Preparing for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - Psalm 15

Psalm 15

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.

 

As we move closer to Sunday worship, we move from the prophetic words of the prophet Micah to the poetic words of the psalmist David.

 

We find in this psalm the some of the potential roots of the refrain of a well known African American spiritual.  When taken with the words found in Psalm 1 verse 3 we come up with the words, "Like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved". 

 

It is interesting that many in the academic world see this as what is referred to as an example of an entrance liturgy - words that would prepare folks for worship.  Taken in its context, however, it may lend itself more to what it means to be constantly abandoned to God's instruction, to live under God's refuge, and to live surrendered to God's rule.

 

I love how the prophetic and the poetic echo each other.  I love how the prophet and the psalmist from two different eras reflect the same character of God and the same message from God to God's people.  So what if the living out of our faith (outside of worship) and the expectations of us in coming to God in worship were the same?  What if my church life and the rest of my life were in synch with one another?  What if I didn't come to worship until I had dealt with the wrong I had done to my neighbor?  What if I allowed what I learned in church and from the scriptures to shape me so radically that I never hurt my neighbor to begin with?  What if my walk on the week days was as blameless as my walk on the day of worship?  What if I spoke truth from the heart at every turn?

 

I invite you to take the answers to the question in verse one  (those answers are found in verses 2-5)and turn them into questions for reflection (as I just exemplified above).  Maybe, just maybe, the Holy Spirit will have a word for all of us that do this.