Faith for
Today:
1. Continue
to build my house upon the Rock.
2. Trust
the Lord to guide me each and every day.
3. Give
myself to the Lord for worship and for service.
4. Continue
to learn contentment.
1/2/2012 10:26:42 AM
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