Latest / Reformed Thinking / Who May Dwell with the Lord? The Marks of the Upright (Psalm 15) | Charles Spurgeon

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Who May Dwell with the Lord? The Marks of the Upright (Psalm 15) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed Thinking, the deep dive that cuts St. to
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  the core of what matters. Today we are opening up the
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  sources on Psalm 15, and this is a this is one of the Scriptures
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  that presents a really practical and searching question.
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  It really gets right to the point.
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  What kind of person is fit to stand in God's presence?
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  It's a question that echoes through the entire Bible,
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  really. Our source material for this is
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  well, it's compelling. We're drawing from some very
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  deep notes on the Psalm, and most critically from Charles
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  Spurgeon's huge commentary, The Treasury of David.
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  And that gives us a very reliable lens, I think, to
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  analyze not just the text itself, but its application.
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  So our mission today is pretty specific.
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  We're aiming to extract the core knowledge about the practical
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  qualities the the characteristics required to
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  dwell with God. We're tackling that one
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  inescapable question that David asks Who is the true citizen of
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  Zion? And what you get from a deep
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  dive like this isn't, you know, just a list of feel good
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  theological ideas. No, not at all.
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  This Psalm, it sort of forces you to look in the mirror.
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  It gives you a detailed moral and ethical profile.
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  A list of visible actions. Yes, visible actions, and those
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  actions are presented as the fruit which has to spring from
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  the root of divine grace, the logical connection there.
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  So it helps you distinguish between the sincere believer,
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  the person who's actually doing the work.
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  And the person who just has a verbal and outward profession of
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  faith, it's a necessary tool for self examination.
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  And, you know, sometimes a painful one.
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  OK, so let's unpack the historical setting first,
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  because you're right, Psalm 15 is not an abstract poem floating
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  in space. No, it's tied to a really
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  dramatic event in Israel's history.
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  It's highly probable that it was written in connection with the
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  removal of the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy Hill of
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  Zion. Right.
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  And that event immediately grounds this very spiritual
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  question in a physical, tangible setting of worship and
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  sovereignty. That historical ground really
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  does set the whole atmosphere for the song.
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  The movement of the Ark was, I mean it was the central
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  religious event of David's reign.
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  And a political one, too. It wasn't just bringing some
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  furniture to the Capitol. It was about bringing the very
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  presence of God to the chosen location.
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  And this is where the gravity of the question starts to build.
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  Who gets to stand near that presence?
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  Historically, that was a question of, well, life and
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  death. A.
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  Matter of great consequence, yes.
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  And we have to remember the dramatic failure of the first
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  attempt to move the Ark. David couldn't do it.
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  And the sources tell us exactly why this was such a big
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  theological lesson. The phrase used is that
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  unauthorized persons had intruded into the office of
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  attending to it. That initial failure is the very
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  reason David had to pause and really consider the question we
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  see in Psalm. 15 It is. The sources under score that
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  moment, the death of Yuza. It was a moment that made David
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  fearful. It was terrifying.
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  It taught the entire nation a lesson.
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  It taught them that sincere intention just isn't enough when
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  you're approaching the King of Kings, if the physical approach
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  required such exacting reverence and, you know, following God's
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  specified rules. Then how much more stringent
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  must the spiritual requirements be for someone who wants true
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  continuous communion with him? Exactly.
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  It sets a very dramatic backdrop, The question in the
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  Psalm, Who shall abide in my Tabernacle?
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  Who shall dwell in my holy hill? It feels like a direct response
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  to that initial catastrophe. David realized his approach
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  needed to be perfectly aligned with what God required.
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  Indeed, the correction that followed, I mean it required
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  incredibly specific divinely appointed arrangements.
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  For that second successful attempt.
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  The source is going to detail about David's careful
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  orchestration. He didn't just try harder.
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  No, he consulted the law. The specific consecrated task of
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  carrying the ark, which was a very public ceremonial office,
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  was given only to the Levites. Specifically, the family of
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  Kohath who were set apart for this exact duty.
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  But I think the sources give us another detail that's maybe even
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  more instructive. It helps us distinguish between
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  that ceremonial role and just a quiet, practical faith.
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  You're talking about the care and stewardship of the Ark while
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  it was waiting. Yes, that's it.
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  It's a subtle but critical distinction.
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  The Ark was left for a time in the charge of Obit Edom and his
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  family. And the Lord had blessed his
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  house immensely for it. Immensely and crucially, the
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  sources note that he and his sons ministered in the House of
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  the Lord by providing for its practical care.
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  Yeah, it's upkeep. So you have two different kinds
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  of service being validated here, which that sort of expands the
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  scope of the answer, doesn't it? It does.
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  You have the Levites, who represent the strictly public
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  authorized ceremonial performance of duty.
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  And then you have Obit Edom who? Represents the faithful,
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  practical, everyday service and stewardship, the quiet work of
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  the Lord done faithfully at home.
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  So the lesson is that whether you're involved in the grand
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  public acts of worship like carrying the ark.
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  Or the quiet, persistent acts of faithful service, like caring
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  for the instruments of worship. The requirements of the same
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  preparation, reverence and alignment with God's rules are
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  non negotiable. David learned that lesson in
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  terror. And it's passed on to us as this
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  list of moral credentials. The Psalm setting also brings up
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  two specific places of dwelling in that first verse, the
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  Tabernacle and the Holy Hill of Zion.
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  And this connects directly back to the the unsettling history of
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  the Ark itself. It had a history of wandering,
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  didn't it? It did.
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  It was set up in the desert. Then it was at Shiloh.
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  Then it was captured by the Philistines, returned to
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  encourage at Jerem. It was restless.
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  It moved from place to place until David finally secured its
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  resting spot on Mount Zion. And that unsettled history has a
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  spiritual lesson for us. It does if the ark was a
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  sojourner and the people of God were sojourners.
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  Then what does the Tabernacle represent for the Christian
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  today? The Tabernacle represents the
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  Church here on earth. Our sources describe it as a
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  movable temple. Because we're pilgrims who have
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  no continuing city here. That's it.
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  The Tabernacle is temporary. It offers shelter.
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  It offers defense. A place to meet God.
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  A refuge from the storm, you could say, but it's not our
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  final home. We're just passing through.
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  And the holy hill of Zion, the goal of David's efforts,
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  represents the contrast to that. It's the ultimate destination.
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  The Holy Hill of Zion is the perfect church above the
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  heavenly Jerusalem. It signifies a place of sound
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  and sure rest. This is the fixed, firm, eternal
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  home. So the question in Psalm 15, it
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  really has 2 dimensions. First, who is fit for the
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  temporary, often turbulent fellowship of the earthly
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  Church? And 2nd and maybe more to the
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  point, who is fit for the eternal, stable security of the
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  heavenly city? And the answer, as we're about
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  to see, is the same person for both.
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  That's a powerful way to frame the spiritual stakes here.
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  We're not just asking about Sunday morning appendance.
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  No, we're asking about eternal citizenship.
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  Which brings us to the inquiry itself in verse one.
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  And this is where it gets really interesting because the person
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  asking the question, David, he doesn't go to the priests or the
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  prophets for the answer. No, he doesn't.
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  The inquiry is posed directly to Jehovah, to the Lord himself.
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  And that choice that immediately sets the tone for the depth of
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  the interest inspection that's required here.
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  Right. Why go directly to God?
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  Because only the infinite Mind, the one who is the searcher and
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  Trier of the hearts of men, can give an answer that will truly
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  satisfy a guilty or an unquiet conscience.
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  That's the point, isn't it? We can deceive ourselves so
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  easily, and we're easily deceived by the outward
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  appearance of other people all the time.
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  We might look at someone who talks a good game or someone who
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  dresses right and we just assume they're a citizen of Zion.
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  But only God knows the internal workings of the heart.
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  Only He can distinguish the true resident from the, you know, the
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  mere visitor. And the question is necessary
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  because, as the source notes, even among those who profess
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  faith, who appear to be part of the community.
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  There are still aliens from the Commonwealth who lack any true
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  secret intercourse with God. We see the external forms of
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  worship, but the core is just missing.
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  So when we read Lord, Who shall dwell in thy holy Hill?
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  We shouldn't treat that as a theoretical exercise.
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  No, absolutely not. We're supposed to make it a soul
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  searching inquiry directed at our own conduct in our own
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  internal reality. And when we look for the answer,
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  the sources are clear that we have to understand it in two
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  layers. The first layer is the primary
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  identity. Right.
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  And strictly speaking, on the grounds of law, no mere man can
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  dwell with God. Why not?
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  Because the requirements listed in Psalm 15 are perfect, and no
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  human being can claim an intrinsic holiness that
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  perfectly meets those requirements, we all fall short.
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  So the first and primary answer to David's question is someone
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  who did meet those perfect requirements.
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  Jesus Christ, the Man of Sorrows.
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  He's the only one whose righteousness endureth forever.
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  He's the only perfect man, whoever lived.
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  The absolute mirror of sincerity and holiness.
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  His very essence satisfies the demand for a holy life.
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  He is the standard. He's the flawless example.
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  This means that before we even try to apply this list of moral
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  qualifications to ourselves, we have to recognize that our right
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  to with God rests entirely outside of us.
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  It rests in Christ's perfect fulfillment of these criteria.
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  That's critical. He alone possesses the wedding
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  dress of righteousness. And only that garment grants the
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  right to sit at the banquet of fellowship with God.
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  The source material gives us a beautiful contrast here.
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  When the world looks at the suffering servant and says
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  behold the man, the believer looks and responds by
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  identifying the Lamb of God. As the only one whose absolute
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  merit gains them that firm abode on Zion.
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  He is the blessed surety who fulfills every single law and
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  stands accepted on our behalf. That sets an impossibly high
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  standard, a perfect standard, but the question also describes
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  A derivative identity. The sincere believer, Yes.
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  So what does that look like? The good news is that the query
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  also describes the person who is a child at home in the Church of
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  God on earth. Now, their holiness isn't
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  intrinsic. It's not self generated.
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  That is real. It is real.
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  It is, and this is the language used, wrought in all His people
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  by the Holy Ghost as they are actively being conformed to His
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  image. I want to spend a moment
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  clarifying this because this is where the Reform perspective is
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  so important. If Christ is our perfection,
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  then the works listed in Psalm 15 are not the cause of our
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  dwelling with God. But they are the inevitable
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  proof that we are dwelling with Him.
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  That is the theological architecture.
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  The root is grace, and the fruit is the life described in the
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  Psalm. And that gives us the crucial
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  distinction for our self examination.
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  The acceptable person is identified not by their talk,
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  not by their profession or their opinion.
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  Not by what they say they believe.
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  Right. But by their walk, work and
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  word, and the sources, they pull no punches here.
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  They assert that a mere verbal Christian is a real atheist.
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  That's a shocking statement, a real atheist.
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  It pushes back so hard against, you know, what we might call
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  easy believism. Or just external religiosity
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  really does It means that if your inner reality hasn't been
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  transformed the outer profession, it just counts for
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  nothing in God's eyes. God's Tabernacle, according to
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  the sources, is described as a hive for workers, not a nest for
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  drones. That's a great line.
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  The sincere believer is is identified as the honest and
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  sincere doer, not the mighty talker.
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  They're visible, measurable actions are the evidence that
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  the Holy Spirit has actually begun and continues that vital
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  work of conformity within them. And if the works are absent.
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  Then the spiritual root is suspect.
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  So if the inner heart is the spring of life, and the works
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  are the visible indicator, we need to slow down and look very
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  closely at what those indicators are supposed to be.
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  We do. OK, let's unpack this necessity
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  of uprightness. Because the credentials they
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  start deep within before they ever move to social
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  interactions. The sources begin with the
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  internal disposition that governs everything else.
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  The connection between inner grace and outward action is
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  described as organic. That's a deliberate word choice.
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  It is outward conduct is the fruit of an internal root of
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  grace. You can't reverse the process.
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  A person must possess a new nature, be righteous in their
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  being, before they can consistently and sincerely
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  perform genuine works of righteousness.
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  A bad tree cannot produce good fruit.
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  That's the principle. Now let's look at the first
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  qualities listed, which concern the integrity of heart and
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  speech. Walketh uprightly and truth in
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  his heart. What does it mean to walk
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  uprightly? To walk uprightly is about
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  posture. It means maintaining an erect
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  and honest spiritual disposition.
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  The source uses the image of someone on a high rope.
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  Right. If you lean to one side, if you
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  lean toward compromise or wickedness, you must fall.
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  This person avoids spiritual cringing.
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  They avoid flattering others for gain and they absolutely avoid
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  having sinister aims, ulterior motives in their dealings.
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  That takes some real spiritual fortitude.
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  That uprightness can't be achieved by self-discipline
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  alone. It needs a core strength.
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  It requires the strong backbone of the vital principle of grace.
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  Within that inner principle, the new life given by the Spirit is
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  what keeps the believer perpendicular in their behavior.
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  It's what helps them refuse to bow to temptation or worldly
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  pressure. It's the integrity of the soul
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  made visible through a consistent life direction.
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  And. If that spiritual backbone is
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  strong, it must necessarily come from speaking the truth in the
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  heart. Now this is more than just
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  simple honesty and conversation. This is about internal reality.
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  This requires rejecting internal falsehoods, and those are often
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  far more subtle than external lies.
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  What are we talking about here? We're talking about eliminating
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  double meanings, evasions, equivocations, the use of white
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  lies to smooth over social situations, and professional
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  flatteries. The mind must become the
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  sanctuary and refuge of truth. So the citizen of Zion hates
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  lying, not just on his tongue, but in his mind.
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  The intention must match the verbal expression.
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  The words must be faithful interpreters of our minds.
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  No hypocrisy is allowed. No double mindedness.
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  Absolutely none, and the sources stress a particularly severe
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  point here about the connection between the heart and the
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  tongue, which is there is no mortified tongue while there is
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  an unmortified heart. The tongue is the stream and the
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  heart is the fountain. That's the image.
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  If the stream is impure, you have to look to the source.
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  We must cleanse the fountain to purify the stream.
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  The sources talk about a double string that ties the tongue
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  directly to the heart, demanding strict agreement between the
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  two. I think we need to spend some
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  time on the implications of that mortified tongue idea.
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  In modern life, we're almost trained to use evasive language
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  to posture to spin information, but the citizen of Zion is
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  required to resist this completely, even when it's
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  professionally or socially inconvenient.
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  That's right, a lie is a lie, regardless of its perceived size
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  or its social function. Spurgeon speaks of the common
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  habit of using flattery to manipulate superiors or using
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  equivocation to escape responsibility.
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  The upright heart refuses those tools.
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  It has to. If a man says he will do
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  something, his heart has already resolved to do it, and that
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  resolve carries weight. If he says he believes
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  something, that belief must be the sincere conviction of his
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  mind, not just a verbal performance.
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  And that takes courage because the truth often offends it does.
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  Let's tie this internal machinery, the heart's integrity
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  and the tongues truthfulness back to that analogy from the
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  sources, the clock mechanism. It's such a clean way of
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  summarizing this connection. It is a perfect image.
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  Think of the internal workings of a finely tuned clock.
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  When the wheels of the clock move within, that's the heart
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  settled and fixed in principle by grace.
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  Then the hand on the dial must necessarily move without.
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  Righteous actions, honesty, uprightness.
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  These are simply the visible indicators.
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  They're the moving hands registering the hidden internal
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  movements of the gears that have been tuned by divine grace.
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  So if the hands are motionless, or if the actions are corrupt or
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  dishonest, we know the inner works are unsound.
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  Precisely to claim citizenship in Zion, you must demonstrate
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  the synchronization between your inner and your outer self.
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  If the heart is fixed on Christ, the life must be visibly
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  righteous. Moving from the inner
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  disposition to outward conduct, the song gets highly specific.
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  It gives us this detailed moral profile for the citizen of Zion
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  in his everyday life. Especially concerning his
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  neighbors, his social circle and his commercial interactions.
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  So let's start with restraint of the tongue and social malice.
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  The godly person shows remarkable restraint in social
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  settings. And first, there are two related
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  negative commands. They do not backbite.
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  Which is defined very strictly. Yes, it means refusing to
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  maliciously defame a neighbor behind their back, or spying out
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  their defects specifically to expose them for public scorn.
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  So this is active malice. It's a deliberate destruction of
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  someone's reputation. Exactly.
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  The backbiter is seen as extremely harmful.
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  The source calls them the devil's bellows to blow up
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  contention. Wow.
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  The Devil's Bellows. It's a strong image.
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  They are fanning the flames of discord within the community.
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  The tongue is designed for praise and truth, but when you
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  use it for back biting it becomes an instrument of hell.
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  It undermines the very fabric of fellowship.
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  And a true citizen of Zion refuses to participate in that
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  kind of spiritual vandalism, correct.
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  But the Psalm doesn't stop there.
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  It demands not just that we restrain our own tongue, but
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  that we police our own ears. The.
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  Upright person does not take up a reproach against a neighbor.
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  This is a harder test. I think it means they refuse to
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  listen to to receive, or just circulate gossip or slanders
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  that others have invented. So if someone tries to poison
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  your mind against a brother or sister, the citizen of Zion just
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  shuts it down. They do.
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  They don't accept the poisonous tail into their ear, even if it
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  might be interesting or, you know, juicy.
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  I wonder if this is sometimes more difficult than simply not
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  speaking I'll of others. Gossip is often dressed up as
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  concern or just sharing information.
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  It requires extreme vigilance. If we connect this to the bigger
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  picture, the receiver of the gossip is viewed as being just
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  as guilty as the person who starts the tail like a.
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  Thief who steals a reputation. Right, the source provides a
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  powerful saying. The tail bearer carrieth the
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  devil in his tongue, and the tale here carries the devil in
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  his ear. So you can't escape spiritual
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  defilement simply by being a passive listener.
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  To listen to a reproach is to confirm the sin and allow the
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  contention to take root in your own mind.
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  You become part of the problem. So we have to be honest in what
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  we refuse to hear. And that integrity extends to
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  how we view and value people. Which brings us to the next
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  credential moral valuation of character.
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  This credential demands a clear moral compass, one that is
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  utterly unswayed by social status, rank, or personal
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  wealth. The true citizen of Zion, a vile
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  person, is contempt. To contempt means to look upon
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  with contempt, but in this context it means they do not
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  flatter, honor, or pay respect to the wicked.
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  Even if that person wears gold chains, sits in high office or
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  is famous in the public square. Right.
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  This requires incredible moral courage, especially in a world
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  where celebrity often Trump's character.
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  It demands that we exercise moral judgement.
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  The sources clarify that we may respect the office if it's
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  lawfully held, the magistracy, for example, but we do not honor
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  the man if his character is base and vile.
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  We have to call things what they are.
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  To honor a vile person is to confuse moral standards and
• 19:37
  betray the truth. It is conversely, the citizen of
• 19:40
  Zion must honor them that fear the Lord.
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  This is the flip side of the coin.
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  It means showing respect and deference to the poorest, most
• 19:47
  obscure St. It means valuing the jewels of
• 19:50
  Christian character over the setting of social status.
• 19:53
  So if you see Grace operating in a person, they're deserving of
• 19:56
  honor, even if they are in rags. A.
• 19:58
  St. in rags must be esteemed higher in your heart than a
• 20:00
  Sinner in silken robes. This is the practical
• 20:03
  application of recognizing genuine authority and value.
• 20:06
  Next, we move from social ethics to business and personal
• 20:10
  reliability, fidelity to promises.
• 20:12
  This is a big one. The text says they are swearing
• 20:15
  to his own hurt and change is not.
• 20:17
  This is maybe the ultimate acid test of personal honor and
• 20:20
  integrity. I think so if a commitment or an
• 20:23
  engagement, even one made hastily or based on flawed
• 20:26
  projections, results in serious financial loss.
• 20:30
  Making them maybe not the most far seeing trader.
• 20:35
  They must fulfill that promise regardless.
• 20:38
  They value their honor, their word, and their fidelity above
• 20:41
  any immediate profit or loss. That is extraordinarily
• 20:45
  difficult. It speaks to a situation where a
• 20:47
  man enters a contract believing it will be profitable, but then
• 20:50
  circumstances change and now fulfilling the contract will
• 20:54
  cause him significant personal damage.
• 20:56
  And the modern tendency would be to look for a loophole, right,
• 20:59
  to try to renegotiate. Of course, the citizen of Zion
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  and resists that temptation. Their word is their bond.
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  The promise is fulfilled because they cannot afford the spiritual
• 21:08
  cost of dishonor. They would rather suffer
• 21:10
  financially than break faith with a neighbor.
• 21:12
  The man who stands on the holy hill must be known for his
• 21:14
  unbending reliability. And of course, the primary
• 21:17
  example of this radical fidelity is Jesus himself.
• 21:20
  That connection is essential for the Christian reader.
• 21:23
  Jesus is the blessed surety he swore to an engagement, the
• 21:28
  covenant of redemption, that resulted not just in financial
• 21:31
  loss, but in his own suffering and death.
• 21:33
  And the sources remind us that, gloriously, he stood to his
• 21:37
  charity ship. His constancy is the pattern for
• 21:40
  the believer to be scrupulously and precisely exact and
• 21:43
  fulfilling every covenant with others.
• 21:45
  Now we turn to economic justice and financial ethics, which are
• 21:49
  detailed in the sources as serious disqualifiers for
• 21:52
  citizenship in the Holy Hill. Yes, the righteous person does
• 21:55
  not put out his money to usury. We need to define this
• 21:58
  carefully, because usury today doesn't just mean high interest,
• 22:02
  it means taking advantage of necessity.
• 22:05
  That's the key. The Hebrew word is neshak and is
• 22:08
  derived from a root that signifies to bite.
• 22:10
  To bite. Yes, this practice is seen as
• 22:13
  literally biting into the borrower's substance or eating
• 22:16
  up the poor like a worm through hard timber, slowly consuming
• 22:20
  them through interest payments. So the law is fundamentally
• 22:23
  concerned with the context of the loan, not just the interest
• 22:26
  rate. Precisely the loss strictly
• 22:28
  forbids taking advantage of a neighbor's necessity or poverty
• 22:32
  to exact that biting interest. So if someone is borrowing for
• 22:36
  say, a business venture where the risks and potential rewards
• 22:39
  are. High.
• 22:39
  That's one thing. That's commercial speculation.
• 22:42
  But if a man is borrowing because his family is starving
• 22:45
  or he needs seed corn to survive the winter, the law demands
• 22:49
  mercy. It forbids grinding poor
• 22:51
  tradesmen or needy widows under the weight of debt.
• 22:54
  Financial dealings have to be characterized by generosity and
• 22:57
  fairness, not by ruthless exploitation.
• 23:00
  And finally, the righteous person rejects the perversion of
• 23:02
  justice, refusing to take a reward against the innocent.
• 23:06
  This is the rejection of bribery in all its forms.
• 23:09
  This was a loathsome and common sin, particularly in Eastern
• 23:12
  courts where judicial corruption was rampant.
• 23:14
  Bribery perverts judgment. It condemns the innocent for
• 23:18
  personal gain. The righteous person rejects
• 23:20
  this. They consider it too foul to
• 23:22
  touch, even if the reward is large.
• 23:25
  And here again, the sources contrast this human corruption
• 23:28
  with the perfect justice of Christ.
• 23:30
  That contrast, it defines the height of righteousness.
• 23:34
  Jesus, unlike A corrupt judge, instead of taking reward against
• 23:38
  the innocent, died for the guilty.
• 23:40
  His entire life and death were an act of substitutionary
• 23:43
  justice. It reverses the whole paradigm
• 23:45
  of human corruption. And it reinforces the idea that
• 23:48
  integrity is required across all domains, social, commercial, and
• 23:52
  judicial. You're not allowed to
• 23:54
  compartmentalize your faith away from your wallet or your
• 23:57
  interactions with the community. That really brings the full
• 24:00
  moral weight of the Psalm into focus.
• 24:02
  This isn't just about a personal prayer life, no.
• 24:05
  It's about absolute integrity in the public square.
• 24:08
  After listing all these comprehensive requirements,
• 24:11
  which I mean they touch every corner of a person's life, the
• 24:14
  Psalm concludes not with a threat, but with this
• 24:16
  exhilarating promise. A promise for the person who
• 24:19
  actually embodies these qualities.
• 24:20
  The promise for the one that do with these things is that they
• 24:23
  shall never be moved. And this is a powerful
• 24:25
  declaration of security, of stability.
• 24:28
  The sources confirm this isn't just a temporary reprieve from
• 24:31
  trouble or some short term calmness.
• 24:34
  This is an eternal security. Yes, the promise ensures that no
• 24:38
  storm, no trial, and certainly no judgement will ever tear them
• 24:42
  from their anchorage or drag them from their fixed
• 24:44
  foundation. But let's clarify what never be
• 24:47
  moved means. Because we know believers face
• 24:50
  suffering and uncertainty, does this mean their circumstances
• 24:53
  are always stable? No, the circumstances may
• 24:55
  certainly be shaken. We're still in the movable
• 24:58
  Tabernacle, and trials exist. The believer may be moved or
• 25:02
  rattled for a time by external hardships or temptations or
• 25:06
  doubts. That's a necessary part of the
• 25:08
  pilgrimage. It is, however, they will not be
• 25:11
  removed forever. The essential point is the final
• 25:14
  outcome. Their position, their status as
• 25:16
  a citizen of Zion is fixed. So the security is positional,
• 25:20
  not experiential. Exactly.
• 25:22
  They were fixed and firm like Mount Zion itself, the physical
• 25:25
  structure David worked so hard to establish.
• 25:27
  Neither death nor the final judgement has the ability to
• 25:30
  cast them out from their place of communion.
• 25:32
  They are destined for a throne of blessedness forever.
• 25:35
  And admitted as permanent members of God's household,
• 25:37
  enjoying that sound and sure rest in the heavenly Jerusalem
• 25:40
  let's. Bring in that nautical image
• 25:42
  from the sources. It captures the stability so
• 25:44
  beautifully. The analogy is of a sturdy ship
• 25:48
  anchored in a deep harbor. The ship Will Rock and sway and
• 25:53
  creak with the surface winds and the chopping waves.
• 25:55
  Those are the trials of life, the temporary shaking.
• 25:58
  Right, but the vessel cannot be drifted out to sea or erect
• 26:02
  because it's anchor holds fast to the solid foundation of the
• 26:05
  harbor floor. The upright person is anchored
• 26:08
  to Christ, the true Holy hill. They feel the movement, but the
• 26:12
  foundation remains secure. That's it.
• 26:14
  The stability, however, brings us back to that critical final
• 26:17
  phrase that guarantees reserves strictly for the one that do
• 26:21
  with these things. This is the necessary final
• 26:23
  challenge. The promise is not awarded to
• 26:26
  those who intellectually agree with righteousness, who read
• 26:28
  about it or hear sermons about it, or even talk eloquently
• 26:32
  about. It it is solely for the honest
• 26:33
  and sincere doer. This active, consistent
• 26:36
  obedience is the undeniable necessary proof of the vital
• 26:40
  principle of grace within. If we claim the root of grace,
• 26:44
  we must produce the fruit of righteousness.
• 26:46
  If that fruit is consistently lacking, the claim is false.
• 26:49
  The sources are unrelenting on this.
• 26:51
  A mighty talker or someone lying on a mere outside formality of
• 26:55
  worship will not stand the trial when the storms come.
• 26:59
  We have to move beyond just talking about doing good.
• 27:02
  We. Have to make it consistently
• 27:03
  apparent that we have been doing good.
• 27:05
  This act of righteousness flowing from a justified heart
• 27:09
  is the only thing that proves our title to rest in the holy
• 27:12
  hill of the Lord. It confirms that we are being
• 27:15
  conformed to the image of Jesus, the perfect man who fulfilled
• 27:18
  this law. Precisely.
• 27:20
  That wraps up our deep dive into Psalm 15.
• 27:23
  We have seen that the spiritual qualifications for abiding in
• 27:26
  the God's presence are not hidden in some esoteric rituals.
• 27:30
  They are mirrored precisely in the practical daily details of
• 27:33
  life. From how we police our own ears
• 27:35
  against gossip to how we manage our financial commitments even
• 27:38
  when they hurt. This Psalm functions, as the
• 27:40
  sources say, as fire for the gold, testing the purity of our
• 27:44
  profession. It does, and since the holiness
• 27:46
  described here is wrought in all His people by the Holy Ghost, we
• 27:50
  shouldn't focus on the impossible question.
• 27:52
  How do I earn this rest through these actions?
• 27:55
  It's the wrong question. It's the wrong question.
• 27:57
  Instead, we should face the reality of our state and ask
• 28:00
  ourselves, does the visible movement of my outer hands, my
• 28:04
  walk, my work, and my word confirm that the inner clock has
• 28:08
  truly been tuned by divine grace?
• 28:10
  A question that requires deep reflection and persistent effort
• 28:13
  every single day. Thank you for joining us for
• 28:15
  this deep dive into what it means to be a true citizen of
• 28:18
  Zion. Until next time.