Person of integrity

Psalm 15:1-5 (NLV)

O Lord, who may live in Your tent? Who may live on Your holy hill? He who walks without blame and does what is right and good, and speaks the truth in his heart. He does not hurt others with his tongue, or do wrong to his neighbor, or bring shame to his friend. He looks down upon a sinful person, but honors those who fear the Lord. He keeps his promises even if it may hurt him. He gives money to be used without being paid for its use. And he does not take money to hurt those who are not guilty. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Psalm 15 can be subtitled “The Person of Integrity”.  Many years ago I heard a testimony of a man who, in his earlier youth years, was as rebellious as could be.  He credited Psalm 15 for turning his life around and becoming a pastor and this drew my attention to this Psalm. 

The psalmist (David) asks two questions that basically ask who deserves to be part of God’s family and live with God.  David is asking God what are the characteristics of a righteous person.  When James 5:16 states that “the effective (fervent) prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much”, who is the righteous man?  When Psalm 34:17 states that “The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles”, who are the righteous?  When Jesus talked about the righteous in verses such as Matt 5:10, 10:41, 25:46, what kind of people is He referring to?  I think that Psalm 15 describes and defines the characteristics of a righteous person.

1.  He walks without blame—Other translations use the word “integrity” instead of “without blame”.  Basically a man without blame who walks with integrity is a man of obedience to God’s Word.

2.  He does what is right and good—Note the word “does”, he is a man of action who does everything in his life under right and good moral conduct.

3.  He speaks the truth in his heart—Not only speaking the truth outwardly, but also having truth foremost in your inner being.  There is no shallowness or hypocrisy in this person (Prov 4:23). 

4.  He does not hurt others with his tongue—No gossiping, no putting down others, no cursing, nothing he speaks slurs any other human being and never profanes God (James 3:5-11).

5.  He does not wrong his neighbor—Remember, Jesus answered the question, “Who is my neighbor” with the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), so everyone is your neighbor and you treat them exactly like you want to be treated.

6.  He does not bring shame to his friend—The man of integrity treats others with respect and love.  The original Hebrew word used here is “cherpah” that means “to scorn” so a man of integrity never scorns or taunts his friends. 

7.  He looks down upon sinful people, but honors those who fear the Lord—This may seem to promote being judgmental, but a man of integrity keeps his distance from and is not influenced by those who do wicked things (II Cor 6:14-17).  He associates with and encourages those are fellow believers (Heb 10:24-25). 

 

8.  He keeps his promises even if they hurt him—A person of integrity always keeps his word, even if this turns out to be costly.  An example:  you promised to help someone move, then later you were offered free tickets to a major sports event or concert.  Yet, if you are a person of integrity, you must turn down the free offer because you made a commitment to do something else. 

9.  He gives money to be used without being paid for its use—A person of integrity will give money to others without worrying about being repaid with interest and never would charge high interest (the practice of usury).  Basically a person of integrity is never greedy.

10.  He does not take money to hurt those who are not guilty—This refers to the practice of bribery.  A person of integrity does not exploit others; indeed generosity is part of his/her character.   

David concludes that the person who does these things will never be shaken.  A person of integrity is upright in all respects---words, thoughts, attitudes, actions, and dealing with finances--- and this leads to a life of peace and security.

What lessons about yourself do you learn from a careful study of Psalm 15?  What parts of integrity listed and discussed here still need change and improvement in your life?