Stand Firm

We are at the period of time in late summer when the cycle of seasons begins.

Kids are going back to school

The last summer holiday is just around the corner

You realize that NINE MONTHS of the year have almost passed

And you are wondering...

WHAT HAPPENED!

You might start organizing

You might try to get some things done

You might golf a little more

Some of you might be evaluating your life AND

plan some big changes

regret you did not change some things

What we find out about ourselves, is...

What we want to change, we won’t

That makes me wonder why...

I had a conversation about this with my daughter recently...

And it made me think about what I have changed in my life...

And…what I have NOT...

That made me think even more about how I INTERACT with scripture...

AND what it TELLS ME TO DO...

Why is that so hard?

As it turns out, I am not alone in pondering these thoughts.

2,500 years ago or so, a Poet King considered this.

Psalm 15

A Psalm of Poet King, David

While his CIRCUMSTANCES were quite different

His wrestling with HOW to be a good person were NO DIFFERENT

The Poet finds himself pondering an interesting question.

And I can imagine the Poet sitting on his roof, looking out at the Tabernacle where God dwells, and thinking to himself...

LORD,

What traveler may be in your tent?

Who can live on your holy mountain?

Psalm 15:1

What causes a person to think about this?

You might be thinking about others (unlikely)

You are thinking about yourself

(Who)

Those who are complete (integrity),

Those who do what is right, and

Those who speak truth from their heart.

Psalm 15:2

Complete/Integrity (Blameless)

Truth from the heart requires truth in the heart.

(Who)

They have not gone about gossiping,

They have done no wrong to a neighbor,

They don’t revile those near them.

Psalm 15:3

(Who)

When they see contempt, they reject it,

They honor faithful followers of the LORD,

They keep their promises, even when it hurts.

Psalm 15:4

(Who)

They lend money without interest,

They cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent,

Psalm 15:5

Such people,

will stand firm forever.

Psalm 15:5

What we want to change, we won’t

We will change, for what we love

When they see contempt, they reject it.

You are under NO OBLIGATION to live with, be friends with, or have a relationship with SOMEONE contemptuous or who despises others.

The Poet King, pondered the idea of being with God.

We know from what he wrote that he LOVED God and LOVED to be with God.

He took some time to think about what it means to Love God.

BUT!!!!

When he took his eyes off the tabernacle, the mountain of God, that tent where God dwelled, something awful happened...

2 Samuel 11:2 ESV

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

The question that remains for us is...

What do you love?

When you have that in your mind...

Here is the next question...

What is Love’s true cost?

Our Poet figured out the cost:

I must be complete, whole, blameless

I must do what is right

I must know and speak truth from my heart

I cannot gossip

I cannot harm my neighbor

I cannot think ill of them

I must separate myself from evil people

I must honor faithful followers of the LORD

I must keep my promise, even if it hurts me

I must give without expecting profit

I cannot take a bribe

I cannot lie about the innocent.

Then, I can stand in the presence of God.

There are three verses about WHAT I should be,

The rest are about HOW I should act towards others.