My Bible reading this morning included Psalm 15. I was so struck by it that I decided to share it with you. Here it is:
Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.
Psalm 15 describes an honorable person, someone who can be trusted with power and the lives of other people.
Read Psalm 15 carefully. It’s a simple outline of honorable behavior. It’s mild. It doesn’t get into the particulars of righteous living before God. It only addresses the basic, obvious requirements of honorable living.
Who may enter Your Presence on Your holy hill? Those who don’t lie, slander, extort, take bribes, or lionize those who do these things.
That’s straight forward and easy. It’s the basics of honorable living, the baseline of what it takes to enter into relationship with God. You must be an honest, honorable human being to even walk in the door.
How many American Christians can honestly say they fit this description? How many of us can say we even try to fit it? How many American clergy can say they make any attempt at all to teach their flocks to value these qualities?
Anyone who doesn’t live the basic teachings of this Psalm is unfit for human company.
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