Journal

Psalm 15 - Wickedness and Integrity

Posted on February 19th, 2010, in the afternoon

A portion of column 19 of the Psalms Scroll (Tehilim) from Qumran Cave 11

Continuing my occasional series on Worshipping with the Psalms, here are my reflections on Psalm 15...

"O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?" (v1)

A clear question setting the theme for David's meditiaion in Psalm 15: what marks out true worshippers?

Given all the nationalistic tub-thumping of various of the Psalms we've already encountered I think it's with noting that the answer in Psalm 15 is not 'Israel, obviously'. Instead the psalm goes on to reflect on qualities of the heart - things a person does and doesn't do in fact - which I've compiled as two lists:

They do:

walk blamelessly
do what is right
speak the truth from their heart
despise the wicked
honour those who fear the Lord
stand by their oath even to their hurt

They don't:

slander
do evil to their friends
take up a reproach against their neighbours
lend money at interest
take a bribe against the innocent

They're interesting lists. The only things that might stick in the throat for contemporary readers are 'despise the wicked' and maybe 'don't lend money at interest'. Lending money at interest is a question of exploitation so we shouldn't get hung up on that, but I think we need to engage with 'despise the wicked'...

I suppose the reason why the idea of 'the wicked' is difficult for us in this and other psalms is that it seems to define some people as 'wicked' full-stop.

Most people wouldn't have a problem identifying certain actions or motivations as 'wicked', and I think there would be a significant consensus on the core content of that category (despite the undeniably fuzzy edges), but writing people off completely as 'wicked' is another thing.

I find it a lot easier engaging with 'the wicked' in the psalms if I interpret it as meaning 'doing wicked things' rather than 'this set of people who are inherently wicked'.

Given that David is defining worshippers based on their indvidual character and actions in this psalm rather than some inherent and arbitrary identity I don't think that move is as much of a fudge as it may at first appear.

That way of looking at it actually casts the net a lot wider and forces us all to examine ourselves.

Zooming back out to the list as a whole I think it's worth noticing an important theme in the broader character of these true worshippers...

Every aspect of a person's existence is covered by the list: the way they act, the way they speak, the attitude of their hearts. But the characteristic that stands out to me the most is 'stand by their oath even to their hurt'.

To be a true worshipper is perhaps most profoundly a question of integrity. That quality is borne out in all the 'to-do' items on David's list - even "despising the wicked", which is partly to do with not affirming or colluding with wicked actions.

Equally, the list of 'things-not-to-do' consists entirely of actions that betray a lack of integrity, particularly slander and bribery.

In terms of how this Psalm relates to our contemporary worship? It's much more about the worship we bring with our lives than a specific time of gathered worship. We do well to remember that perspective in our worship today.

So what does mark out a true worshipper?

In John's gospel Jesus is asked the same question. I think it's interesting to compare Jesus' answer to the woman at the well with David's list above. Jesus famously answers: