Three Pearls, Three Minutes, Thirty Days. (Day 15)

Psalm 15: 1Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? 2The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; 5who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

                                                            Today’s Three Pearls

• ‘whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor,and casts no slur on others’-v.3: From Josemaria Escriva: Don’t make negative criticism. If you can’t praise, say nothing. From Leonard Ravenhill: Notice, we never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray! For prayer is a great deterrent. From Amy Carmichael: If I can enjoy a joke at the expense of another; if I can in any way slight another in conversation, or even in thought, then I know nothing of Calvary love. And finally from Richard Cecil: If there is any person to whom you feel dislike, that is the person of whom you ought never to speak. And this last one in my humble opinion, is the key to avoiding the temptation of gossip.
• ‘who despises a vile person’ – v.4: Not anymore, not since Christ came to die for that vile person so that he could have the hope of salvation. We want to love the way God loves; we are all loved but God hates our iniquities. Likewise we love that other human made in God’s image, but we rebuke and gently correct his iniquity. Correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction – 2Tim.4:2
• Verses 2-5 largely describe the outward actions of a perfect man; of which there was one 2000 years ago, and there has been none in this world since then. While perfection remains the ultimate goal, sanctification is the work of a lifetime. The key is to be a better person today than I was yesterday, last week, last month and last year. Constantly evolving towards that heavenly goal. If a friend who has not seen me in years remarks that my character remains the same (despite my professed spiritual growth and scriptural knowledge); I should be very worried….