the psalmist gives some examples of what living well looks like – ‘speaks the truth from their heart’, ‘utters no slander’, ‘does no wrong to a neighbor’, ‘casts no slur on others’, ‘keeps an oath even when it hurts’, ‘lends money to the poor without interest’, and ‘does not accept a bribe against the innocent’ with the promise that ‘Whoever does these things will never be shaken.’
so that sounds really good, although right at the beginning he has thrown in these two: ‘The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous’ which makes it seem unattainable.
i think it is a reminder to us, that in one sense it is. even when we look at the opening phrase – ‘LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?’ – the answer appears to be no-one. None of us are worthy of that honour in and of ourselves.
yet God has extended that invitation to us. it is by what He has done – and specifically by sending Jesus to die on the cross as a representative of both mankind and heaven – that we have been made worthy, and children of God [1 john 3.1]. and so this psalm to me really gives a glimpse of the idea of the kingdom of God being both now [the first list] and not yet [blameless, righteous which will be achieved in fullness later when Jesus returns]
the second point i get from this psalm is the bit about ‘lends money to the poor without interest’ which, along with jubilee [cancelling all debt every seven years] seems to be such a creative economic blueprint from God for creating and sustaining good community among people and i get excited when i see people living that out in real life. lending money without charging interest is the lowest the bar should ever be set, but it is a good place to begin.
]]>