Scripture – Psalm 14 NRSVUE
1 O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?
2 Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right
and speak the truth from their heart;
3 who do not slander with their tongue
and do no evil to their friends
nor heap shame upon their neighbors;
4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised
but who honor those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
5 who do not lend money at interest
and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
Those who do these things shall never be moved.
From Rev. Heather Leffler
Those who do these things shall never be moved – but what about the rest of us? The psalmist’s vision of who may dwell with God feels far beyond me. I want to walk blamelessly, speak truth from the heart, and never cause harm. And yet, even when I am trying to help, I sometimes hurt. I miss the mark.
This psalm is not a checklist for entry into God’s presence so much as a vision of who we are called to become. Too often, words like these tempt us to compare ourselves to others instead of letting them shape us more deeply.
What gives me hope is that God has always worked through imperfect people – Abraham and Sarah, Moses and David, Rahab and Tamar, Peter and Paul. God does not wait for perfection. God works through honesty, repentance, and grace.
Perhaps faithfulness is not about never falling short, but about continuing to show up, open to being shaped by love.
Contemplation and Conversation
Which part of the psalm feels hardest to live into right now –
and what might it be inviting you to practice, gently, this week?
Prayer
All-seeing God, you know when we fall short of who you call us to be.
Forgive us, and transform our shortcomings, so that we may share your love in the world. Amen..
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