Psalm 15 (English Standard Version)
1O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4in 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;
5who 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.
Psalm 15 speaks to how we treat others and to our relationships with all people-especially brothers and sisters in the Lord. Verse 4b tells us to honor those who fear the LORD.
We want to say aloud, "They do not always act honorably, Lord! Do you mean I must honor them anyway?" I believe the Lord would then say to each of us, "You do not always act honorably either." Then each of us would begin to think about the times we spoke unkindly in refer-ence to a fellow Christ follower. We might remember that we talked behind someone's back-instead of confronting him or her in love. We just might be reminded at that time to have a grateful heart for the abundant grace the Lord has demonstrated toward us when we have done the same thing for which we are criticizing others. We might pray for the same patience toward the person who offended us as the
patience the Lord has shown to us. We might even think-Am I easily offended? It must be all about me!
John 17:20-21 records the Lord Jesus Christ praying for those of us who would believe in Him because of the word of the disciples. The heart cry of our Lord was that we would demonstrate to everyone His love, and that the world might know we are Christians or Christ follow-ers by the way we love one another. If this is the Lord's heartcry, it should be ours as well.
Oh Father, we pray, may You cause us to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you (para-phrased from 1 Thessalonians 3:12). Will you help us to show honor to those who fear and honor you? Help us not to backbite or keep track of offenses against us. Please, Lord, may we hardly even notice or keep a record of when others wrong us! Then You may use even our very own lives to demonstrate what it means to love one another
unconditionally. Please! We want to dwell with You on Your holy hill! We ask it in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Camilla L. Seabolt
Executive Director