Day of Praise

Mo, 10/20/14, "Day of Praise"

"LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
   Who may live on your holy mountain?" - Psalm 15:1

It's a blessing to have a friend, a true friend, that you can count on through thick and thin. A true friend is also wise because, in knowing you, they are often able to see things about you that you yourself are missing, things that you really need to see.

If such is true for a human being, that they can see things about you that you really need to see but that you yourself are missing, then how much moreso for God.

God, being omniscient (all knowing), can see things about us that are critical for us to see because, God says, some of what God sees about us is destroying our relationships with God and others.

The collective spirit of our country is rapidly going the way of moral relativism, that is, people want to see things the way they want to see them and do things the way they want to do them.

God is looking at our morally relativistic country and saying, "I'm better than a true friend. I'm seeing things that you're not seeing that you really need to see because the way you're going is killing you, and your ways are killing our relationship."

Today's verse from Psalm 15:1 asks the question, "Who can dwell with God?" The rest of the psalm basically gives a description of the "blameless." The "blameless," biblically speaking, are not those who have not sinned, for God tells us plainly that all have sinned. Instead, the blameless are sinners who receive God's word and say, "Please LORD, help me to see what you see so that I may dwell with you."

Our country needs more blameless people. We need more people who will stop asking for a free pass mor"ally", financi"ally", relation"ally", and the rest of the "-ally"s.

And we need more people who will say, "Okay, LORD! Let it start with me! I'm a sinner. My ways don't work. So with the eyes of Jesus and in the strength of Jesus Christ whose righteousness alone makes it possible for me to be in your presence, help me to see what you see that I need to see, and give me your help and strength to amend my life that it may be pleasing in your sight and that I may dwell in your sacred tent, now and forever."

I'm in. What about you?

Here's the whole of the psalm.

Psalm 15 - A psalm of David.
 1 LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
   Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 The one whose walk is blameless,
   who does what is righteous,
   who speaks the truth from their heart;
3 whose tongue utters no slander,
   who does no wrong to a neighbor,
   and casts no slur on others;
4 who despises a vile person
   but honors those who fear the LORD;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
   and does not change their mind;
5 who lends money to the poor without interest;
   who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
   will never be shaken.

Praise God!

Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson