Standing strong and not wavering is difficult, especially when the whole world seems to be against you. To stand strong, you need God’s presence. If God is your Rock you’ve got to be WITH the rock [or on it, the foundation] to stand strong, right? Doesn’t help if you call God your Strong Tower and be 5,000 miles away.

So, Psalm 15 gives us a much needed description of how to have God’s presence, or how to be close to God, or how to stand strong.

Psalm 15 [NASB]
1: 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 [shame] against his friend;
4: In whose eyes a reprobate [a morally unprincipled person] 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.

The principle behind verse 2 is that the Person must have compatibility with God. What the Person does and what God does does not contradict. This lays the foundation for a deeper presence of God. Remember that God removed His presence from the Israelites because they sinned, and God’s presence and their sin could not co-exist.

The principle behind verse 3 is that the Person be a Godly example even in the midst of others, under peer pressure. For me, verse 3 strikes as the general trend we see in young people today. We strive to fit in and so compromise our standards when we’re around others, who would normally do what verse 3 says not to. I mean, it makes sense; a deeper presence of God means a deeper presence of God all the time, not just when nobody’s around to give you peer pressure, right? Are you serving God, or your friends?

Verse 4a is tougher. On first sight it seems to be unbiblical, teaching us to judge others and to boast of our apparent holiness. I believe the principle behind it is actually discernment of influence. The Person must be able to determine which kind of influence is good and which is bad. It doesn’t help you to stand strong when all the friends you have, from whom you pick up things and habits, are not God-fearing and whom have no principles. Verse 4b is about keeping your word and promises “even when it hurts” [NIV]. It’s about hurt pressure. I believe the principle is about standing strong for small things as a start. If standing strong, ideally, is about not compromising to the world, probably the way to ‘train up’ is to stand strong and keep your word even when you hurt. Hey, the world will hurt you much much more to make you compromise, you’ve got to be able to take little hurts as a start. Remember you’re serving God and not yourself.

Verse 5a is about money pressure. The Person must not seek to earn a profit out of someone else’s desperation/need. I believe when this verse talks about loaning money it’s referring to those people who have no money and need sustenance. Taking a bribe against the innocent; money pressure fighting with truth. You cannot serve both God and money.

So, Psalm 15 does give us a great lesson on how to stand strong. Always know whom do you serve. And always choose to serve Him. I’d like to say that it’s always a simple “I’m supposed to serve God and so I will and so I really do it” kind of thing but reality proves otherwise. It’s not simple; but it’s not impossible. That’s why we start small [refer verse 4b]. When we go deeper, God’s presence is deeper too. Then we stand strong.

God bless you all. =]