Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

The year before he died, British author and raconteur Aldous Huxley wrote about a man who never grew up:

“A Peter Pan if ever there was one.

Hopeless at school.

Incapable either of competing or co-operating.

Envying all the normally successful boys—and, because he envied, hating them and, to make himself feel better, despising them as inferior beings.

Then came the time for puberty... Other boys made advances to girls, and the girls responded.

But he was too shy, too uncertain of his manhood.

And all the time incapable of steady work, at home only in the compensatory Other World of his fancy.

There, at the very least, he was Michelangelo.

Here, unfortunately, he couldn't draw.

His only gifts were hatred, low cunning, a set of indefatigable vocal cords and a talent for nonstop talking at the top of his voice from the depths of his Peter-Panic paranoia.

Thirty or forty million deaths and heaven knows how many billions of dollars—that was the price the world had to pay for little Adolf Hitler’s retarded maturation.”

(Aldous Huxley, Island, 1962).

By the grace of God, not every immature, childish man becomes a monster like Adolf Hitler—but our culture is positively flooded with men who have never grown up.

Even 40 years ago, the epidemic of childish, immature men was so pronounced that Dr. Dan Kiley wrote a book titled The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up.

And since 1983 when that book was written, if anything the problem has gotten worse.

Men who are afraid to grow up, who don’t want to take responsibility (and yet who want to be taken seriously), whose shallow immaturity leaves them with the most fragile imitation of real manhood.

God did not create men to be shallow, insignificant “Peter Pan”-types who avoid responsibility and retreat into childishness throughout their lives.

God made men—as we have been affirming throughout this series—to be significant, to matter, to be a substantial presence in this world.

God made men to carry out His representative rulership in this world, and that means that God has made men to image His glory.

Peter Pan little boys can’t do that.

Shallow immaturity is the mark of fragile manhood, but

Masculine GLORY is manifested in the GRAVITAS of a man’s CHARACTER

“Gravitas” was one of the virtues of manhood idealized in places like ancient Rome.

It is a word that describes

GRAVITAS: A WEIGHTINESS and SERIOUSNESS of manner, causing feelings of RESPECT and TRUST in others

This is a fitting way to speak of masculine glory, since the Old Testament word for glory, kavodh, also expresses the idea of weightiness, heaviness, significance.

In Psalm 19:1, The heavens are telling the kavodh of God; in Genesis 12:10, the famine was kavodh (heavy) in the land.

Brother, you are created in the image of God—you are created to be His representative ruler on this earth; you are created to image His kavodh, His weighty, significant, substantive glory in your masculinity.

In our text this morning there is a hint of this idea of the weightiness of God-honoring masculine glory—at the end of Psalm 15:5, David says, “He who does these things shall never be moved.”

King David is describing masculine glory in these verses—he is describing the substantive character—the weightiness, if you will—of a righteous man.

As we make our way through this psalm, we see that

I. Masculine glory is manifested in...

A walk of INTEGRITY (v. 2)

Psalm 15:1–2 (ESV)

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?

Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2 He who walks blamelessly...

Godly masculinity shows up in a man’s life when he is the same person when he is alone as when he is being watched.

The word “blameless” here in verse 2 is usually used in the Old Testament to describe someone who has not violated one of God’s laws (the way the Apostle Paul says in Philippians that his life was, “as to righteousness under the Law, blameless” - Philippians 3:6).

Peter Pan little boys will toe the line when they think someone is watching, but when they think they can get away with something, they will do it.

But the glory of godly masculinity—a life fit to be lived on God’s holy hill—means that you live your life always reckoning that you are in the presence of God.

You walk in integrity—whether or not anyone else ever knows about your deeds—because you know that you are always walking before the face of God.

Masculine glory is manifested in

Works of JUSTICE (v.

2; cp.

Prov.

18:17; Deut.

17:6)

Psalm 15:2 (ESV)

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right...

Peter Pan syndrome men are, as we observed a few weeks back, “nice guys” who just want to get along with everyone.

They are “white knights” who especially want to accommodate the feelings and sensibilities of women.

And so this is one of the reasons why you see the foundations for Biblical justice perverted so thoroughly in our day and age—things like the “Me Too” movement (which is part of the wider “cancel culture” in our society) would have you believe that accusations alone are enough to pronounce guilt in a matter.

All that is necessary to take away someone’s job or have them sued today is they are accused of an inappropriate or immoral or illegal behavior.

Because “we have to believe all women!” and “Racism is evil!” and “Transphobia kills people!”

But a man with the gravitas of masculine glory that is obedient to God is not moved by that perversion of justice.

Masculine glory remembers the biblical foundations of justice of cross examination:

Proverbs 18:17 (ESV)

17 The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

and multiple witnesses

Deuteronomy 17:6 (ESV)

6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.

And an upright man who does what is right does not care what names he gets called as a result of calling for true justice to be done.

Masculine Glory is manifested in

Words of TRUTH (v. 2)

Psalm 15:2 (ESV)

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

Peter Pan little boys will lie their fool heads off in order to please others or maintain their fragile appearance of masculinity.

But a man who has the gravitas of true masculine glory will be known as a man who speaks the truth—he has a reputation for being a straight shooter.

And not only does he speak truth to others, he speaks truth to himself as well.

He does not fool himself that he is more mature than he really is; he does not excuse his own sinful habits or tendencies; he is truthful before others and before his own heart because he knows that he is always living before the presence of God.

Masculine glory is manifested in the gravitas, the weightiness, of a man’s character.

In verse 3 we see that

II.

A man with gravitas...

Does not treat his WORDS as WEAPONS (v.

3; cp.

James 3:2, 5)

Psalm 15:3 (ESV)

3 who does not slander with his tongue...

Little Peter Pan boys who are faking their gravitas will always lash out to attack those who threaten them.

It used to be that you had to be in the same room with someone to lash out like this, but ever since Al Gore invented the Internet, we can safely hurl our vitriol and insults and slander hundreds of miles away, from the safety Mom’s basement.

But masculine glory tames the tongue—a man who will never be moved is a man who understands what James wrote in the New Testament:

James 3:2 (ESV)

2 For we all stumble in many ways.

And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

James 3:5 (ESV)

5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

A man with gravitas

Does not treat his NEIGHBOR as an ENEMY (v.

3; Matt.

22:39)

Psalm 15:3 (ESV)

3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor...

Fragile, ego-driven men with Peter Pan complexes won’t hesitate to throw their co-worker under the bus in order to get credit they don’t deserve (or, more commonly) prevent themselves from taking responsibility or blame.

A man with godly gravitas will look out for his neighbor, his co-worker, his fellow citizen, because he lives the way Christ commanded us:

Matthew 22:39 (ESV)

39 …You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

In the same way, a man with gravitas

Does not treat his FRIENDSHIPS as DISPOSABLE (v.