Haven’t you wondered it before? Who is close to God? How can I be close to the Lord? Will that one mistake take it all away?
There are so many scriptures that can take us to the answer. First, let’s look at Psalm 15:1-5.
Yahweh, who dares to dwell with you?
The Passion Translation
Who presumes the privilege of being close to you,
living next to you in your shining place of glory? They are passionate and wholehearted,
always sincere and always speaking the truth—
for their hearts are trustworthy.
They refuse to slander or insult others;
they’ll never listen to gossip or rumors,
nor would they ever harm a friend with their words.
They will despise evil and evil workers
while commending the faithful ones who follow after the truth.
They make firm commitments and follow through,
even at great cost.
They never crush others with exploitation
and they would never be bought with a bribe
against the innocent.
Those who do these things will never be shaken;
they will stand firm forever. Psalm 15:1-5
Here David has given us quite a few example of the character of a person in the presence of the Lord. We can look at these lines individually to understand even more.
They are passionate and wholehearted,
The Passion Translation
always sincere and always speaking the truth—
for their hearts are trustworthy. Psalm 15:2
Passionate. About what? God, His calling, and life. You can be alive and breathing yet never truly live. Part of living is going beyond the mundane patterns of life and stepping into the fullness of what God has. Reach out and grab His calling on your life. Live with joy and excitement for the next thing to come. Be excited, passionate, about God. He needs to be the main passion of your life or truly living life isn’t possible.
Wholehearted. You can try to live for God, making Him your passion, but if your heart isn’t in it, what is the point? You know when your mom made you take piano lessons (I know – cliche)? Was your whole heart in it? Likely not. Without you being wholeheartedly committed to piano, you didn’t put much effort into it and eventually gave up, right? Put your whole heart into living for God; don’t give up.
Sincere and speaking truth. Be honest in life. Not only to those around you, but with God. Yes, He knows everything you’ve ever done or thought, but you still need to be honest with Him. Realize when you are struggling to keep going in faith. Realize when you have deep, hard questions about what you believe. Take these moments and be open and honest with God. He is waiting for you to come to Him so that He can help you.
They refuse to slander or insult others;
The Passion Translation
they’ll never listen to gossip or rumors,
nor would they ever harm a friend with their words. Psalm 15:3
Refuse to slander or insult. Doesn’t that hit home? In a time when a lot of people are trying to slander and insult the innocent, we are called to do the opposite. Speak words of life. Did you know that one sentence could make or break someone? Yes, it is true that sometimes you have to be honest and not sugarcoat the truth, but that is different than intentionally harming someone.
Don’t listen to gossip or rumors. Do you spend your free time listening to who did what and all that? Do you enjoy hearing about when others are down? Yeah, sometimes going on and on about others problems makes you feel better about yourself. Just because it feels good, though, doesn’t mean it is right. Instead of talking about other lives, change the subject to Jesus.
Have you ever harmed a friend with your words? You had that huge fight and things that you never thought you’d say to their face popped out. If y’all are truly friends, you’ll be open, honest, and respectful of each other. You’d never do something to compromise their faith and requests. That is why when it comes to words, you need to think, even when you are heated. Especially when you are heated. Ask yourself, ‘are these words directing my friend in the direction God has for them?’
They will despise evil and evil workers
The Passion Translation
while commending the faithful ones who follow after the truth.
They make firm commitments and follow through,
even at great cost. Psalm 15:4
Despise evil and evil workers. Are you living in sin? Yes, we all sin, but that isn’t what I am asking. Living in sin is when you know that something is wrong but you decide to live that way anyways. Now is the time to get out of that sin. Ask God not only for His forgiveness, but for His help too. Despising evil workers can be just as hard, though. Are some of your friends living openly in sin? When I say that, I mean your close friends who influence your life. The danger is that you become who you hang with. You need to separate yourself from their sin or you yourself may fall into it. You don’t have to hate the person, but make it clear that the sin they are living in is not okay with you.
Commit and follow through. No half-baked promises people. Come on, you hate it when someone else promises something and then ditches it. Then why are you doing it yourself? Don’t just follow through with people, now is the time to follow through with God.
They never crush others with exploitation
The Passion Translation
and they would never be bought with a bribe
against the innocent.
Those who do these things will never be shaken;
they will stand firm forever. Psalm 15:5
Don’t use others. That is kinda a “duh” moment, okay. I’ve been used before, you’ve been used before, and it does not feel good. I don’t really need to say so much on this because it really is common sense. Treat others with respect and never take advantage of them.
Never take a bribe. It may seem harmless, but twisting reality for money is kinda what the whole US is dealing with. It isn’t pretty for those lied about and everyone else affected by it. God wants honest people who look to Him instead of money.
We aren’t perfect… at all. If we ask God to help us in these areas, we will “never be shaken; …[and] stand firm forever.” God is good and will help you! Keep these values in mind for my next post which will break down 1 Corinthians 13.