Psalm 15
ID
fw005
Language
EN
Total length
00:44:31
Count
1
Bible references
Psalm 15
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unknown
Automatic transcript:
…
Please, to Psalm 15.
Psalm 15, and we'll read from verse 1.
For the sake of those who haven't been here, we've been occupied with God's covenant with Abram and David and the house of Israel.
And we have seen, I think, something of the greatness of the sovereignty of God in His blessing in an unconditional way, those two men and also the nation of Israel.
A blessing that has still to be implemented in the future and, of course, implemented by our Lord Jesus Christ because of the work He did at Calvary and His glorious resurrection from among the dead and the place that He occupies at God's right hand.
And we have seen a little of God's tremendous love and His power, His authority, and I trust we have been impressed with the one who can plan and scheme and order and do it with the utmost assurance that it will be accomplished.
The greatness of our God in His unconditional blessing.
You know that every conditional blessing breaks down because of the flesh incapable of responding to God in any way whatsoever.
The flesh cannot please God.
And no matter what blessing God indicated for man, it broke down, again we say, because of the evil of human nature and the desire to do one's own will.
But God in His greatness has indicated that there will be blessing, blessing to Abram and his seed, blessing to David and his seed, blessing to the house of Israel.
We weren't speaking particularly about the blessing that belongs to the church, only in passing, but we can add that, yes, the unconditional blessing that belongs to the church in Christ Jesus.
And so tonight I thought it might be right to consider a little practical matters that are consistent with blessing that we have received.
And it's always good to have a balance, not only to live in objective truth, although that's very, very important, but to live consistently with the objective truth.
In other words, to enjoy the unconditional blessing, but to make sure in practice day by day we live in such a way as to indicate we appreciate it and value it and also respond to God in faithfulness.
That's very, very important.
Now we want to begin with this verse one.
Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
Just let us write across this verse, the holy presence of God.
And let us ask the question that the psalmist asks, who shall abide in that holy presence?
Now, if it were possible for each of us tonight to be taken into the holy presence of God, how would we feel?
Isn't that a good question?
If each of us had the opportunity, the privilege, the honor of being placed into the immediate presence of a holy God, how would we feel?
Would we be concerned about our outward appearance, remembering that everything is open to the eye of God?
Would we be concerned about God's omniscience, that he knows everything and can look right into our hearts, into our minds, take account of our motives?
He knows us through and through.
Dear friends, how would we feel?
If we think of the blessing that we have in Christ, that we're sheltered by his precious blood, and our position in Christ, we're perfect, accepted and beloved, then no problem.
No problem.
But if we take account of ourselves practically, that might be another matter indeed.
I've felt for a long, long time, dear friends, that perhaps this is one of the most important things that each of us has to consider, our standing with God in practice and faithfulness.
No problem at all about our standing before God in Christ.
That can never be altered, broken or destroyed.
That's done once and for all in Christ because of God's love for us.
But you know that in the New Testament, there are many, many, many scriptures presented to us as to our walk in faithfulness.
And that's always very, very challenging indeed.
Now we just want to go down this psalm and challenge our hearts, first of all, as to how we are walking before God.
It says, He that walketh uprightly, and he that worketh righteousness, and he that speaketh the truth in his heart.
So you're walking and you're working, and you also have the word, how we use the word, how we use our words.
Are they from our hearts in truth?
We want to speak first of all about walking, and that's why I suggested we should sing that opening hymn.
What a tremendous thing to consider the walk of Christ.
That's always a wonderful thing for us to contemplate, to see a man in this world walking in perfection.
Not a single thing wrong with what he said or what he did or what he thought.
I do always the things that please the Father.
And then we remember that John tells us, we ought to walk as he walked.
There is the standard of the Christian's walk, to walk as Christ walked.
And surely we have every encouragement to do this.
We have the Spirit of Jesus, we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we have the Spirit of the Lord.
And that indicates to me that the Spirit is able to produce in us features that were seen in Christ, features that were seen in Jesus, features that were seen in the Lord.
He's the only one who can do it.
And we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
And praise God, we take account of this company and look around and say, yes, there are those features to be seen.
Thank God for them.
And we would have them develop deeper and fuller, I'm sure.
Every one of us would admit that, desire that.
That these feelings that we have towards Christ, these features that are somewhat like Christ in us should be enlarged.
Walking.
He that walketh uprightly.
Yes, that's the kind of person who can be in the presence of a holy God.
A person who walks uprightly.
I think you'll agree with me that every book in the New Testament, with its blessings, has a corresponding walk.
And if you think of the epistle to the Romans, and you remember the catalogue of sins and departure from God that's mentioned in chapters 1, 2, and 3.
No wonder the apostle says later on that we should walk in newness of life.
Blessing coming into our hearts, our offenses, our sins gone.
Blessed in Christ.
Yes, we shouldn't be like the kind of life that we lived before we were converted.
That would be absolutely wrong.
It would be a denial of the truth of salvation.
And so to walk in newness of life, of course connected with the truth of baptism.
But walking in newness of life is something that should mark every believer.
And thank God we have the power to do it.
When we come to the epistle to the Galatians, you remember in chapter 5, the epistle says,
Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
We have an instance there in that book of those who were not walking uprightly.
My, if it happened today, people would say, what a fuss you're making, Paul.
What a fuss you're making about Peter eating a meal with the Gentiles.
Or eating a meal sometimes with the Jews, to the exclusion of the Gentiles.
What a fuss, Paul.
Paul says, they are not walking according to the truth of the gospel.
And very often, it's the little things in our lives that indicate where our desires lie.
The little things that we're required to be faithful in,
that really indicates as to whether we have a desire to do what's right or please ourselves.
And so it was with Peter, and Paul withstood him to the face.
But when it comes to day-by-day living, we're all confronted with the flesh.
And it's an evil, powerful force.
And we all have it.
And there's only one power that can help us to overcome it.
And that's the power of the Holy Spirit.
What a delightful thing it is to know that that power is operating in us.
Operating by our subjection to the word of God.
Willing to be led by the Holy Spirit just as the Lord was when he was here in this world.
To know the Spirit's power in overcoming those perhaps evil temper, evil desires, greed,
and many other features that belong to the flesh that are so uncomely in a Christian.
And in the Spirit's power, praise God, they can be overcome.
And when we come to the epistle to the Ephesians,
you remember Paul unfolds a tremendous scope of blessing
presented to us sovereignly by God, through Christ, and in the Spirit's power.
And so it says Paul, you ought to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.
You're members of the body of Christ.
You belong to the habitation of God in the Spirit.
You're adopted into this wonderful place of nearness and dignity.
You're accepted in the beloved.
And so you go on and on and on.
Tremendous list of blessings.
Paul says, you ought to walk worthy of that vocation wherewith ye are called.
Isn't that far more testing than having a standard for ourselves?
A standard that we can easily make for ourselves and feel quite proud that we have attained to it.
Isn't it much more exacting, more demanding to think of the height of the blessings that God has brought us into
and to realize we cannot attain to them except we have a power outside of ourselves.
And that power, the power of the Holy Spirit.
I shouldn't say outside of ourselves because he's in us.
He's in us to help us day by day.
Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.
I'm sure we often see pictures either in books or through television of the Queen inspecting some troops.
And they're all spick and span.
And they're all standing to attention.
And everything is just right.
Why? Because the Sovereign is there.
It has to meet the eye of the Sovereign.
It doesn't matter if each individual is quite happy about what he does.
It matters what the Sovereign thinks.
And I believe that's what it means to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called.
It's God who has called us.
It's God who has blessed us.
And we are to walk consistently with that.
When we come to the epistle to the Colossians,
you know that Paul, in order to combat the evil that was coming in among the Colossian believers,
presents the greatness of Christ.
The philosophers were saying,
now it's quite all right, you Colossian people, to be Christians.
But why not add a little of man's intellect, man's philosophy?
It's very, very good, you know.
It's very, very cultured.
Intellectual.
It will improve your Christianity.
No, says Paul,
ye are complete in him.
And if we are complete in him, obviously,
we don't need anything from anyone else.
Everything we have is in Christ.
And Paul says,
That's the standard, the greatness of Christ.
Not my standard, your standard, any traditional standard,
anything that man might suggest,
although they might be perfectly good in one sense.
No, the standard is much higher than that.
The standard is the Lord.
Well, that's a very high standard.
Very, very high standard indeed.
And whatever we might think,
it is something we always have to remember,
God doesn't lower his standard for anyone.
He doesn't bend his standards to suit any condition.
He always maintains his standard.
The Lord Jesus never lowered the standard of conduct
that was obligatory to any believer.
He always maintained what was the height
of God's desire and God's will.
As we said, that was his great desire
in coming into this world,
to do the will of God and how well he did it.
Never deviated, humbly, obedient, faithful,
in spite of all that was against him.
Walking worthy of the Lord and to all pleasing.
Then, dear friends, in the epistle to the Thessalonians,
you remember when Paul and his companions
were at Thessalonica, he preached unto them
that there was another king coming.
Obviously, he had spoken to them about the coming kingdom.
And that brought him and his companions
into conflict with the authorities.
They thought that he was saying,
well, there's a king coming
who will be in conflict with Caesar.
No, he was saying there is a coming kingdom
and he will take control of the whole world.
Paul indicated this in many parts in his preaching.
Well, when the Thessalonians believed,
they enjoyed this thought that they were going
to be part of that kingdom.
And Paul enlarges upon it when he wrote to them.
Wrote to them to encourage them
in the suffering they were passing through.
And he says, you ought to walk worthy of God
who has called you to his kingdom and glory.
Oh, dear friends, we can see clearly
that the height of the Christian's walk
is not any man-made standard.
It's a God-made standard.
It's the Lord himself.
It's God himself.
And people who walk in this way,
without a shadow of a doubt,
they would be quite happy in the presence of a holy God.
There would be nothing incongruous in their life
that would make them afraid.
They would be quite happy, conscious
that what they were doing was pleasing to God.
Just as the heavens were opened on the Son of God
when he was here in humble manhood,
so I believe in some little measure
the pleasure of God is expressed
when he sees men and women,
boys and girls, under the influence
of the power of the blessings that they have
walking here for God's glory and praise.
How pleasing to heaven to see features of Christ
produced in us, walking uprightly.
Now we haven't time, but I make this suggestion to you,
especially the younger people,
but it's good for the old people too.
Just go through the book of Proverbs
and see the things that are mentioned
about those who are upright.
You'll find it very, very interesting indeed.
Those who are upright, the features that attach to them,
features that are well-pleasing to God.
Then it says, those who work righteousness.
Here it is a question of working.
Now you know that if there's anything that pleases God,
it's righteousness.
The Lord Jesus Christ, he hated iniquity
and he loved righteousness.
If you turn to Proverbs chapter 10,
you'll find many, many features
that attach to a righteous man.
Read it carefully, you'll find a great blessing
when you read about the righteous man
in Proverbs 10.
We'll see a few words about it later on.
Very, very, very interesting
in the way a righteous man is viewed
in the sight of God.
And those who work righteousness,
they too can enter into the presence of a holy God
without any fear of being repelled.
When we come to the New Testament,
a great deal of stress is placed upon working,
working not to obtain salvation,
but working because it's the outcome of salvation.
I understand our dear brother Martin
has been giving lectures on the epistle to Titus
and without doubt that epistle
is an epistle of good works.
From beginning to end,
there is an emphasis upon it.
If I remember rightly,
at the end of the epistle it says
to be zealous of good works,
to be really concerned about producing
something good that's pleasing to God.
We remember that the man who is mentioned
in 1 Timothy chapter 3,
the one who desires the work,
and I think that's the proper word,
not the office of a bishop,
but the work of a bishop.
I think Mr. Darby's translation renders it that way.
If anyone desires the work of a bishop.
Now there is a work,
a work that is so necessary
amongst the people of God,
caring in righteousness for the saints,
unbiased, impartial,
only concerned about what pleases God
and what is according to truth.
Able to present the word of God
as bearing upon any situation,
either individually or collectively,
because he has a deep, deep concern for the flock.
He's not governed by any other motive
except that.
Not looking for praise,
not looking for popularity.
Someone mentioned some time ago
about being popular.
I said I'm not looking for popularity.
Popularity is a fickle thing.
Don't mind being loved,
but don't want to be popular.
Because popularity,
you have to please this one and that one
and the next one in order to remain popular.
And that's no use for a Christian.
Christians govern by the truth,
not popularity.
And those who exercise any form of shepherding
amongst the people of God
have to be marked by this.
This working in righteousness
to bear the truth of God
upon any particular matter.
And so this matter of working
is a tremendous matter.
Tremendous matter indeed.
Working in righteousness
to meet the eye of God,
to please the heart of God,
and to bring benefit to those concerned.
Then we find it says,
and speaketh truth in his heart.
Now I've put a few things down here
because I can't remember them all.
But I first of all want to speak about
speaking the truth in his heart.
What I need there is
to speak truth.
Not double-tongued.
Not exaggerating.
Not lies.
Not misrepresentation.
Speaking the truth.
The truth as it's known
without any shadow of doubt.
Not one side of any particular problem,
but the whole truth.
And in the book of Deuteronomy
it's said specifically
that searching must be
given to a particular matter
to discover what the truth is
before any judgment is passed.
Speaking the truth
in his heart.
Very, very important.
Whether individually or connected
with the company,
most essential in the Christian testimony.
And so dear friends,
this is a very, very
encouraging matter.
Well, think of us going into
the presence of God.
The holy presence of God.
Have I lied about anyone?
Have I misrepresented anyone?
Have I exaggerated in any particular matter
to make glory for myself?
Have I in any way been double-tongued?
Have I in any way spoken
a half-truth so that
the people might believe the part
that's not true?
Then I wouldn't feel very, very happy
in the presence of a holy God.
But if I speak
the truth from my heart
without any bias
and perfectly impartial
then I can stand in the presence
of a holy God without
any fear of being expelled.
And again, I want to draw your
attention to
Proverbs chapter 10.
And that's why I've noted them down
because I know I couldn't have remembered them.
And it says,
the tongue of a righteous man
is a fountain of life.
My, that's a beautiful expression.
Someone
speaking from their heart like that.
A fountain of life.
Refreshing.
Enlivening.
Something that's really worthwhile
coming out of one's mouth.
A fountain of life.
Then it says
in verse 20 of chapter 10
of Proverbs,
as choice silver.
Something valuable.
Something that enriches.
Something that helps the believer
to understand.
And of course we know that silver is the well-known
emblem of redemption.
And something
to engage the soul with
in this great blessing
of redemption and in all its fullness.
My, it's good.
Can I use the expression to have a
silvery tongue? Not a suave
tongue that speaks
in such a way to create
glory for oneself.
No, not that kind of tongue.
A silvery tongue that presents
the greatness of Christ and redemption
and all that he has secured for us.
Then it says
the righteous, the tongue
of the righteous man
feeds many
good, solid, spiritual
food coming from
the utterances of
a righteous man. A man
who speaks the truth from his heart
without any bias
as we've said so often.
Speaking the truth, he can feed
many. Thank God
we've known such men
and we've known such women
who in a few sentences
have been able to give us some spiritual
food that has encouraged us
and led us on the way
pleasing to the Lord.
And lastly, it says
in verse 32
no, verse 31 rather
wisdom. The tongue
of the righteous man speaks
wisdom. And that's a
very, very wise thing today.
In the epistle
to the Corinthians,
one of the gifts is
a gift of wisdom.
And I believe that that gift is
especially concerned
about the local company.
It's not a tremendous
mass of knowledge
that brings some glory to the person
concerned, but the gift
of being able to say
the wise thing to meet
whatever is necessary. And my
that is very, very valuable
as you know. And here is
the tongue of the
righteous man that speaks
wisdom. Oh, what a
valuable thing that is. Paul
was a wise man. Timothy
was a wise man. Many,
many wise men in scripture.
Their tongues fed the saints
with worthwhile food.
Good, strong, spiritual
food that was able to help them
and encourage them. And also
wise sayings.
Sayings that were calculated
to help. And then we find
lastly, what is
acceptable. All
these other things that I mentioned
like lies and exaggerations
and misrepresentations.
These are quite unacceptable.
When you read the
newspapers today and you read
about trade union
desires and they get made
an offer, quite unacceptable.
That's the thing that we read continually.
Well, all these things
that I'm mentioning of a negative character
quite unacceptable to God.
But the tongue
of the righteous man, he
speaks what is acceptable.
What is good, acceptable to God
and certainly
acceptable to the saints. Well, then
if you like alliterations
in this second verse,
we have walking and
we have also the
working and
I don't know if I should coin the word.
We have wording, but they certainly
are very, very
valuable features
in this matter of
standing in the presence
of a holy God.
And remember, this is
always a standard in this psalm.
This is the whole object
of writing this psalm.
David indicating, guided by
the spirit, what is acceptable
in the presence
of a holy God.
And we've been saying this recently
and it's most important to say
God is omniscient.
He knows us
through and through.
It's a wonder he goes on with us.
But he knows us through and
through, everything about us.
Our wills, our desires,
what we do.
Well, when we're in private
no human eye
sees us and we might feel
well, we have a certain amount of leniency.
We haven't, not as far
as the eye of God is concerned
in his omniscience,
in his knowledge, that's the particular meaning
of the word. Oh dear friends,
God knows us
through and through. What a challenge.
Wherever we are, every day
of our lives, every moment
of our lives, he knows us.
And also,
his omnipresence.
In Psalm 139
the psalmist says,
Whither can I flee from thy presence?
Not one of us can.
Always under
the eye of God.
Always in the scope of his knowledge.
Always
there to see us and to understand
what we're doing.
His omnipresence, he is everywhere.
Very, very
solemn and searching matter.
And this is what the psalmist is saying.
Who's going to stand
in such a God's
presence? So he's
indicated some moral features.
Says in verse 3,
very, very negative indeed.
He that backbites
or slandereth not with his
tongue, nor doeth
evil to his neighbor,
nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor. Three positive
things in verse 2,
three very negative
things in verse 3.
I'm not
going to speak about these things
in any detail,
but they're very, very important.
We could put the word
slander for backbiting
and it would give us
the true meaning. And again
in the book of Proverbs, I think
I'm right in saying there are seven
references to slander
and the kind of thing
that it creates amongst
the people of God. Paul
says, through evil
repute and bad repute,
or should I say evil report
and good report.
Obviously the apostle, great
man that he was, knew what it was
to be slandered. The Lord Jesus did.
He knew what it was to be slandered.
And many saints of
God down through the ages
have been slandered, wrongfully
represented,
bitterly represented.
Oh dear friends, what an awful
thing when anyone uses
their tongue to deliberately, willfully
misrepresent
anyone by a slanderous
tongue. And yet,
unfortunately, it's done.
And so we are warned
here that that kind of thing
is of no use whatsoever
for the presence
of a holy God.
You remember when
Aaron and Miriam
they spoke
against Moses?
Remember what it says? Just a few
words.
And the Lord
heard.
That's a challenge.
And the Lord
heard. Every word
that we speak,
the Lord knows about it.
And that should be a
very, very great guard
that we might be using
our tongue in its proper
way, not in a wrong way
as this word says.
He that backbiteth not with
his tongue, doesn't do it. That's the point
here. It's not saying that
someone does it. The person who's
going to be in the presence of God doesn't do it.
And then it says,
nor doeth evil to his neighbor,
nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor.
How should we act
towards our neighbors?
In a literal sense,
the neighbors that are near to us.
Maybe unconverted
neighbors. Maybe very awkward
to do. And I believe
the story of the Good Samaritan
is a very, very good story
indeed. I know we spiritualize it
in many ways, and we have a perfect right
to do so. But always
remember that when the Lord
Jesus spoke that parable,
he was indicating to them
what it was to show mercy
to our neighbors.
Go, and do thou
likewise. That's the real point
of the parable, however much
we spiritualize it.
And oh dear friends, what a tremendous thing then
to have in our hearts
a desire for the blessing
of our neighbors.
Praying for them,
making sure that we don't see anything
or do anything that's beneath
the walk of a Christian,
compassion towards them,
ready to help on any occasion.
That's the kind of person
that doesn't do evil
to his neighbor. That person
will stand in the presence of a holy God.
The nation of Israel
was warned against this kind of thing.
Don't ever be hard
against those who are
servants or bond slaves.
Remember that you also
were bond slaves in Egypt.
And so God reminds
them of what they were
and what God had been to them
and what they ought to be
towards others.
And surely, if we have obtained
mercy, we ought to be concerned
about our neighbors finding mercy
and make sure nothing in our
lives hinders the flow
of that.
In verse 4,
we have
and I write over this verse 4
good
judgment, good
judgment. It says
in whose eyes a
vile person is condemned
and he
honoreth them that
fear the Lord. That is
this kind of
person who is standing in the presence of
God is fearless
in his condemnation
of evil no matter
where it may be found.
And on the other hand
ready
to give honor
where honor is due.
And then it says,
he that sweareth to his own heart
and changeth not. That is
he puts his hand to something
and suddenly he finds
that's going to involve me
in a great deal
of difficulty,
going to involve me in something that's not
very pleasing to me, I'm going to change
my mind. I've changed my mind
about that kind of thing. No,
this man, he's put his heart
to it in a very definite
ways before the Lord. I'm not
changing my mind even though it
brings me into difficulty
and trial. Now I think
that this requires good
impartial
spiritual judgment.
In whose
eyes a vile person
is condemned.
I think we have an excellent example
in John the Baptist.
I think
in all our hearts, I think it's natural
to the human heart that when we're in the
presence of great people, we
might feel we want to condescend to them.
We might want to
well what shall I say
flatter them or keep in
with them in some way or another.
That seems to be a natural feature.
John the Baptist wasn't like that.
He found evil
in high places
and in an uncompromising
way he was prepared to
condemn it and lost his life for it.
He wasn't prepared to say that
this great man was good when he
wasn't good.
He was prepared to say what was right
and true.
That's always a great difficulty
especially when other
features come into play when it comes
to condemning evil.
Business associates,
social standing,
special friends,
natural relatives, all
sorts of things can come in
to hinder a proper judgment
about evil.
Hence on the other hand
it's equally difficult to give
honor to whom honor
is due. I think the
Apostle Paul is one of the most
delightful characters in this way.
In Romans chapter
16 he has a whole
list of people. He mentions
some very very important ones
like Timothy and Priscilla
and Aquila and gives
them the honor that's due to them
because of their faithfulness.
Then he mentions a whole list
and we would never have known their names
if Paul hadn't mentioned them.
But he speaks about them, men
and women, in the Lord.
They pleased the Lord, they worked
for the Lord, they did much in the Lord.
Very very like what we find
in the book of Nehemiah about those
who built the wall. There were those
who built a piece, there were some who built
two pieces, but the nobles
didn't put their shoulder to the work.
The big people, the elite,
they didn't do anything.
But oh Paul is so ready
to show his
appreciation of those
who are serving the Lord
as he was. And too
he commends Timothy. Timothy
oh he says, he works the work
of the Lord the same as I do.
There was a very very high standard.
Tychicus, oh he's a great man
Tychicus. If you just want something
to be done, send for Tychicus. He's
always ready, he'll go wherever
he's asked to go, he's an unavailable
man. Paul was
always ready to give honour
where honour is due. No envy,
no competition.
The Christian circle is one
and if all are working for the
glory of God and the glory of Christ
then these persons are worthy of honour
in Paul's mind. Is that
true in us? We
mark by any spirit of envy or competition
absolutely out
as far as the Christian circle is concerned.
No, let us
honour those who are serving the
Lord and wanting to glorify
God and glorify Christ.
And that's a very very
good principle. He honoureth
them that fear
the Lord. These persons
can stand in the presence
of God. A man who's prepared
to condemn evil in himself
first, unsparingly
in himself first. And
then wherever he finds it, yes
such a person can stand
in the presence of God. In the
presence of a holy God.
And you know that holiness
and sin are opposites.
And sin cannot stand in the presence
of God. And so here is one who
is upright and true and
faithful and he condemns it. As we've said
in oneself first
and then wherever
he sees it. Honouring
yes, it's very much
wider than even the Christian circle.
Paul
was a very considerate man
when he was dealing with those in
high places.
He speaks about most
noble Festus.
He says King Agrippa.
Luke
writing says most noble
Theophilus.
The courtesy that belongs
to a Christian in dealing
with people who are in places
of office.
Places of importance. It's right
that we should give those
courtesies.
Those honors that belong to
the position except one.
I would not be free
to refer to those in
high places in Christendom
who bear titles that scripture doesn't
give them. Most Reverend
the Pope
or moderator or any title
of that kind that does
not belong to the Christian circle
in the divine revelation.
These are honors
given by men in the Christian
circle that have no place
in the divine revelation.
But in the world of men
we are entitled and if we should
as Christians give
those courtesies as Paul
did and as we should.
Those who are in high places
ought to be honored.
So this is what this man does.
Then he that sweareth to
his own heart and change it
not. Now if we could use a simple
illustration. I vow
or I swear
before the Lord that
I'm going to do a certain
thing. Then
I discover that by making
this oath, by swearing
in this way, by making this vow
I'm going to be
involved in a great deal of trouble.
Maybe a great deal of expense.
I never thought that this
would happen. Maybe two
and a great deal of unpopularity.
Maybe I'm going to give
myself a lot of trouble.
I'm going to change my mind.
I didn't really swear before
the Lord in truth.
No, that's not right judgment.
That kind of person is
double-minded. That person
is selfish.
So the psalmist
here indicates that a person
who does that is not
fit to stand in the
presence of a holy God.
So we have to be very, very careful
when we make a decision before
God that we don't change it
simply to suit our own ends.
That would be very, very wrong
indeed. Such a person wouldn't be
qualified to stand in the presence
of a holy God.
Now lastly, we come to
verse 5 and we find another
three things. You'll notice that
in each of the verses there are three
things mentioned. Here are another
three. He that putteth not
out his money to usury
nor taketh reward
against the innocent. These are two negative
things. But he
that doeth these things shall never
be moved. That's the final statement
and that's very, very encouraging
indeed. Now without
going into any
elaborate
explanation of this verse
one can write over it very, very
simply. Uprightness,
honesty in connection
with financial matters.
Not in any way being
wrong, not in any way being
dishonest, not in any way doing
anything that's below this
great level of holiness
that God has.
It's very, very striking that
in the Acts of the Apostles
again and again and again
we come across this matter
of money. Ananias
and Sapphira.
Husband and wife in collusion
over money.
A man thinking that
he would get some money from Paul.
I forget
all the references but there are many
and it puts
money in a very, very bad light
in the way people deal.
And so this is what the Psalmist
is saying. Such a person
is not fit to stand in the presence
of a holy God.
We must be upright
in our dealings in every way.
Honest, upright before men,
upright before God.
And that's a very important thing
in connection with Christian living.
And, says the Psalmist,
he that
doeth these things
shall never be moved.
It's quite a saying, isn't it?
Or a song, rather. We shall
not be moved. Well,
they use that song in political
demonstrations, in all
sorts of situations, but when
you find it in scripture, it has
a different connotation altogether.
It means that we'll not be
moved away from what is
pleasing to God. Established
in things that are pleasing to God.
Established in things
that give God glory.
We shall not be moved.
We are established in this desire
to follow the pathway of Christ
and to follow the pathway
that's pleasing to our God
and our Father. Well,
dear brethren, these are
very, very simple things,
but I don't need to
tell you how challenging they
are and how necessary
they are in your life,
in mine, day by
day, if, and remember
this is the governing statement
in the Psalm, if we are going
to stand in the presence
of a holy God.
That's the standard, not yours,
not mine, the standard that
the Psalmist presents. The challenge,
who is going to stand in
the presence of a holy God?
Well, may we all be encouraged.
Praise God, we'll be in the
presence of a holy God for all eternity.
Not because we've been
faithful, but because the Lord
Jesus loved us, gave himself
for us, God views us
in him now at the present moment
and for all eternity.
Yes, we shall stand in the
presence of a holy God.
Isn't that a marvelous ending
to the Epistle of Jude?
He shall present us
faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding
joy. To the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory
now and
forever. May we be encouraged
for his namesake. …