— A brief exposition of Psalm 15 —
“He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart,” Psalm 15:2.
This second verse sets out to answer the question posed in verse 1.
The answer is continued in the rest of the Psalm but verse 2 deals with it in a positive manner. It tells us in an affirmative way what marks the character of the one who ABIDES and DWELLS in God’s presence.
I. THE HOLY PERSON HAS A PARTICULAR WALK.
“He that walketh uprightly. . .”
1. Every step that the Christian takes is markedly different from that of the world. As Paul exhorted: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God,” Romans 12:2.
The Christian cannot but be “in the world” but they are not “of the world”.
That concept simply means that in the world we actively participate in the legitimate activities of its everyday affairs; living a normal life, and engaging with others, including those who may not share the same beliefs or values.
But there must be a maintaining of a separation from the world’s sinful influences and values. These are so often associated with materialism, greed, and worldly pursuits which dominate business affairs and must be constantly guarded against. We must not be governed by worldly standards or judgments. The unregenerate person will rarely hesitate to act unlawfully or dishonestly, at least to some measure, in order to gain profit! The excuse that is often offered is , ‘Sure, everyone does it!’.
That may be so but the Christian MUST NOT do it.
We are exhorted: “Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men,” 2 Corinthians 8:21.
“Provide things honest in the sight of all men,” Romans 12:17.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things,” Philippians 4:8.
The Christian is required to uphold the principles and truths of the Bible, especially when they differ from the mainstream notions of men. We must resist the temptation to compromise our standards for worldly gain.
We must ever bear in mind these truths:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience,” Ephesians 4:22-5:6.
How detailed is that lengthy exhortation to holiness! Just what it is to be ‘upright’ in this world is made very plain!
Saviour’s Warning
The Saviour issued that well known warning: “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:34-36.
What some consider as ‘saving’ (keep safe and sound) their life, is in fact, ‘losing’ it! The thinking of the ‘rich young ruler’ in Luke 18:18-27, illustrates this folly!
2. Uprightness is the mark the believer’s walk in both the Old and New Testament ages. The word ‘uprightly’ means ‘without spot or blemish’. That is a very high standard. We are to bear a likeness to the Lord. This has ever been required of those who profess faith in Jehovah.
“For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: . . . For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy,” Leviticus 11:44-45.
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy,” 1 Peter 1:14-16.
3. Such a high standard can only be attained by the grace and power of God. Paul was a holy man indeed but he did not credit himself with such an achievement. “But by the grace of God I am what I am,” 1 Corinthians 15:10.
What Paul’s declaration indicates is that the Lord is the primary agent in a Christian’s life, guiding their journey and empowering and enabling them to walk and act in obedience to His will.
The True Vine
Remember the Saviour’s words regarding Himself as the true vine. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing,” John 15:5.
A holy walk can be achieved ONLY through the workings of God’s Holy Spirit enabling us to turn from sin and “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 3:14.
4. Such uprightness will draw the world’s hatred and animosity! The Saviour said: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you,” John 15:18. This was repeated by John. “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you,” 1 John 3:12-13.
All Godly . . . Suffer Persecution!
Paul, so often the victim of the world’s hatred, warned Timothy: “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” 2 Timothy 3:10-12.
This truth must be noted by Christians today for such hostility is to increase in the last days of this age. There is to be a “fierce” despising “of those that are good.” See 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
Test
Such opposition will test all of God’s people and face them with the temptation to conceal their identity. Peter did it three times, just before the crucifixion of the Saviour and thus brought great grief upon his soul.
“Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly,” Matthew 26:69-75.
Snare
It is such a fear that brings a snare. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe,” Proverbs 29:25. We must ever remember that “We walk by faith, not by sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7.
II. THE HOLY PERSON ENGAGES IN HOLY WORKS.
He “worketh righteousness. . . ” He constantly engages in that which is right and just.
1. It is a lifestyle marked by justice and uprightness. It is said of Noah that: “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God,” Genesis 6:9.
To walk with God required that Noah was in step with God, going in His direction and at His pace!
Peter states of our calling as Christians: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps,” 1 Peter 2:21. Indeed, the Saviour said that walking in His steps was an essential characteristic of the true believer. “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me,” Matthew 10:38.
2. It is a self-denying lifestyle. “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me,” Luke 9:23.
The reality of what the Saviour is demanding is set forth by Paul in Galatians 6:2. “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” We should be ready to step in and take on the burden of another, all the while avoiding anyone having to be burdened with our troubles and needs.
This truth follows hard after the previous exhortation of Paul to the Galatians. “For every man shall bear his own burden,” Galatians 6:5. This shows utter selflessness!
Such behaviour is motivated by the knowledge of the truth of that day of giving an account to Christ of how we lived. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad,” 2 Corinthians 5:10.
3. It is a living so as to obey the second of the great commandments. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” Matthew 22:37-39.
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law,” Romans 13:10.
“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” Galatians 5:14.
This then is another prominent feature of the one who will “abide” and “dwell” in the company of the Lord.
III. THE HOLY PERSON IS CHARACTERISED BY TRUTH.
“And speaketh the truth in his heart.”
It is not just our walk and our works but our words that must be conformed to the standards of holiness set down in God’s Word!
1. The tongue is capable of great evil. “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God,” James 3:2-9.
As the bit in a horse’s mouth is but a small item, yet it controls that strong animal and so it is with a rudder, though small, which controls a great ship, and again, as a spark can ignite a great conflagration, even so the ‘little member’, our tongue, is like all three.
The tongue really controls the path we take from day to day and initiates much of what we encounter on that path.
2. Controlling our ‘tongue’ is a restraint we all must exercise! “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain,” James 1:26.
The ‘bridle’ is that piece of harness, fitted on a horse’s head, whereby it is held in check and kept under control.
That is what we must do with our tongue! We must not “offend in word”, James 3:2. It is easy to do and often we heartily rejoice in slighting someone, ‘giving them a dig’ as it is put! But in truth, such is sin and contrary to the mind of Christ.
3. The tongue is hard to tame and bring under control. Indeed, only the perfect man can control his tongue. “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man.” Since none of us are perfect, or will be, this side of glory, we must constantly battle to control our tongue and the words we utter. It will stiffen our resolve to do so when we ever bear in mind the words of the Saviour.
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned,” Matthew 12:36-37.
Idle
An “idle’” word is one we don’t put much value upon, a word that has little thought or deliberation behind it. We may dismiss it as a word of no significance yet it is what has wounded deeply the one we directed it at!
The words spoken by Judas to the chief priests, he may have deemed insignificant. After all his value of them is seen in the payment he accepted for uttering them!
“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him,” Matthew 26:14-16.
What grief and sorrow those words brought about to Christ, his disciples and followers and ultimately to Judas himself.
“Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that,” Matthew 27:3-4.
He obviously thought little of Christ but he knew He was innocent of the charges laid against Him. Even now, in hell, those words have taken on a much greater and eternal significance to poor Judas!
Again, there would have been little thought given to the words spoken by the crowd in response to Pilate’s announcement. “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.”
Quickly, the crowd answered him. “His blood be on us, and on our children,” Matthew 27:24-25.
Eight Words
Those eight words have weighed heavily upon the nation of Israel ever since and will for some time to come for they will yet reap a dreadful harvest of misery and terror for that ancient people.
The harvest of those words will only end after that time spoken of by Christ in Matthew 24:21. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
That tribulation, which will take place under the Antichrist, will last for some three and half years. After which, God in mercy will graciously awaken the remnant that will have survived to see in the One they long rejected, their promised Messiah.
“For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: but they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished,” Jeremiah 30:5-11.
Zechariah
Zechariah speaks of that day of Israel’s awakening to the truth of the gospel.
“In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. . . . Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee,” Zechariah 12:8-10, 14:1-5.
Illustration
Nothing illustrates more vividly than Israel’s sufferings over the last 2000 years the destructive power of bitter, ill spoken words!
This then is the ‘positive’ side of the one who will “abide” and “dwell” in the presence of the Lord.
It is the blessed privilege of the child of God to enjoy God’s sweet company but we must live so as to conform to His holy ways.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
8th May 2025