We take a brief break from Nehemiah to enjoy a couple of Psalms (today and tomorrow) which connect with some of the themes of Nehemiah:
Psalm 15As a family we used to love the game Jenga. You may be familiar with it: a stack of wooden blocks is created and, little by little, blocks are removed from the stack and placed on the top. The stack gets higher and higher, and also more and more fragile. Eventually the slightest tremor, the tiniest shake of the hand causes the stack to fall, and that person is the loser.
Sometimes life can feel like a game of Jenga. What feels like the solid stack of our existence slowly gets undermined. Things go wrong unexpectedly, relationships struggle, we face illness, uncertainty or some kind of hardship – each challenge is like a block that gets removed, and our ‘stack’ gets more and more fragile. Soon we fear that the slightest shake will cause it all to collapse.
In times like this, how do we stand firm? How can we ensure that we are not ‘shaken’? Today’s psalm addresses this very question. It proceeds from the premise that the best place on which to base the ‘stack’ of our lives is God’s holy hill (v1) – something strong, immovable… so the question then becomes: ‘Lord… who may dwell on your holy hill?’ (v1)
The answer lies in the way we live – and let’s note that this is not a recipe for activism or a self-help manual. This is more about the direction of our lives, the way we set our priorities. The person who can stand firm, who will not be shaken, will be righteous with both their words and their actions. So, they speak the truth (v2), do not slander or cast a slur on others (v3); they also do no wrong to their neighbour (v3), lend generously without advantage to themselves (v5) and refuse bribes (v5).
The phrase that I found most striking when preparing today’s inspiration was this: (v4) ‘who keeps an oath even when it hurts’. This is where words and deeds come together – can we fulfil with our actions what we’ve promised with our lips, even when it’s costly? I found myself thinking about the little promises we all make on a daily or weekly basis. Am I someone who can be trusted to do what I promise?
It’s a challenge; but also an opportunity, because it carries a great reward – this is the punchline of the psalm: ‘whoever does these things will never be shaken.’ If you’re anything like me, I want the kind of life that can weather the storms, that can cope with blocks being removed from my stack and not be shaken. Here’s the key: if we live with integrity, we find the Lord’s blessing. We get to place our stack on the immovable mountain of the Lord.
May the Lord grant us all grace to live like that today – and, whatever we face at present, to trust that, held fast in the Lord’s hands, we will not be shaken.