Making "Psense" of Psalms--Psalms 15, 24: Integrity

#3 in a series of selected Psalms that believers should understand.

I was gathering up my just-purchased groceries when the shopper behind me told the checkout clerk, “I found this on the bottom of my cart when I got out to car.” Handing over a gallon of milk, she added, “I realized I hadn’t paid for it, so came back to do that.” We made eye contact and I said, “Thank you. Something similar happened to me one time, and I came back and paid, too.” “It’s the right thing to do,” she replied. The clerk added, “Wish more people were like that.”

            Everyday vignettes like that are the message of Psalm 15. This psalm reminds us what godly living looks like and, conversely, how spiritual phonies behave. Its message is living with the awareness that God sees and knows everything. As David began the psalm, contemplating the constant gaze of God: “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” David wasn’t saying that he wanted an apartment in the temple courts. Instead, he wanted to live openly before God. As someone once said, it’s living with “roof off and walls down.”

            Psalm 15 reminds us what a righteous person does. However, it doesn’t explain the way to “get right” with God. David wrote B.C.—before Christ. We live A.D.—after Christ’s coming to earth. Christ changed “doing” for God’s approval to “done” through His sacrifice for our sins. We live as Christ summarized all the law: as loving God with all our hearts, soul, and mind, and our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40).

            Some of the behaviors this psalm highlights:

        *Moral soundness (v. 2). A blameless walk, doing what is righteous. 

 

        *Verbal responsibility (v. 3). Restraining one’s tongue, wary of gossip and slander, considering the consequences of words by asking:  Even if true, is this helpful and kind to share?

            *Discerning (v. 4). Loyal to the things of God, despising what is vile. One quick check of your D.Q. (Discernment Quotient): log onto your computer’s home (news) page. How much of the culture it portrays would offend God? You?

            *Honors commitments (v. 4b). Keeps promises, even to personal loss. Years ago, my husband sold encyclopedias to supplement a public school teacher’s salary. One night, after a hard-earned “sale,” he checked his paperwork and realized he’d undercharged a customer. Rather than go back and ask for the correct price, he made up the difference personally.

            *Generous and wise with money (v. 5). Refuses to gain through another’s misfortune. In ancient times, extortion and exorbitant interest were common. Today, that could include living with “less” and giving, so that others can simply live.

            The psalm’s conclusion is what you’d expect (v. 5b): “He who does these things will never be shaken.”  He will live with confidence and sure hope before God.

            Psalm 24:3-5 has a similar list, as does Isaiah 33:15-16. But man does not live by lists alone. The bigger reason for righteous living comes out after Psalm 24’s “righteous man” list. In a rather abrupt transition, the psalmist calls out for the city gates to open for a king’s entrance. This king is “The LORD Almighty” (v. 10), the Lord Jesus. He first fulfilled this scripture with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week before He died on a cross. But He rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and is coming again.

            Who will shout his welcome? Those ready to ascend His holy hill and dwell with Him. Yes, those with clean hands and pure hearts!

 

Next blog: Psalm 16

Heaven: The Greatest Home Makeover--Day 29

VIEW DECK
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”–Matthew 24:42

A deck with a view—what a wonderful feature for a home! Imagine one of fragrant redwood overlooking a waterfront or mountain view. How about a hot tub on one side and a fire pit for evening conversation on the other?

Will we enjoy “view decks” in Heaven? The Bible doesn’t say. But it does say much about a view that lifts our hearts toward Heaven. Think back to coastal New England in the 1800s, when many homes had a “widow’s walk” platform atop homes facing the sea. There, wives of seamen scanned the horizon for returning ships. When storms churned the ocean, these brave women knew some husbands might never return. Still they watched for that far dot hinting of a vessel headed home.

Our Biblical view deck looks out to the end of time. Now we see the storms of increasing turmoil and wretchedness on earth. But eternity is coming our way. Not all Bible scholars agree on the timing of Bible prophecy, but basic truths unite us. When we die, our bodies began decaying. But our spirits—the thinking-feeling-trusting-expressing part that understands and responds to God—immediately goes to be “with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). The spirits of those who rejected God, however, will go some place away from His gracious presence, where they’ll experience torment alone (Luke 16: 19-23).

The fullness of Heaven (and of hell) waits the end of history, when Christ returns to earth in glory. On that day, known to God, Christ will suddenly return to earth, as fast and spectacular as lightning across the sky. He will come “with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). It will catch us by surprise, like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2). At that moment, “the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess. 4:16b-17). Imagine it! Withered corpses from graves, those lost at sea or burned up, others “lost”—all believers retrieved in a blink and whooshed to Heaven with Heaven-ready, “resurrection” bodies. Then living believers, “caught up” as well with transformed bodies. No rocket ships—just the power of God! This means that some will never die! They’ll be zapped right into eternity.

During this time frame, prophecies tell of a world writhing with lawlessness because of the activity of Satan. The earth will go through cosmic convulsions of natural disasters, disease and war. Some believe Christ will come before this terrible time of history so believers won’t have to go through it. Some say half-way through, and some say at the end. The Bible indicates Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years (“The Millennium”) while Satan is “bound.” The world will have perfect government. But people of that era will still eventually die, bound for Heaven or hell. At the end of this, Satan will have a brief second chance to vent his fury, but Christ will win. He already won, on the cross. Satan’s defeat will open the jaws of hell where he and his company will be thrown forever (Rev. 20:10, Matt. 25:41).

Now come times of judgment. In the Great White Throne judgment, the “Book of Life” will be opened to reveal who believed that Jesus died for their sins. Those who didn’t will be condemned forever to hell (Rev. 20:11-15). The Bible describes hell as a place or state of unquenchable, eternal fire (Mark 9:43, Matt. 25:41). It’s called a “lake of burning sulfur” (Rev. 20:10), darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12), eternal torment (Rev. 14:10, 11), and the forever “blackest darkness” (Jude 13). There’s no letup of suffering. Why would anyone choose that when Heaven is better by far?

There’s also the “Judgment Seat of Christ” for believers already destined for eternity in Heaven. Their lives will come under scrutiny in assigning the “rewards” of Heaven (2 Cor. 5:10).

Does all this seem too far away on the horizon? Don’t let the passing of years lull you into complacency. Willet and Vera, vibrant Christians in their nineties, put on the door of their assisted living apartment a sign that said, “Perhaps today.” They lived hoping that Christ might come in their lifetime. Both did die, but assured that immediately they’d be “with the Lord.” But the rest of us should never lose sight of that reminder. That speck on the horizon of Biblical prophecy could suddenly become now.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, the phrase “perhaps today” excites me and sobers me. I know You will be with me, whatever is on the horizon. Amen.