“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
This is the powerful motivation and foundation that Peter cites as the way to grow in a huge list of qualities, including faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, and love (2 Peter 1:3-8). We see lists like this in the New Testament, and they can be helpful ways to examine the growth of our faith and our sanctification, fueled by God’s grace and power.
In Psalm 15, David wrote one of the first lists like this. And it was meant to be sung!
Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?
A Psalm of David.
15 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
What is the meaning of Psalm 15?
Psalm 15 may first appear to be a list of rules that one must follow in order to go to heaven. However, instead, it is a personal musing on holiness and godliness. It assumes faith in God’s plan and a sincere submission to Him as supreme leader. It battles the hypocrisy we can find in our own hearts and lives as we join with other believers, and it shows that we must walk in faith through a serious, intentional plan to seek God first and follow His plan of holiness in our lives. These are the characteristics that should be true of all believers:
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart
- Blamelessness: The psalm deals with the issue of hypocrisy at the very beginning. When David writes about a person who “walks blamelessly” he is talking about God’s viewpoint of the believer rather than his peers’ opinion of him. Another way to translate the Hebrew word here is “wholehearted” or “sound.” He should do “what is right” as well as preach to himself the “truth in his heart.” This is not someone who is trying to do good things for the praise of men but because of his fear of the Lord.
who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend
- Forgiveness and Love: I think it’s interesting that the first sin against other people we are told to avoid in this list is sinful speaking. The psalm also points to the motivation of such speech: refusing to forgive. When we hear ourselves say unkind things about someone or treat them badly in any way, we need to check and see if we are blaming them or accusing them of something. If we are harboring something against them, the first thing we need to do is forgive them, so that we can think and speak in a way that follows the first characteristic.
in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD
- Holiness: In this age of information, it is easy for us to honor vile people who should be despised. We have endless information at our fingertips about people; thus, we can watch and read true stories as well as fiction that can set us up to sympathize with someone who is doing wrong or even fantasize about living the same kind of lifestyle. Although we may feel contempt for outrageous celebrities or the rich and famous, we sometimes watch them or read about them with some level of fascination because of their worldly success, exotic fashion, or simply because they are in the headlines.
David says that we should despise a vile person. And give honor only to those who fear the LORD. How much of our personal time is given to reading about and watching vile people? On the flip side, how much of our time is given to reading about and learning from Christians in the past?
who swears to his own hurt and does not change
- Trustworthiness: This person is honest and will keep his promises. When we have given our word but then things get difficult, we can easily find rationale for why we can get out of doing what we said we would do. Instead, we should view this as a challenge that the Lord has put into our life and follow through no matter what.
who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent
- Integrity: The last quality deals with how we make a living and use our finances. We must, in all respects, avoid dishonest means of financial gain. We should not abuse people in order to make money, and we shouldn’t allow our opinion or actions to be swayed dishonestly by money. We must seek God first, and He will provide what we need. We cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in the world’s system of making money.
Which characteristic sticks out to you?
For me, it’s the third characteristic. Occasionally, I read something about a celebrity that makes me want to read more about that person’s life or watch videos about that person. David may have never envisioned our modern age, when it is so easy to follow and virtually stalk people, but he writes that we ought to despise what is vile or evil and give honor only to those who are fearing God.
I might expect David to say it a little differently. I might expect him to say, “Don’t honor the wicked—honor God instead.” But he mentions honoring people who fear the Lord. We ought to spend more time reading about great Christians of the faith. We should be spending our time honoring and learning from men and women of faith, not being fascinating by extremely sensational people with worldly success.
The way we spend our time reveals our priorities, and our priorities reveal our values. What does our free time reveal about us? Does it reveal that the most important thing is to please ourselves, vicariously enjoy worldly or sinful things by watching or reading about them from afar?
Instead, we ought to spend our spare time in ways that will build up our faith. These other things are NOT neutral. They are actually tearing us down. The only way we will give them up is IF we replace that time with something good. That is the way that God has created us—to put off and then put on.
What will you do this week to follow one of these characteristics more and more?
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
2 Peter 1:3-4
Suggested Reading
‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ ‘Thy word is a lamp to my feet.’ ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart!’ Such phrases leap to mind whenever Christians lift their hearts to God. For many, in fact, the Psalms are the richest part of the Old Testament. Derek Kidner provides a fresh and penetrating guide to Psalms 1―72. He analyzes each psalm in depth, comments on interpretative questions and brings out the universal relevance of the texts. (Amazon description)
Studying the book of Psalms is essential to knowing God’s character, His promises, and how to pray to Him. This reading plan will help you to become more familiar with Psalms and to daily meditate on truths that will change your life. (Amazon description)
