Did you ever observe what happens when young people fall in love? I have recently observed a number of youth that found the shower (perhaps for the first time) as a result of their new found desire to impress another of the opposite sex. These changes remind us of some of the laws of human change. One such law is: “We can change when the incentives are high enough.” I know a man who swore he could not change his quick temper. Yet, in the middle of an argument his cell phone rang and he calmly dropped his voice and said “Hello, this is Tom, who can I help you?” I pointed out to him that he was able to immediately drop out of anger mode and he simply replied, “Well of course, because that person may be a client!” With the right incentive, we can change.
Long ago, King David knew what it was like to see people change their clothing, and their behavior based on being in the presence of power. If they wanted the king’s attention, there was an expected pattern of behavior. As a king, he confronted the tendency people have to change their behavior radically in order to gain access to his presence. King David took that observation and went in a different direction than most of us would have. He decided that if people changed themselves to be acceptable in his presence, he too must carefully examine his life and decide if he had sufficiently prepared himself to be in the presence of his Holy King – to walk in intimacy with his God. David already concluded that the changes were WORTH SACRIFICE, and devised, under the influence of the Spirit, a preparatory inspection checklist he could use to gear himself up for intense and prolonged worship and intimacy with God.
Before a pilot takes off in a plane he does an inspection and carefully follows a checklist of items that must pass muster before he will endeavor to fly. The space shuttle has exhaustive checklists that are used to clear the flight before the rockets are fired. In that same way, God provided a checklist of things that we are entirely responsible for – choices that we must make and examinations we must pass before we are prepared to stand in His holy presence in intimacy.
Some will react to this that we are setting up a “works oriented relationship”, but I suspect that a close reading of the text would allow no other real interpretation than the fact that we are responsible for our own preparation to worship. Writer upon writer has concluded that Psalm 15 is a response to time with God, but I cannot accept that based on the opening question of David. The question wasn’t “How will I be changed if I am with you.” That is the question many commentators seem to approach the passage with. The question is not about the EFFECTS OF WORSHIP as much as the PREPARATIONS FOR INTIMACY with God. David wasn’t asking what happens to a person who spends time with the Lord (though certainly some of the character changes would continue and strengthen by doing so), he was asking what preparations needed to be made in his life to be acceptable in the presence of the Lord to begin with. The question that he posed in verse one was “What kind of person is truly prepared to be in Your presence and remain close to You, O Lord?” That is the subject of the checklist of twelve items that followed the question.
Key Principle: Deliberate inspection and surrender of each attitude and inner hunger (or desire) to my Master’s hand is the beginning point for an intimate, personal and deliberate walk with God.
The text opens in 15: 1 “Master, who may dwell (goor) in your tent (ohel)? Who can live (shawkan) on the place of your holy mountain (har kodesh)?”
The question reveals that some choices were already made by David. First, he wanted to come into the presence of God, and dwell there – or prolong the time they shared together. Second, he presumed that NOT EVERYONE was ready simply because they wanted time with God. The mountain of God was HOLY (kodesh) or distinct from any other place. The question reveals that David understood that we cannot be casual with the holy. We must prepare. We must acknowledge its supreme difference from the normal.
I hear far too little about preparation for worship, and far too much about how it should change us. (Jesus reminded the disciples that the soil is also important to growth – not simply the seed and sower). I do not argue that worship should and will change us – I argue that preparation was also part of the plan of God. We need to take responsibility for preparation – and not spiritualize our laziness and inertia in making right choices to prepare our hearts to meet God.
Each verse contains three specific attributes of a twelve attribute checklist. There is a case to be made that the twelfth is actually an observation, but we will not dwell on that distinction for the time being. Psalm 15:2 includes the first three specifics that appear to deal priarily with inner attitudes that set the stage for all the others. “הולך תמים ופעל צדק ודבר אמת בלבבו׃“
STEP ONE: CHECK MY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO BLEMISHES IN THE MIRROR
Attentive to sin blemishes (holech tamim): One whose goings are unblemished (tawmim- 15:2a). The idea included the attention to avoid sinful practices, as well as the daily maintenance of proper life.
Shalem is a word for completed and perfect in Hebrew, but that is not used here. The other Hebrew word for “perfect” is tawmim, meaning absolutely complete, right (related to tawmid, “continual,” perpetual,” “daily”). Thus tawmim meant morally perfect, not just living up to all the light you have or according to your own conscience (which can be enlightened or not).
Rev. Gordan Runyan wrote: “This verse is saying that the worshipper must be sincere. “Sincere” comes from two Greek words that you might’ve heard spoken in the marketplaces. Our Sincere comes from Sine and Cera. Together, they mean “No Wax.” When a potter fired his wares in the oven back then, it was common for the clay to crack. An unscrupulous potter would then take some wax and use it to fill in the cracks, then paint over it all and try to pass it off as a good piece of pottery. But a shrewd buyer of pottery knew that a simple test could show him if the pot was truly good or not. He held it up to the sunlight. Spots filled with wax would be plainly evident then as the light penetrated and shone through. A pot with no wax was thus a “sincere” pot. It had no wax. It really was consistent with its advertising. There is no wax in the true worshipper. He is not like the Pharisee, saying on the outside that he loves God and obeys. Neither is he like the modern Evangelical Christian, who loudly proclaims his heartfelt love for Jesus, but cannot bring himself to keep the commandments. The cup is washed inside and out. He speaks the truth in his heart, and that truth is consistent with how he acts.”
STEP TWO: CHECK MY ENERGY
Active in seeking right acts (v’pual tsedek): accomplishes what is right and just (15:2b). Am I actively working with my energies to accomplish positive tasks in the life of people? It is one thing to focus on walking in a way that is unblemished, but a whole different matter to be positively producing right acts with my time, talent and treasure – all received from my God to live this life.
STEP THREE: CHECK MY INTEGRITY LEVELS
Authentic (v’debar emet b’lev-vo 15:2b): One who declares in words (debar) truth (ehmeth) from his heart (layvawv).
It is easy to lie to myself. It is easy to convince myself that my actions and words had sound reasons that were rooted in Biblical values, and cover the tracks of my self motivation. I must check my heart, with the light of God’s Spirit, and face the fact that I can be self deceived. If I regard lies in my heart, God’s Word will be torqued around inside and produce more hardened justifications and self affirming feelings, rather than challenge my inner strong self and cause my knees to buckle to His holy “other-ness”.I cannot be what I would otherwise be. My hunger for His presence presses me to search deeply into the recesses of my heart before I can dwell in intimacy with Him. How many times David shows us how this is done! He asks God to aid him in searching his heart, and trying his thoughts…
STEP FOUR: CHECK MY TONGUE
Psalm 15:3 includes three more specifics that seem to relate to SPEECH and the use of the tongue: לא רגל על לשנו לא עשה לרעהו רעה וחרפה לא נשא על קרבו׃
Guarded and gracious in speech (lo rawgal al-lishanu – 15:3a): He who has no hidden words that speak from behind others (rawgal: to go on foot to spy from rehgel: foot – 15:3). Recently I have been challenged anew with the casual way I could easily speak about others. I cannot allow this if I am prepared for a prolonged intimacy with God. I exclude myself from His inner confidences and hold myself outside the chamber if I casually treat the use of my words concerning others. I must guard my mouth. James could not have been clearer (see James 1) about the devastating nature of the tongues fire damage.
Positive (not provocative- לא עשה לרעהו רעה): Does not devise inequity or trouble for his neighbor (15:3b). Though the grammar does not exclusively include only the tongue, the context demands that I address verbal traps I may have set for people. The issue of not planning trouble for my neighbor is not ONLY about what I could say, but it is certainly in part about the use of words. I cannot become casual with another man’s heart, another man’s reputation – I must treasure others and their care if I am prepared to stand in the presence of the Master. The idea continues profoundly in the next phrase…
Loyal : (וחרפה לא נשא על קרבו) One who will not allow (lo nasa: doesnot take in) his neighbor to be ashamed (Charpaph is reproach from charpaw: upbraid or blaspheme) or taunted (15:3b). The idea is that this one will not accept upbraiding of his neighbor, but loyally comes to his defense. A true worshipper defends his neighbor’s good name. I will not only cease from casually speaking badly of another, I will refuse to be in the place where such speech occurs. I will stop it, because it will blemish my heart and make me as unusable as a dropped scalpel in an operating room. I must check my tongue for loyalty, and behind disloyal speech I will find a hunger to be affirmed by others that is both unhealthy and unholy. My value comes from my Master – not my friends. The hunger to be seen as important is a manifestation of immaturity and ungodliness. It must be tamed and quieted inside.
STEP FIVE: CHECK MY ROOM (CHOSEN ENVIRONMENT)
This designation may require a bit of explanation. In 15:4 David includes three more phrases of preparation for God’s presence: נבזה בעיניו נמאס ואת יראי יהוה יכבד נשבע להרע ולא ימר׃ The first two phrases related to the place I keep myself. There are choices involved in the room I choose to be in as I prepare to walk intimately with the Master. Do I spend my time surrounded by people that understand His Holiness and draw me toward Him, or do I casually encamp with those who have declared themselves to be His enemies, and than walk into His presence? The first phrases are both selective ideals:
Selective Rejection (negative): (niv’zeh: despises + b’einav:in his eyes + nimas: from mawas: one who deliberately rejects) One who sets aside a rejector of God and His ways – 15:4. I dare not choose to pitch my tent in the camp of the scornful and agnostic men and then walk from that place into the tent of God on the Holy Hill. If I am not uncomfortable with the work of evil men, my heart is not right and ready. If I am not broken by their hardness, and wounded by their careless pride, I am not ready.
Selective Affirmation (positive): (v’et-yirah YHWH v’chabbed) but places weight (kawbad) on those who revere the Lord! (15:4b). I am not only to be negatively selective (to move out of a room filled with those who despise my Master, but I am to select a room where others who seek His Holy presence and place weight on intimacy with Him are dwelling. The wrong room pulls me down, the right room moves me forward in righteous hunger, and righteous yearning.
STEP SIX: CHECK MY COMMITMENT (FOLLOW THROUGH)
Unwavering: (nishbah:covenant + l’harah + to his hurt + v’lo yamir) He who keeps his word when he covenants to do something, refusing to exchange it when difficult (15:4b). It is easy for me to want the benefits of a relationship without the work in the relationship. It is easy for me to make promises but walk away from them when my attention is pulled elsewhere. The approach to the Holy One is a consuming vision. I must hunger to be in His presence more than I hunger for other things. What Bonhoeffer said was absolutely true: “When I sin, I do not hate God – I simply forget God.” I must not forget. I must not place Him second. I must make the commitment to walk with Him, and show the desire by standing my other commitments. In a day awash in broken promises, contracts, mortgages, marriages – the church must stand apart from the culture of casual commitment.
STEP SEVEN: CHECK MY PRIORITIES
In the next two phrases, David reveals an attitude that can be uncovered in looking carefully at the use of money (Psalm 15:5): כספו לא נתן בנשך ושחד על נקי לא לקח עשה אלה לא ימוט לעולם׃
Am I Generous? (כספו לא נתן בנשך ) He who gives his substance (kehsef) without an angle to personally gain from it (neshek: today a “weapon” but from the word “to bite” nawshak – 5:5a). Do I use money to “bite” another? Is this about THEM or about MY GAIN?
All that I have came from God’s good hand. If I want to be in His presence and walk in intimacy with Him, can I treat things as more important than the people of my life? If I am “flexible” and lenient on myself for the sake of business, I allow a blemish in my heart to grow. It will eventually grow to displace my hunger for Him – it will be a hunger to use what He has given me to ease my life at the expense of others. Could it be that some of my wealth was given so that I could care for others with no benefit beyond pleasing my Master?
Honest: (v’shochad: a bribe + al- naki: the innocent + lo lakach oseh eleh: nor take does these) He who cannot be bought to say something against innocent ones for personal gain (15:5B). This is logical next step when people are less important than money and gain in my life. The point to these last two is that OTHER PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT than my personal gain, or I am not prepared to walk with God.
THE ULTIMATE BENEFIT: STABILITY – CHECKLIST COMPLETE
Stable: לא ימוט לעולם׃ (lo yimot: won’t totter or collapse + l’olam: forever): “He who does these things will not totter (mote)!” Like Psalm 125 speaks of Mt. Zion, and the unmoved Holy Hil, so shall my life be when I prepare my steps before the King. Recently the world has been deeply torn by the heartbreak of an earthquake that struck Port au Prince, Haiti. More recently, the Chilean government has begun the grim task of digging out people from the piles of rubble that shook their country.
CNM News Network reported: “One strange fact of the Chile earthquake 2010 is that it moved the earth 3 inches off its axis, shortening our day by milliseconds. The change won’t cause a change in weather patterns, but it’s scary to think what continued earthquakes could do to the planet as we know it. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the insured damages from the Chilean quake could cost up to $8 billion. This means that the earthquake could cost insurers in the Latin American country lots and lots of money. On top of general weak world economies, the losses could cause crippling blows to the country. Over a million people are said to be displaced by the quakes. This means that there are lots of shattered hopes and dreams. Some have lost all that they have. Looters, riots, and general chaos abound as people don’t know what to do.”
There are no words to describe the suffering of people in these places, and our prayers and help is sent continually to aid where we can. Anyone, anywhere can be rocked by the earth shifting. When the earth shifts, buildings fall. We design them for some movement, but nothing is designed for the power of a near 9 point quake.
In the same way, there is virtually nothing that can make a man stable against the shaking and shifting of his culture, the rattling of a failing body, the painful tremors of an unfaithful friend – like the stability of intimacy with his God. Intimate, personal and deliberate time with God is the change agent we need to become an enduring and effective tool in the Master’s hand. Deliberate inspection and surrender of each attitude and inner hunger (or desire) to my Master’s hand is the beginning point for an intimate, personal and deliberate walk with God.
