Psalm 15
Psalm 15
1A song by David. LORD, who may come into your sanctuary[1]? Who is allowed to be at home on your holy mountain? 2 Anyone who lives uprightly, who does what is right, and who is honest through and through. 3 Everyone who does not slander others, does not do wrong to those around him, and does not bring disrepute to neighbors and relatives. 4 Anyone who does not cultivate friendship with those whom God has rejected, but respects everyone who reverance (fears) the LORD. Anyone who keeps what he has sworn, even if he suffers disadvantages as a result. 5 Anyone who does not take extortionate interest when lending money, and accepts no bribe to testify against or convict innocent people. Whoever acts in this way will never fall!
A psalm that asks two questions in the first verse, and then answers those questions in the following 4 verses. As believing Christians, we assume that we will be able to spend eternity with God after our physical death. This hope, which we already carry in our physical life, helps us to master our life. And it is precisely this hope that helps us to approach elementary things differently. Psalm 15 already gives us some clues as to what these elementary things look like. And the Bible is full of these clues. A careful reader of Scripture will confirm this. By studying the Bible intensively, we take up these instructions and try to implement them. This is often not easy, because it means that we have to constantly deal with our behavior and our values. But it is precisely the hope of eternal life with and with God after our death that gives us the strength to change decisive things in our lives. And the price we are promised at the end is great.
Paul wrote the following to Timothy:
"Fight the good fight that goes with living by faith, and win the prize—eternal life to which God has called you." NGÜ, 1 Timothy 6:12a
Paul writes about a fight and this fight against himself is meant. Against the parts in us that try to whisper to us that goals are easier to achieve through compromises. But he also writes of the prize we win by fighting the good fight. However, there is no mention of victories. And that is exactly what gives me courage and strengthens the hope that already exists. Because God knows that we humans are weak and lose many a fight against our desires. He knows that we are not perfect and never will be. For him it is central that we strive to change things in his spirit.
In Psalm 15 the word reverence (fear) is central. This word, called fear of God in other Bible translations, got me thinking about it. Fear of God is a word that is already out of our modern day vocabulary. Paul says to his disciple Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:7 "Practice the fear of God."
The phrase "Practice" suggests that this fear of God has nothing to do with fear of God, but is something every believer should learn. I have consulted various commentaries and books to get to the bottom of this word fear of God. The prompt "Practice" suggests that fear of God is something we can and should learn. Fear of God means lived devotion. And we don't achieve this by asking God for it and leaning back and letting God let us grow. While we know that all spiritual growth is possible only through God's work, we are called to participate and strive for it. And then we will grow.
I wish for each of us to strive for spiritual growth towards lived devotion. Not imposed on the outside, but as part of our Christianity.
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