Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Walking With The Lord

PSALM 15 – O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

THEME OF THE DAY. WALKING WITH THE LORD. The fundamental understanding of Christianity is the simple, yet profound truth, that God created man for His good pleasure and companionship. These original created purposes were forfeited in the Garden of Eden by the sinful disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, but God, in His great grace, mercy, and love, provided the way to restore this companionship with man through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must get this right in our doctrine, theology and practice. We were created by God, for God, to walk with God. And though God has done all we need to bring us back to these original created purposes, it isn’t “Let go and let God” when it comes to walking with Him. There is effort, “spiritual sweat” on our part and conditions to meet to enjoy this privilege of walking with the Lord. Today’s Psalm is a great place to see our part and some of the conditions God places upon His children to stay close to Him. Let’s consider three.

First, those children of God who would walk close to Him must seek to be holy as He is holy. The Psalmist would call this “a blameless life.” What this doesn’t mean is a perfect life, but a sincere and serious life; a seriousness that strives to live 24/7 with a sense of God’s Presence and the pursuit of holiness (Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:14-16). Lessen our Spirit-enabled efforts to holiness and our fellowship with the Lord will lack vitality and reality.

Another condition to meet if we are to enjoy the Lord in spiritual relationship is to maintain wholesome speech. As one reads the Psalm, the use of the tongue quickly comes to the forefront. We are directed not to have speech that deceives, gossips or slanders others – “Speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor.” There is a parallel in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians – Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29). Unwholesome speech quickly grieves the Spirit of God and thus breaks fellowship with the Lord. Guard the tongue. A lot is lost when we don’t.

A third requirement for a close walk with the Lord may not be something we think enough about, but should. It is our attitudes toward other believers. Again, the wise words from the Psalmist – who honors those who fear the Lord. Remember to link these “bullet statements” or conditions to the opening questions – O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? – for they are the answers. In this case, how we think of and treat other Christians either with honor or dishonor enhances or hinders our fellowship with the Lord. So, how about us? Maybe we are not enjoying the Lord as we should and He desires with the reason being the harboring of ill feelings, even bitterness and criticalness toward another believer. Think about it. Like our speech, there is a lot at stake with the attitudes we have toward others.

Walking with the Lord. He has provided all we need to do so through His Son, His Word, and His Spirit. Now it is up to us, by faith, to meet the conditions as to walk close to Him with joy, power, and influence.

PRAYER: “Father, help me guard my heart that I may meet the conditions to walk close to You.”

QUOTE: “Fellowship with God is why we were created, re-created in Christ, and will be our experience into eternity.”