Psalm 15:3

The following is a Bible study posted on our Bible Study Group.

Happy Thursday, everyone!  Thursday is almost over in our house, yet I'm just now getting to writing this Bible study.  It has been a BUSY day.  :-)

Some days are certainly busier than others.  But the busy days aren't soooo hard to bear if I know that bedtime is coming.  :-)  A little rest and relaxation go a long way, and I know that when I wake up tomorrow morning and peek out the window at the world, I'll feel ready to go again.

The hard days are the ones in which circumstances come up that start to beat up on my inner being.  You know the days.  The phone ring, and a voice on the other side says something like...

"Honey, someone lied about me at work today, and no one believes my side."

"Don't you just hate living here?  There isn't ONE nice thing about this rat hole!"

"Did you hear what so-and-so said?  What a jerk!  I hope she gets what's coming to her!"

Too much of this kind of talk and I feel my spirit deflating like a balloon with a slow leak.  Or as I often say to my husband, "I feel like a truck ran me over!"  And even worse are the days in which I am the one spreading the ugly words around.

Let's take a peek at what the Psalm 15 says about these kinds of days:

"LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
        Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
        ...He who does not backbite with his tongue,
           Nor does evil to his neighbor,
           Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend" (Psalm 15:1,3).

We have a lovely black lab dog.  She is generally very good tempered, and we all love her lots.  Some afternoons while I work at the computer, she will curl up for a snooze at my feet.  But don't let me forget she's there and accidentally step on her while she's sleeping!  Watch out!  She wakes with a ferocious growl and lashes out for me.

The same thing can happen to a friendship.  We think everything is just fine until a friend gets offended and "backbites" with his tongue.  Look out!  A dog's bite hurts, but not nearly so much as the bite of a friend's tongue. 

The same can go for a neighbor.  You took her dinner when she had the flu, but now she's spreading rumors about your family.  Ouch!

Or maybe a friendship you've had for years starts to sour when one of you holds a grudge.  The website http://www.dictionary.com defines a reproach as a disgrace or blame.  Your closest buddy now blames you for things, and whether you deserve it or not, it doesn't seem as if she'll ever forgive you.

I talked on the phone with a friend today.  Her husband isn't a Christian, and he's been using illegal drugs and abusing her and her four little children.  She's only known the Lord for a couple months.  What should she do, she wanted to know.  I quickly advised her to get out of his reach, for safety's sake.  But I also took her to a special passage of Scripture that tells how the wife of an unsaved husband should act (1 Peter 3:1-6).

That's why the verses after that section are so special today, verses that instruct ALL believers how they should act in an unkind world.

"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
    For He who would love life
    And see good days,
    Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
    And his lips from speaking deceit.
    Let him turn away from evil and do good;
    Let him seek peace and pursue it.
    For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
    And His ears are open to their prayers;
    But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil." (1 Peter 3:8-12)

People WILL do evil to us.  The Bible tells us to return blessing.  That's tough! People WILL say bad things about us.  The Bible tells us to refrain our tongues from evil.  That's impossible! People WILL hold a grudge and try to get revenge.  The Bible tells us to seek peace and pursue it.  Whoever heard of something so ridiculous?  (wink)

For the eyes of the LORD, Jehovah God, are upon us.  His ears are open to our prayers.  It is such a comfort, on those days when truck marks are all over me, to run to a quiet place and to cry tears of frustration before a holy God.  I know He hears me.  I know He loves me.

In fact, I have a very special verse taped above my kitchen sink this week.  It says,

"Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy,
        And teach me Your statutes." (Psalm 119:124)

God's mercy is always gracious, and the Bible says He will deal with me according to His mercy.  He knows what things will happen to me in my life, yet I must remember that His mercy allowed it.  He has a purpose for all things, even the trucks that run over our spirits.  And as the Psalmist, our response should be, "Teach me Your statutes."  We need to have a tender heart that says, "Lord, how would YOU respond in this situation?  I cannot in my own strength respond with good, peace, and love, but because of You, I must.  Please help me...."

The dear wife on the phone said, "Anne, it's not in my nature to act this way to him!  I'd rather just run my mouth or hit him back."  And I reminded her (while I was reminding myself) that the Holy Spirit will give her the power to do what is right.

As we walk with God, may we never
- backbite with our tongues
- do evil to our neighbors
- or take up a reproach against our friends.

And when we fail, may we learn to run to our holy God for forgiveness, and then run to the arms of our friends for restoration.

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Next - Psalm 15:4 

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