A psalm of David.
1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?
2 He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
3 and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
4 who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the LORD,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,
5 who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
A miktam of David.
1 Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
My Understanding: The Bible says there is no one who is righteous, no not one. We all like sheep have gone astray, and each of us has turned to his own way, yet the Lord Jesus has laid on himself the iniquity (sin) of us all. Jesus died for all of our sins. He took upon himself the punishment for our sins so that we could be free, and so that we could be at peace with God. By his wounds we find spiritual healing for our souls (See Romans 3 and Isaiah 53).
The only way we can be made righteous is through faith in Jesus Christ, and not of ourselves or our own good works, because we have all sinned, and thus we fall short of attaining a right relationship with Almighty God. It is only by God’s grace, through Jesus’ death for our sins, that we can truly be made righteous. We know from reading all of the New Testament that this faith includes repentance (turning from sin) and obedience (turning to follow Jesus Christ and his will for our lives), yet even repentance, faith and the ability to obey are gifts from God, and are done in the power of the working of the Holy Spirit within us as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts and minds.
So, when we read the Psalms, we must read them in light of the New Testament (in the Bible), and in light of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for our sins, so that we know and understand the true source of righteousness, Jesus Christ (God). So, those who may enter into heaven and into the gate of our God’s holy city, his true church, are those who have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, and not by any other means. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV ’84).
Yet we also know from reading the New Testament (in the Bible) that faith is proved genuine by our actions and the fruit (outgrowth in our lifestyles) of our faith. So, although we do nothing to earn our salvation, and we don’t attain heaven through good works done in the flesh of man, still our salvation is not entirely absent of works, yet these works are done in the Spirit of God as an outgrowth of our relationship with Jesus Christ, by faith. And, that takes me back to Psalm 15, which describes some of these fruits of our righteous relationship with Jesus Christ, which is a work of God’s grace in our hearts. Some of the fruit that should be evident in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ includes speaking the truth, not slanderous, does our neighbor no wrong, is not insulting or demeaning of others, honors those who fear the Lord, keeps his oath to God, even when it hurts, and does no harm to the innocent. Yet, even in Christ we are still sinners, so although these traits should be evident in our lives, our salvation is no guarantee that we will live perfect lives while we are still in these flesh bodies, yet our goal should always be to please God.
So, when we do sin against God, we are to come humbly before him in repentance and obedience to him and to his commands for our lives. If we run after other gods that are not God, our sorrows will increase. The Prodigal Son of scripture learned this the hard way, and we all have the potential of being prodigal children if we choose to go after other gods while ignoring the one who died to set us free from all that. Yet, if we come humbly before God, confessing our sin, and choosing to walk in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, we will have peace with God and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and truly the windows of heaven will be open to us and God will pour out his blessings into our hearts and lives. Our hearts will rejoice and our bodies will rest secure, because Jesus has made known to us the path of life.
The Windows of Heaven are Open / Unknown / Artist: Gaithers
The windows of heaven are open,
The blessings are falling tonight
There's joy, joy, joy in my heart
Since Jesus made everything right
I gave Him my old tattered garments
He gave me a robe of pure white
I'm feasting on manna from heaven
And that's why I'm happy tonight.
1) Why are you lying face down in the dust
Your accusers have all run away
And I don't condemn you, you're free to be clean
Get up and start a new day
2) Son, the path you have chosen has taken you far
Now you're homeless and sick and afraid
But there's a party and music to welcome you home
And all the expense has been paid
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