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Psalm 15 explores what it means to have integrity, and balance between actions and beliefs.
We stand at the threshold of a holy place. Who gets in? Psalm 15 lists qualities for those who belong on the sacred hill.
The psalm asks who can stay in God’s dwelling and live on the holy hill.
The psalmist highlights upright behaviour and righteous deeds as signs of integrity. Truthful speech rooted in the heart is emphasized. Harmful words and actions are avoided. Backbiting and tale-bearing are rejected.
The psalm shifts focus to how we see others – contempt for bad behaviour, honour for those revering the Lord. A remarkable trait is making a promise despite hardship, and sticking to it.
The psalm touches on economics, stressing ethical finances and fairness. The psalm promises stability for those embodying these qualities.
Psalm 15 prompts reflection on interplay between actions, beliefs, and the qualities of integrity. It is a portrait of ethical living, inviting the Christian to consider who belongs on that holy hill.
Psalm 15 | King James Audio Bible KJV
Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
Key Themes Of The Psalm For Reflection | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ
Qualities of Integrity: Psalm 15 explores the qualities that define a person of integrity.
Dwelling in God’s Presence: The psalm asks who can abide in God’s dwelling place and reside on the holy hill, inviting contemplation on divine closeness.
Upright Behaviour: The psalm highlights the importance of walking uprightly and working righteousness as key attributes of integrity.
Truthful Speech: Truth spoken from the heart is underscored as a pivotal quality that reflects inner convictions.
Avoiding Harm: Harmful actions, including backbiting and tale-bearing, are rejected in favor of ethical behaviour.
Respectful Perception: The psalm contrasts contempt for vile behaviour with honour for those who revere the Lord, emphasizing respectful perception of others.
Steadfast Promises: A commitment to promises, even when difficult, is celebrated as an integral aspect of integrity.
Ethical Finances: The psalm touches on the importance of ethical financial dealings and refraining from exploiting the innocent.
Stability and Unshakenness: The psalm concludes by promising stability and firmness for those who embody these qualities of integrity.
Balancing Actions and Beliefs: Psalm 15 delves into the balance between outward actions and inner convictions, inviting us to reflect on what it means to live with integrity before God and humanity.
In this verse, Jesus speaks about welcoming the stranger. Jesus teaches us that caring for those in need, including refugees, is an expression of our love for God. This passage calls us to open our hearts and homes to those who are seeking refuge and safety, reflecting God’s compassion and mercy [ … ]
Saint Maximus was born around 580 in Constantinople to a distinguished family and initially served as a high-ranking official in the imperial court. However, he left political life to become a monk, devoting himself to asceticism, prayer, and theological study. His writings would later reveal a deep synthesis of biblical exegesis, patristic thought, and Neoplatonic influences [ … ]
We process. Glass exhibition cases, old reliquaries. A forearm here; here a nun’s fingertip. In chapel, at a glance, there are the usual faces. But they all stand to attention. Jonathan breaks from the procession to – fire the organ with oomph and dignity: Ride on! ride on in majesty! The angel-squadrons of the sky look down with sad and wondering eyes to see the approaching sacrifice. When we’ve done the readings, the Arch holds that tree in his hands to deliver the homily. He rocks quietly on his feet, some few seconds, as if balance defeated it. A way you might affect as the Spirit moves… Copying. Then he says: ‘Our palm fronds may seem to us today rather dry. I mean this not in a literal sense, but by the standards of those who originally lined the roadways in order to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, as they proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, who would be clambering up and ripping their palm branches fresh from off the trees. I think perhaps also our faith is somewhat distant from that of the people there on that highroad into Jerusalem, and something of our sense of the meaning has shifted in vividness from what it was then. And of course the expectation of all those many people is markedly different, but in many important respects the same. There are the same essential qualities to all our faith in God, which springs complete from our humanity, and that is one and the same in value for all of us, and time is consistent on this point. So then, let us renew the fullness of Catholic faith, and let us ask the Lord’s blessing as we embark upon our Holy Week. ‘Our Lord enters into Jerusalem in order to refresh us. He is to die in order that we may have life. There is a living reality here, both spiritual and as entangled in the joy of our daily living. We have Ladies’ Day where I grew up. They still have it, and they close the roads off, and little children parade, dressed-up like spring brides. When I was a boy, there was a May Day festival, and there was a May pole on the field, with the people dancing, like Morris dancers might be one way of visualizing this if you’ve never seen it, with their ribbons tied onto the top of the May pole, and they would weave around each other, dressing the pole, which is what we called it. It was like a dance with red and white and blue ribbons all hung off of the top of the May pole, which stood there all year, only like a telegraph pole, but it was concreted in, and then there was a slide, and swings – one baby-swing and two you could have a go at – terrible health and safety but that’s what it was in those days. ‘There was a round-a-bout – we used to run it round and round to try to get it off its central axis. It were rusty as anything and creaked like mad – on concrete. And climb up where it was all greased up at the top. Ruth, who was big as the next four of us, used to sit there sucking on the lollipops we nicked for her from Raddies, and she’d direct matters. We were trying to destroy it, and get it to dislodge from its central axis, and fly away – roll off into that farmer’s field, which he only ever kept for silage, but we never succeeded. There was a car someone had left there so we spent forever smashing that up, until someone who lived in one of the houses there took exception to our doing that, so he put thick grease under the door handles and gave us a right talking to. ‘It would only be a few stands, hot-dogs and things like that. The man selling the hot dogs would have his records on full blast. There’d be a couple of set-up stalls. Air-rifles – that sort of thing. But we all had them, and we all went shooting, of course, if not with twelve bores then with smaller gauge. Or pay a pound – I have no idea how much it was in actual fact then – it might have only been a few pennies – and we’d get all that time smashing up the crockery the man would put up for us to smash on the dressers. That was my particular favourite thing to do at these festivals, by the way, in case you were wondering. You got a little bucket of so many cricket balls. ‘I dread to think what went into those hot dogs. Probably EE rules would forbid it now. But it was a fair mix in those days. A lot of young people then were C of E. We’ve done a lot to hang onto our young people, which is a tremendous encouragement when you consider how things are, while in recent decades the Church of England hasn’t been so successful. People still want it on feast days and what are essentially now civic celebrations. It’s strange to see, though, how all the little stands there people have are run by the police and people like that along those lines. There’s no May pole. That was a sort of faith that ran and ran beneath all the theoreticals of it in the 1960s and the 1970s and into the 1980s. The May pole isn’t there now in the particular place I’m thinking of. Considering May poles were officially suppressed hundreds of years ago – as a part of the protestant reformation. One or two of you are probably thinking I’m remembering things from that time! ‘I should have liked to say that those processionals were so hardwired into us, that even after the last thirty years, when I became a bishop, they are still with us. They were […]
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