Skip to main content

Feeling and thinking in Psalm 15: How I feel about God will show in how I talk about people.

 Feeling and thinking in Psalm 15: How I feel about God will show in how I talk about people.


Psalms 15 (NLT) A psalm of David.

1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD?

Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,

speaking the truth from sincere hearts.

3 Those who refuse to gossip

or harm their neighbors

or speak evil of their friends.

4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,

and honor the faithful followers of the LORD,

and keep their promises even when it hurts.

5 Those who lend money without charging interest,

and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.

Such people will stand firm forever.

You pray. You acknowledge God. And you say you want to go to heaven. Then David, like the Apostle John, best friend of Jesus (1 John), has something to say about your faith in God.
David and John say that people who want the presence of God are really careful how they treat other people.

I wonder how you feel about this litmus test of your love for God. See, since God is a Spirit, many people create God in their own image. They imagine a good relationship with the presence of God and that God is like a good lap dog. He's there when you need comfort. He does what you tell Him to. He helps you when you want something. Especially against all those nasty people who don't believe in your God.
David says that's not how it works at all.

God is present with the person who is extremely conscientious how they treat others.Blamelessness is a vulnerability. It is obviously not being blamed by God. But God is giving people around you the ability to point the finger. You might think I've got this wrong, but I invite you to consider Job. The whole book is in part about God opening the door to Satan and Job’s wife and friends, letting them have a go at Job with the blame game. And although they are convinced he must have done something, they don't have a blame that sticks.

Verse three give us this other focused blamelessness. And it might work like this: God lets someone have a go at you and abuse you with a bit of gossip against you. How are you going to respond? Are you going to go the way of the world and build up your case by talking about them to key people? Do you drop little hints of slander to bolster your position in the eyes of others? God knows the truth.
You can't slant the facts in your favour against your enemy so you look better. God knows the truth. If He is your buddy you don't need to try and impress him or anyone else with your imaginative storytelling.

Do you want to try and get away with sin? Are you jealous of the sinner? Do you envy the person who appears to have his cake and eat it too? Does your heart desire the praise of others and still you want to harbour greed or lust or pride? God doesn't have the wool pulled over His eyes.

If you really want God in your life, then He is only impressed with your self-sacrifice.

Ultimately if you are willing to suffer to keep God in the picture, then you have shown God that His opinion matters more than everything else. And just to make sure God's presence is the most important thing in your life, He looks at your attitude toward money. How much do you care about money? Are you willing to just give it all away? Then God will know you love to have Him around. And then God will protect you and befriend you. God hangs out with people that acknowledge He knows everything and that He gives to the generous.



Flemish Proverbs / Netherlandish Proverbs (The Blue Cloak), second half of 16th century

Pieter Brueghel the Younger  (1564–1638)


Labels:
Location: Heverlee, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The dangers of being vulnerable: Psalm 7

  The dangers of being vulnerable: Psalm 7 Psalm 7 A psalm of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush of the tribe of Benjamin. 1 I come to you for protection, O Lord my God.     Save me from my persecutors—rescue me! 2 If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion,     tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me. 3 O Lord my God, if I have done wrong     or am guilty of injustice, 4 if I have betrayed a friend     or plundered my enemy without cause, 5 then let my enemies capture me.     Let them trample me into the ground     and drag my honor in the dust. Interlude 6 Arise, O Lord, in anger!     Stand up against the fury of my enemies!     Wake up, my God, and bring justice! 7 Gather the nations before you.     Rule over them from on high. 8     The Lord judges the nations. Declare m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Feeling and thinking in Psalm 20: Feelings flowing outward

Feeling and thinking in Psalm 20: Feelings flowing outward "For the choir director: A psalm of David.  In times of trouble,  may the LORD answer your cry.  May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm." " May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem." " May he remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Interlude" " May he grant your heart's desires and make all your plans succeed." " May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God.  May the LORD answer all your prayers." "Now I know that the LORD rescues his anointed king. He will answer him from his holy heaven and rescue him by his great power." "Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God." "Those nations will fall down and collapse, but we will rise up and stand firm." ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Feeling and thinking in Psalms 18 and 19: A tale of two revivals

  Feeling and thinking in Psalms 18 and 19: A tale of two revivals Prayer is often the topic of the Psalms. There is hardly a Psalm that is not a prayer or a praise or a cry to God. Whether it is a jubilant exultation of victory and celebration of the wonders of God's creation, power and glory or it is a desperate cry for help, all the Psalms in one way or another are testimonies of relationship with God. God has been talking to me my whole life. There is not a time in my life where I can’t remember God talking to me. I am not saying I was listening, obeying or following my whole life. But I can see, looking back, that God has always been present.  Psalms 18 and 19 are two of the most important Psalms in God’s voice in my head. God used Psalm 19 to speak to me of His power, grandeur, holiness and requirement of obedience. I love walking at night and I love looking at the stars. It is no surprise to me that my own father’s testimony begins with a prayer under the stars sitting ...
Post a Comment
Read more