Episode Details

Psalm 15: The Question at the Gate

David asks the most direct question a soul can ask: Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? It is the question of a man standing at the threshold, looking in, wondering if he belongs. And the answer that comes back is not a list of rituals performed or beliefs affirmed but a portrait of a life. He walks uprightly. He speaks truth in his heart — not merely with his lips, which is easy enough, but in that interior place where we negotiate with ourselves about what is really true. He does not backbite, does not harm his neighbor, does not take up a reproach. He honors those who fear the Lord and — here is the detail that catches the breath — he sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. That is, he makes a promise that turns out to cost him, and he keeps it anyway. This is not a psalm about perfection. It is a psalm about integrity, which is something quite different. The person who dwells on God's holy hill is simply the person whose inner life and outer life are the same thing.

00:00 Who Shall Abide in Thy Tabernacle?
00:10 He That Walketh Uprightly
00:20 He That Speaketh Truth in His Heart
00:30 He That Backbiteth Not
00:38 He That Sweareth to His Own Hurt
00:46 He That Doeth These Things Shall Never Be Moved