Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

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Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

Psalm 15 with John Calvin – Living as Servants of God LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? . . . The one whose walk is blameless (v. 2). There is an implied contrast between the empty boasting of those who are only the people of God in name and the sure and genuine evidence of true godliness which David applauds. He describes the approved servants of God as distinguished by their righteous fruits. In the first place, he requires blamelessness; in other words, that people should always act with singleness of heart, and without trickery. Secondly, he requires righteousness ; that they should determine to do good to their neighbors, hurt no one, and abstain from all wrong. Thirdly, he requires truth in their speech, so that they may speak nothing falsely or deceitfully. To speak . . . from the heart (v. 2) denotes agreement and harmony between the heart and tongue, so that the speech is a vivid representation of the hidden feeling. After having briefly listed the virtues with which all believers should be characterized, David now lists certain vices from which they should be free. In the first place, he tells them they must not be slanderers ; secondly, that they must restrain themselves from doing anything wrong or harmful to their neighbors; and, thirdly, that they must not participate in the slur of false reports that damage another’s reputation (v. 3). Slander is the first point of injustice by which our neighbors are injured. If a good name is a treasure more precious than all the riches of the world (Prov 22:1), no greater injury can be inflicted upon others than to wound their reputation. The Holy Spirit condemns all false and wicked accusations. In the clause which immediately follows, the doctrine that the children of God ought to be far removed from all injustice is stated more generally: who does no wrong to a neighbor . By the