Maybe A Little Out of Context

a psalm of David:
Psalm 15
Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on
your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the
Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging
interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about
the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.

A prayer from David from the ancient prayer book of the bible, the Psalms. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "Wherever the Psalter is abandoned, an incomparable treasure vanishes from the Christian church. With its recovery will come unsuspected power." Too often people turn to the Psalms as well as most Scripture seeking ways that they can apply its meaning to their lives, or they turn to them for answers, hoping that there would be a solution to a problem that they face. However, as I am discovering through an ongoing conversation with mentors such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Thomas Merton, the way back to the Psalms is the same way to the meaning of prayer. As I continue to wrestle with these I will be sharing with you insights and challenging you with ideas or questions. Are you consuming your life with holy things? May it be our prayer that we too recognize how it is those who are the faithful followers of the Lord that will truly experience, sanctuary.

We see in this Psalm David looks to be exclaiming out loud to the Lord a psalm about those who live a good lifestyle. We see David ask 2 questions from the get go about who may worship in God's sanctuary and holy hill. Then he goes on and answers himself by describing characteristics to those who would be able to do such a practice. I read this and I think to myself that this psalm is different. What is it that he is saying? Why is he describing this sort of person? How can this psalm become our prayer?

Recently I had the privilege to be at table with two people to talk about life and all that it entails. After down some Jo and hot chocolate we made our way to our spiritual lives. After some probing questions we found ourselves talking and wrestling with the lifestyle of a Christian. We talked briefly about what that entails and whether or not we should worry about certain aspects in our lives. Should we really worry about music that we listen to? I mean, it does not really affect us. I know when to call it quits, plus, I would never really think about carrying out the violence that those songs sing about. Or what about our movies? Yeah that movie was awesome, especially when that person's head got shot off. How cool was that? Again, after viewing such films my stand on justice and peace has not nor will it ever change. Yeah I take steroids to help me compete better, but it will help me out later in life, scholarships and what not.

We could go on and on about how we desensitise our self from society and reality by getting lost in that which is put on cd's and into movies for entertainment. But again, I ask the question, what does one who calls themselves a follower of Christ, lifestyle look like? In what way do we manipulate the message of Christ by justifying our actions by simply saying, "I can handle it." Maybe this is not a big deal. Maybe you simply do not think that such an issues is one you struggle with. However, I have a hard time in my own life entering into God's sanctuary after listening to the latest rap song or the latest movie that includes torture and death for no apparent reason but for the big $ sign.

As we read this psalm again we see there is a description for a person who can indeed worship in the house of the Lord. But this psalm is not a get to the sanctuary in 5 easy steps, quick fix. It is one though that we can approach with a heart recognizing where it is that we have just been. Bonhoeffer states that this psalm, along with many others, are psalms that lead us to the confession of guilt and direct our confidence to the forgiving grace of God. When we read and make this psalm our prayer, we are made aware of the faults that have consumed our lives and allow us to repent and turn from our guilt.

So I encourage you to stop and take a moment to look at yourself. Look back at the trail you just came from and ask yourself if you are worthy to worship in the house of the Lord?