Preparing for Worship - January 29, 2023

The Scripture readings for this Sunday remind us of the very high standards of our Holy God and the need to walk humbly before Him. The Psalm is Psalm 15. David begins by asking who can come and continue to stand in worship before the Lord in His tent, His tabernacle. He says it is a person who is blameless, does what is right, and speaks truth from his heart, in contrast to a person who slanders others, does evil to a neighbor, and reproaches (blames or shames or speaks disgracefully) of a friend. David lists other things that people should and should not do and says that one who does these things rightly will not be moved from God’s presence. God’s people try to do what is right, but sometimes fail. Can anyone then stand before the Lord?

In the Old Testament lesson, Micah 6:1-8, the Lord indicts (makes a case against) His own people. He has redeemed His people from slavery and brought them to a land of promise and blessed them with acts of righteousness. Yet His people have rebelled and sinned against Him, as previous chapters of Micah show. What can be done? There is nothing that people can offer to God to make things right. God calls them “to walk humbly” with Him (which implies confessing their sins and seeking His forgiveness and trusting Him,) and then seeking to act in a kind and just way toward Him and others.

Jesus teaches much the same thing as He begins His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-12 and speaks of God’s high standards and ends Chapter 5 with the words: “You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Who can do that? He is teaching us all about our sins and our need for Him, the Savior. He says that those are blessed who know that they are spiritually poor, and mourn about their sins and weaknesses, and hunger and thirst for the righteousness that can only come from God, and know that they need and can receive God’s mercy for themselves. Then they can seek to show that mercy to others who, like them are not always pure in heart, and to be peacemakers with others, and stand up for the Lord in faith and in what is right, even if there is persecution on account of following Jesus.

In the Epistle lesson, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Paul says that the way of Christ and His Word will seem like foolishness to many in this world, whose own wisdom and standards are very different. In fact, no human being can boast in the presence of God and meet His expectations, no matter how wise and strong and noble a person thinks he is. Our only hope is in boasting in and trusting the Lord Jesus and receiving the wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption He provides for us as Christ the crucified, for our salvation. Through Jesus, we are forgiven and counted blameless in the eyes of God.

(One last note on Psalm 15. Receiving interest on a loan of money is not condemned in the New Testament. See the parable of Jesus in Luke 19:23, where a man is condemned for not even at least putting money in a bank in order to earn a little interest. Usury was condemned for the Old Testament people of Israel, as a nation, so that they would not charge interest for the very poor, who could barely pay back what they owed others, and would not harm their fellow Jewish people who were struggling. This could be a good principle still to follow to show kindness to some people in need.)