Psalm 15

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

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
    and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue
    and does no evil to his neighbor,
    nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
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;
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.

As we contemplate this Psalm, we might well conclude that no one can stand in the presence of the Lord. And we would be correct for here we come face to face with God’s holiness. Only those who have pure hearts and are righteous may enter into fellowship with the Lord. The problem is that if we assume we can do so by our own efforts, we fail. No human can achieve such perfect righteousness by good or charitable works, no matter how noble they may appear to the world, or how incredible they think they are. 

The good news of the gospel, however, tells us that Jesus is our righteousness. By faith in Him we are made righteous. We are able to stand in the presence of the Lord and to manifest the character traits of holiness, enabled to mirror the righteousness of Jesus. By faith, there is no blame attached to the righteous. They repent of all known sin. Their heart is set on doing God’s will and not the will of the flesh. Their speech is truthful, gracious and clean with no trace of malice, hate or slander. The righteous do not seek their own glory. They always keep their word. They are always willing to help those in need. The righteous seek justice for all.

It is helpful for all believers to remember these things when entering into public or private prayer and worship on Sunday when we enter into the Lord’s sanctuary whether on Sunday morning in church or daily in the temple of the Holy Spirit which is our heart. The Lord God is honored by a heart of faith and humility that does what is right, that seeks the benefit of others.

What does it mean to you to keep your oath even when it hurts? How do you do this in your own life with family, friends or at work?