Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? … In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (Psalm 15:1, 4-5)
Those who love and uphold truth should never give in to the temptation to flatter and condone wickedness. Perhaps this is overstating the obvious but the fact of the matter is, there are times when, to save face or avoid confrontation, timid and weak believers do just that. This should never be because, not only does it send mixed messages to others, but it gives ground to the Adversary to do a great deal of damage in our lives and those around us.
If we are followers of Messiah, we must be stand steadfastly in opposition to wickedness and despise the ways of evil, even as we have compassion for those trapped in a wicked lifestyle. This being so, it also means we must be ready to identify and repudiate the carnal inclinations in our own lives just as we would in the lives of others.
Our Jewish friends develop this thought a bit more and conclude that, unlike those who recognize their own deficiencies but try to drag others down with them, we should be people who strive to see the good in others. This doesn’t negate the notion that we should despise wickedness but is intended to promote a tendency to look beyond the sin and have compassion for the sinner. According to David, this is the kind of person who will put the needs of others — even those who are not necessarily brethren — before his own needs, thus the statement, “he who swears to his own hurt.” This is interpreted to mean that he will use his resources to help others in need and will not charge them interest; in other words, he will not exploit the plight of others for an advantage.
As David closes this psalm — a psalm that describes service to God and what God desires of those who desire to abide with Him — he confidently states that those who will be true to these Godly standards “shall never be moved.” Though we all falter at times, we have the promise that, in Messiah, we are not to be dismayed because we will not be destroyed. If we are standing on the rock that is the Messiah, nothing in this world can overcome us, not even the gates of hell. To the contrary, because He has overcome, we are equipped and empowered to overcome the world and destined to dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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