He who does these things will never be shaken.

Psalm 15 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill?
² He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart.
³ He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
⁴ In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the Lord;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵ He does not put out his money at interest,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.

In John 14:21-24 Jesus says:  The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.  Long before Jesus spoke those words, the psalmist knew and declared the high standard for those who would abide with God. He says:  O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?  He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.  We cannot claim to love God and not follow His word. We cannot say that we love God and still continue in unrighteousness. Integrity requires that we do what is right even when no one will see or know, because God sees and knows everything, even our thoughts. It is not enough that we speak truth when others are listening, we must also speak truth in our hearts; our thoughts must be righteous and true. In Jeremiah 17:10 God says:  I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.  

The psalmist continues:  He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;  In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.   In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus says:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”  1 John 4:19-20 says: We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.   Our loving God with our whole heart, soul and mind, is our response to His love for us. It is out of that response to His love, that we also love others. While we love others, the psalmist says: In whose eyes a reprobate is despised.  A reprobate is defined as:  an unprincipled or depraved person - morally corrupt.  The difficulty that we have, is that we are to love others, but despise what is immoral, corrupt and depraved. In other words, we are to love the sinner, but hate the sin. John 3:16 says: God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  It could just as well say, God so hated sin, that He gave is only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will be redeemed from sin.  Romans 5:8 says: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  We too, if we love God, will tell others of the demonstration of God’s love, the cross.

Again, the psalmist says: O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.   In Matthew 27:50-53, when Jesus was crucified for our sins it says:  Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.  Jesus, by His death and resurrection, made the way for us to dwell and abide with God. Our righteousness is in Him. The psalmist says:  He who does these things will never be shaken.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You that the earth quaked and rocks were split, so that I could dwell with You and not be shaken. May I truly love because You first loved me.  Amen.