Devotional Portion: Psalm 15:2
He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart;
David found the answer to his question in these verses. He caught three different states of human life here- walk, work, and talk.
He who walks uprightly,
Upright has two meanings. It can be quoted of a person as his/her posture or can be quoted of one’s behaviour. Being upright in behaviour and character is most important as a Christian. They have a standard of living as they dwell in the holy hill (click here to read Psalm 15:1 devotion). True believer stays in a path set by God, directed by God and led by God’s will.
“True believers do not cringe as flatterers, wriggle as serpents, bend double as earth-grubbers, or crook on one side as those who have sinister aims; they have the strong backbone of the vital principle of grace within, and being themselves upright, they are able to walk uprightly.” Charles Spurgeon.
Works righteousness
Righteous work is an exhibition of the life they lead. The righteous works show that their faith is active and alive. Believers must have energy and life in the things they do. The Berean Literal Bible quotes Luke 13:27 like this, “And he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know from where you are; depart from me, all you workers of unrighteousness.’” Doing iniquity, evil, lies, wickedness, wrong, etc., is considered unrighteousness in the eyes of God.
“If we are not positively serving the Lord, and doing His holy will to the best of our power, we may seriously debate our interest in divine things, for trees which bear no fruit must be hewn down and cast into the fire.” Charles Spurgeon.
And speaks the truth in his heart;
Psalm 14 spoke about the fool who spoke falsely in his hearts, and here we see a contrast. True believers keep their walk upright, work on righteousness and they desire to speak the truth.
In James 3:10-12, the writer asks a question, “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” The context of this passage is ‘the untamable tongue. A true believer must have a tamed tongue. Truth and lie must never come out from the same tongue, evil and praise must never go together, flattery and glorifying God have no relationship, and deception and prophecy have no connection.
“Though truths, like roses, have thorns about them, good men wear them in their bosoms. Our heart must be the sanctuary and refuge of truth, should it be banished from all the world beside, and hunted from among men; at all risk we must entertain the angel of truth, for truth is God’s daughter.” Charles Spurgeon.
Speaking truth has another dimension as well – speaking truth of the word of God. A true believer is called to defend and proclaim the truth of the scriptures within their context. If we have diluted the eternal truth with materialism, worldliness, or even carnal thoughts we are not worthy to dwell and abide in the presence of the Lord. He will call us unfaithful servants when we stand before Him on the day of judgement.
Reflection: Let our walk, work and the talks sync together with the standards of holiness and to the standard as we are called to the salt and the light of the world.
