PSALM 15
Lord,
who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?
The
one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
—Psalm
15:1-2 NIV
I returned home from the office supply
store and checked my receipt. Because of a mix-up when I refunded one set of
pens and purchased another, I realized I owed the store a couple of dollars. It
would have been easy to let it slide. But I knew living with the guilt would
not be worth it. I returned to the store and paid the difference—to the clerk’s
surprise.
In Psalm 15, David asks who is qualified
to live with God. The answer appears to describe a perfect person. It’s easy to
read those words and decide outright that no one qualifies, because none of us
has perfectly succeeded in that long list. Others might read those words and
see themselves as righteous while easily pinpointing others who are
not—particularly people in the public eye and in leadership positions. Yet
David himself fell short in some big ways, and he was a king.
David, of course, knows only the basic behavior-based
system of the Old Covenant, where those who have pleased God with this kind of
performance can expect blessing from God. It’s about a person’s overall
character—not that they never mess up, but when they do, they admit it quickly
and make it right instead of covering it up. Although our righteousness comes
from Christ alone, He can make us people of character and integrity.
Question for Reflection: Last time an error left me on the winning end of a financial transaction, did I make it right?
No comments:
Post a Comment