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Psalm 15

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly
and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue;
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 
Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 
 
You know my ways, O Lord,
You know that I am not blameless.
You know my heart and discern my thoughts.
How I have sinned against you,
when many, many times I don’t do
what I know is right;
What you have demanded from me.
My sins of omission are many, O Lord.

From my mouth not only sweet water drips,
but bitter one, like the one in Marah;
water that doesn’t heal but brings death.
My words do not always build those whom I love,
many times with my words I them bring down.
The words of my mouth are a fire;
a world of unrighteousness.
They stain my whole body,
and set on fire the entire course of my life.
So hard to tame this tongue,
this small member who boasts of great things.

The thoughts of my heart are not always according to Truth;
I sin when I entertain thoughts that encourage
fear and doubts.
I sin when I set my mind on earthly things;
when I think on what is not honorable,
on what is unjust,
when my thoughts are not on the things that are pure,
when my my mind is busy thinking on all those things
that are not driven by love,
that are not excellent,
and not worthy of praise.

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 
Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 

I like to tell myself that I do not evil to my neighbor,
but in my omission,
in my passing by and not stretching my hand out towards her,
in my neglecting him,
am I not sinning?
Am I not guilty of not doing evil against him,
when I remain blind to his needs?

O Lord, so many friends you have given me,
and I am not always a godly influence.
I do not always pray fervently for them,
I do not always give them wise words.
I do not always love them without reproach.

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 
Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 

Father, I have said that I honor those who fear you,
but have forgotten what someone just reminded me,
that “honor must start in the heart, but if it ends there,
it isn’t honor.
Honor must be expressed through words,
symbols, actions, or gestures.
Honor is among the most incarnational of the virtues.
It must have feet and hands.”

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 
Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 

O God, I hold tight to the anchor of my life,
to the Word of Life,
and yet hard winds come,
and temptations arise against me,
and I do not always remain unchanged,
unmoved;
the seams of my robe are torn,
and I feel undone; not longer of one piece.

He who does these things shall never be moved. 
 
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 
Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 

But God, even though I am a broken vessel,
I will sojourn in your tent.
I will dwell on your holy hill.
Not because of my deeds which are filthy,
but because of my Jesus,
my Savior,
my Redeemer.

He has done all these things.
He shall never be moved.
It has pleased Him to forgive me,
and call me his own.

He  took the penalty of my sins,
my guilt he bore on the cross.
His righteousness is my mine.
In my place He stood,
and now I live.

O Father,
to be able to call you Father!

Thank you for Jesus,
for the forgiveness of my sins,
and the hope of eternal life.

Amen

Becky

*used with permission