Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

This psalm provides a strong contrast to the previous one. The fool lives as if there were no God, but the godly person orients their life around God, seeking his presence, rather than trying to avoid it. The psalmist asks a straightforward question: What kind of person can live with God? God cannot dwell with the wicked (Psalm 5:4) and it is only by God’s grace that one can bow toward his holy temple (5:7). This psalm is not a prescription for salvation: Do these things and God will save you if you’re good enough. Rather, these behaviors that follow are the result of seeking God and aligning your life around his character. The metaphor of camping out in God’s tent and living in his house demonstrate that this is not a checklist. It is a relationship. These behaviors flow out of a life that is spent living in a constant awareness of the reality of God, including an awareness of God’s intimate presence in our lives. There seem to be ten of these behaviors, corresponding to the ten commandments arranged in a 2-3-3-2 pattern. All but the first two have to do with how we treat others, reminding us that true holiness is not experienced in isolation, as if it were easier to be holy if you were living alone in a cave or stranded on a desert island. Holiness is perhaps best expressed in how we treat others. 

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;

3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

The first three descriptors of a person who hangs out with God is that he walks blamelessly, does what is right and speaks truth in his heart. This is followed by three negative statements (compare to Psalm 1:1) that all have to do with speaking. Walking blamelessly and doing what is right are essentially the same thing. This is describing a person of integrity where the inner being and the outward actions are in alignment. This person is the same, inside and out. There is no guile, deceit or pretense about him. The first place this is evident to the outside world is in the language that he uses. He speaks truth in his heart. The NIV translates this “from” but “in” is more literal. Perhaps this suggests that honesty is the internal, default mode. It comes natural. Jeremiah 17:9 says that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” A person with this level of integrity is rare indeed. A blameless life is one in which it is difficult to find fault. I’ve known men and women that I would say were blameless. I’m not saying that they were perfect, and indeed they would be the first to admit that they were not. I’m thinking of older saints whom I have never seen do or say anything wrong. This is a person who works righteousness, they do what is right, even when it’s difficult. They have an internal moral compass that is unwavering. As a result, they value other human beings and refuse to attack them verbally. There is no slander on his tongue, there is no evil done to his neighbor, no slur against his friend. This isn’t to say that he is just another nice guy who avoids conflict. It just means that he doesn’t get personal with it. Ad hominem attacks are off the table. While that kind of power is exerted in the highest levels of government and media today, it is not the way of the godly person, not the way that a person who hangs out with God. Being a person of integrity begins by holding your tongue. James 3 tells us that if you can do that, nothing will be impossible for you. The psalmist uses the terms neighbor and friend as potential targets of our evil and slander, suggesting that is those who are closest to us that are more likely to be wounded by our words. 

4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

The next three descriptions are stated in the positive. The godly man despises a vile person and honors those who fear the Lord. These two correspond and suggest that a godly man chooses his influences wisely. Human beings are social creatures and the natural tendency is to conform to those around us. Most people don’t like to stick out; we want to belong. So if everyone seems to be honoring a vile person, the social pressure is there to do the same. However, honoring a vile person has a way of changing us rather subtly by changing the internal standards. Seeing another person sin boldly and seem to get away with it makes it easier to rationalize our own sinful behavior.The psalmist is not urging us to hate a vile person literally, but rather to despise what they do because of what it does to them and to others. It is love for fellow human beings that compels us to hate certain behavior. The corresponding opposite of this is to honor those who fear the Lord, to place yourself where you can be influenced by godly men and women - living and dead. Early in my faith journey I was profoundly influenced by reading the stories of heroic men and women of faith. Our culture is teaching us to become cynical of history and to judge all who’ve gone before us by our modern standards, which we assume to be the best ever! Take a moment and think of the men and women in your life who fear the Lord. Honor them by imitating them and you’ll become a better person in the process. What characteristics do you love to see in others? Practice them yourself. The third positive statement is this: keep your word. Be a person that others can trust absolutely. This is a classic virtue: faithfulness, trustworthiness, dependability, honesty. It is the first word of the Scout Law: A scout is trustworthy. Can you be depended upon to do what you say you are going to do? Without this cardinal virtue human relationships break down. Once you’ve violated another’s trust it takes a lot of time and effort to rebuild. The virtue is stated in the extreme of swearing to one’s own hurt. Jephthah is the classic example of this (Judges 11). He made a rash oath for sure but he is honored for keeping it -- he even gets his name in the Hebrews 11 hall of fame. The lesson is two-fold: 1) Keep your promise at all cost and therefore, 2) Be careful what you promise. This is a rule of parenting, of course. Don’t promise something you are not willing to follow through on. It’s also the best way to live with other people. Be a person that others can count on. This is the nature of God, and those who live with him are the same. 

5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

The final two admonitions are stated in the negative and they have to do with the economic sphere of life. The first has been a subject of debate through the centuries. Strictly interpreted it forbids loaning money to another at interest (or to use the older term, usury). History the Jewish people reasoned that while you couldn’t loan money to a fellow Israelite, you could loan money to gentiles. This led to the negative stereotype of the nefarious Jewish banker. Often a minority in the population, the Jews kept their money to themselves, growing wealth in their community and then used that wealth to profit from outsiders in the form of interest. They were often repaid with persecution. This text doesn’t make that distinction, and in the context of modern banking, as long as the interest rate is not exorbitant, it seems like charging interest on a loan is a win-win transaction for both parties, and it has allowed the economy to flourish. The second unit of the verse helps to clarify the prohibition. Don’t take a bribe against the innocent. Don’t allow money to control your morality. Financial considerations are not the prime motivating factor in relationships with others. Would you sell out another human being to enrich yourself? This is the question posed here. What are the consequences of your financial transactions on the innocent? This is a complex question. Do boycotts come into play here? For example, should we boycott Chinese goods because of their human rights abuses? (or fill in the blank with any business that supports immorality at some level). If money is coined life, then what you do with it matters greatly. A godly person gives thought to how they spend their money and is particularly careful that their economic activity doesn’t harm the innocent. The final sentence is stated in the positive. He who does these things (and does not do these negative things) will never be shaken. The image of being shaken is a common one, and will occur in the very next psalm (16:8). No doubt there will be things in life that will shake us (death, disease, difficulties), but a person of character can weather these better than most because all is well within.