Impossible

Psalm 15

This is another one of David's psalms. This one is not a lament but instead lists the attributes of the person who may dwell in the presence of God. Looking at the structure of the Hebrew poem, it looks like there are four main ideas with two sub ideas under the first three main ideas and one sub idea under the fourth main idea. The four main ideas are: those whose walk is blameless (integrity), who have no slander on their tongues (relationships), who despise those whose ways are vile (values) and who lend money to the poor without interest (money).
There is a bold statement made at the end of the psalm: "whoever does these things will never be shaken." I'm not sure that David means that they will never doubt or never face trials or never suffer. If he does mean that, I think we have sufficient evidence to show that the statement is not entirely true. However, I think David is talking about being shaken in their standing before God. Those who do these things will always have a place in the presence of God. The problem is that keeping this list is impossible for me. I might be able to keep parts of the list part of the time but not the whole list the whole time. Sin has twisted me too much. In the context of the rest of Scripture, the good news is that I have one who has kept the whole list the whole time who stands always before God and intercedes on my behalf. His righteousness has been applied to me and, by the Spirit, I am being changed to reflect this list more and more. I wonder if it was this list that Paul had in mind when he wrote some of his lists describing those who had been regenerated and walked by the Spirit.
There is one item on the list that really stands out to me every time I read this psalm: "who keep their oaths even when it hurts." I'm really good and making promises and then justifying my breaking them because of circumstances that come along. Recognizing this tendency has not led me to keep my promises more strongly but to not make promises. I don't think that's a good solution. I need to be careful about the promises that I make and then work hard to keep those promises even when it hurts.