Psalm 15

⁰⁴          In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,

                        but he honors those who fear the LORD;

                        who swears to his own hurt

and does not waver;

⁰⁵                      who does not put out his money at usury

and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

 

He who does these [things]

shall never be moved.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Whose Sinlessness?

For the Lord’s Day:  the 28^th of December 2003

Introduction:  Early on in his consideration of this Psalm, Calvin discusses the necessary purity of those who claim the Name of Christ and are to be regarded as members of the true church.  “Provided religion continue pure as to doctrine and worship, we must not be so much stumbled at the faults and sins which men commit, as on that account to rend the unity of the Church.  Yet the experience of all ages teaches us how dangerous a temptation it is when we behold the Church of God, which ought to be free from all polluting stains, and to shine in uncorrupted purity, cherishing in her bosom many ungodly hypocrites, or wicked persons.”  There are many examples from that church history to illustrate the tendency to schism, he continues: “because it does not seem to them that a church in which vices are tolerated can be a true church.  But Christ, in Matthew 25: 32, justly claims it as his own peculiar office to separate the sheep from the goats; and thereby admonishes us, that we must bear with the evils which it is not in our power to correct, until all things become ripe, and the proper season of purging the Church arrive.”

 

We should also be admonished to make every effort to lay our lives along side of the scripture and to put off the habits of sin as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.  It should be noted that the listings here in this Psalm all relate to the traditional second tablet of the Commandments – the social relationships: in order that the body of Christ might have a good reputation amongst the nations.  And so, we might logically come to the conclusion that it is those very persons who are under the oversight and discipline of the Church who are welcome to worship in so far as it is humanly possible to discern the religious focus of their lives upon the Lord of Life.

 

Development:  A recent survey of the American population is indicative of a proper understanding of the first line in our text for today:  “In whose eyes a reprobate is despised.”  The Fox News people report that the traditional family values associated with the six commandments regarded as socially important, are supported by sixty-seven per cent of those who consider themselves Christian.  By comparison, the non-Christian population will distance themselves from the same social desireabilities by the same exact percentage.  Thus it is somewhat interesting to see a left-wing candidate who is the darling of the cultural reprobates in this country to suddenly embrace the Name of Jesus as now vitally important to the success and future of his liberal campaign for the White House.

 

The flip side of the fourth verse is also interesting in our time and place in history.  When we read that the one who is welcome in the Tabernacle is “he [who] honors those who fear the LORD.”  Certainly, there has been very little honor for those who embrace the cause of Christ in our society in recent decades!  I have carried on a small feud with one of the conservative political organizations in this country to whom I once sent campaign contributions.  Once that group publicly announced that a prominent Sodomite was being appointed to head up their fund raising efforts, I have written back to most of their funding requests to express my disdain for the hypocrisy of such a depraved appointment!  After many months of such correspondence, I have given up any hope that my concerns are being read, reviewed or considered.  So now, I simply send in the postage paid envelope without any return contents to express my frustrations.

 

Perhaps I have politicized the thematic contents of verse four unnecessarily, but in David’s royal city – it was primarily the politicians who moved to Jerusalem in the time period wherein this Psalm probably framed.  Any royal court in any time and place is a poor place to appreciate the more solid citizens who have stayed at home to earn a living and thereby support their government with an honest portion of taxes.  Certainly, it was David and Solomon’s cause to promote the religious courts of the Temple as well, but it was not always an equal contest between the dual functions of the national city which David had captured and then endowed.

 

At the very least, we must admit that those who are welcome in the Tabernacle and Temple precincts are those indeed who know the difference between the morally depraved and those who are spiritually attuned! 

 

As we read further into this selection of the Psalm, we discover four further moral compass points that should generally reflect the heartfelt desires, longings and character of those who would truly worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

 

The first observation is in favor of the man of morals who will not use the courts to his own advantage, but will when necessary “swear to his own hurt.”

 

Spurgeon quotes Shakespeare in this regard:

 

“His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles;

His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate;

His tears pure messengers, sent from his heart;

His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth.”

 

In that literate poetry we find summed up the principle that whenever a righteous man swears by the Name above all Names – his every word and phrase must be in accord with the balance of truth demanded of Him whose Name he has implored in public testimony.

 

The second observation measures the moral consistency of the man of God who:  “does not waver.”  Here the psalmist has in mind a life long, constant appreciation of personal holiness under the regular review of heaven’s only God and King.  Once I was unfairly accused of becoming more and more conservative, to the point of being unfairly reactionary to any social progress.  I objected strongly, because, as I explained – both my father and I framed or moral acumen from the Westminster Standards and had thereby been consistent in our character and social relationships for decades on end!  As tactfully as I could, I asked the accuser if what we had: was in fact a cloud buffeted by socially inconsistent winds believing that the mountains had moved in relationship to her newly discovered social standards?

 

The third observation here concerns the use of personal wealth and resources.  Spurgeon remarks that many of the Puritan divines took this prohibition too literally and regarded the practice too poorly.  According to his observations the person “who does not put out his money at usury,” is one who shares his wealth willingly where and when necessary, but in more prosperous times may invest his wealth for a profit.  I am reminded of days gone past when the middle class in America invested their fortunes in institutions of higher learning as well as scholarships so that those who desired to improve themselves might have an opportunity.  I was told, while in Seminary that the amount I paid for my education was only one fourth of what it really and truly cost.

 

While I have no doubts that the statement was fairly certain and reliable, I have many concerns that the prices of education have been multiplied a thousandfold unnecessarily by government and social manipulation.  One of the great unreported scandals of the twentieth century is how the educational institutions have used the regulatory powers of government to gain control of millions of dollars of privately funded scholarships so as to better serve their own private social agenda.

 

Absolutely, “the love of money” is indeed a wicked thing, and a proper biblical use of personal resources to assist those less prosperous is far better indeed.  I would think that the general principle in mind here should be that both lender and lendee should prosper from the relationship.  When the boys were growing up I paid them 10% per year on loaned money in a time when borrowing it anywhere else consumed 13% to 19% and if their monies had been deposited, they would have at best received only 6%.  In the last ten years, a 6% figure has been more prevalent within the family relationships, because this is more in keeping with the worldly economy.  And those monetary relationships are more often than not reciprocated from shared labor and resources that allow tax advantages rather then the mere exchange of the common green paper.

 

Our Church Deacons have been approached several times over the years for small loans, which are always refused.  This is the Lord’s money and where necessary, diaconal help is freely given and those who receive it are charged that repayment is not necessary, but gifts and offerings in the future to the Deacon’s account will be received gladly so that the same resources may be used again and again as the Lord blesses both parties.

 

Our fourth observation here is again related to the court proceedings and the man of God is described as one who:” does not take a bribe against the innocent”.  Basically, this means that any use of the courts to transfer wealth at an unfair advantage is forbidden.  And we have in this country a disturbing trend whereby the property of one person may be appropriated by another using the public condemnation and forced sale, simply because the proposed new owner means to improve the property and pay more in the way of permits and taxes.  Certainly this proposal is still in its infancy and is being combated at every stage, but it is a dangerous precedent that sometimes gets recorded in our courts of law.

 

Over the years I have heard of all manner of misuse of the courts of justice in this regard, and as we read from David, we learn that the ancients were equally at fault for mismanagement, misappropriation and every prosperity scheme imagined by the wicked hearts of men.

 

Application:  In all of these activities, the psalmist admonishes us, the man of God – who would attend the House of God, must be pristine in his ongoing innocence.  After all, this little psalm would argue, there are manifold ways to measure the devotion of those who would participate in the worship of the One true God and Father of mankind!

 

Certainly, if every commandment is drawn out as Jesus did with the case against adultery in the heart and murderous intent of anger – there are truly none innocent, not even one.  So therefore, it is and must always be realized that there is only One innocent:  Jesus Christ alone who can attend to the Father in the highest holy of holies.  And it is only His greater glory of perfection which covers over our debased and sinful humanity because of His great sacrifice for our sins on the cross.

 

Therefore, given the greater knowledge that we have in Christ, while we may affirm the surface level of minimal godliness that even the pagans can reflect, we must always be reminded that it is only our Lord Jesus who can honestly and finally fulfill the last phrase in this psalm:  “He who does these [things] shall never be moved.”  And yet, He who lived the sinless life has promised us that He died for us, thus whenever we attempt to reflect His greater glory in the fruits of the Spirit, thereby may we like David lay claim to the cause of Christ and thereby be welcomed in the Tabernacle/Temple of our Creator God.  May God be glorified whenever we are enabled to prove the presence of His Spirit in our lives, and may we also seek forgiveness when the old sinful nature is manifested in our failings.  Amen.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PREACHING RESOURCES

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.

Delitzsch, F:  Commentary on the Old Testament – Psalms.

Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.

The Westminster Confession & Catechisms.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.

http://www.tulip.org/selah/sel015c.htm

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe go to:  http://www.four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/ccrlist/