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Truth
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 swears to his own hurt and does not change
—Psalm 15:1-2, 4b
The sum of your word is truth
—Psalm 119:160a
“Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’”
—Jeremiah 7:4
“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”
—Luke 6:35
“For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
—John 13:15
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
—John 17:17
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
—Philippians 4:8
Many seemingly-complicated questions come down to a single choice about what to honor, prioritize, and seek: advantage or truth.
The serpent in the garden took advantage of Eve, saying to her words that were not guided by truth, but by the desire to influence her actions. Ahab tried to take advantage of Jehoshaphat's presence against Syria at Ramoth-Gilead. He wanted Jehoshaphat to enter the battle dressed as a king, while he planned to appear only in disguise. The Syrians, who planned to target their attack on the king of Israel, would be deceived into attacking Jehoshaphat instead of Ahab. All manner of deceit and self-serving behavior was in the air, including the false prophets who—unlike Micaiah—said whatever the king wanted to hear.
David pondered poetically who would be acceptable to dwell with the Lord. But the answers in that song are not abstract figures of speech, they are concrete behaviors. And truth appears twice. Speaking truth in the heart implies that it is not mere lip-service, but heart-felt attachment to truth. A few lines later, the song makes clear that this loyalty to truth is even willing to pay a price. Telling the truth even when it costs to do so is exactly the opposite of deception that only seeks advantage.
The great psalm that praises the Lord's instruction anticipated a statement that Jesus prayed in the upper room: the Lord's word is truth. The Word that came to us is Way, Truth, and Life, the truth that provides freedom.
And He calls His children to follow His example.
Inheritance
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
—Psalm 24:1-4
“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.”
—Leviticus 25:23
“The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.”
—Numbers 36:7
But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
—1 Kings 21:3
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
—Matthew 5:5
In a short meditation on the Hebrew word for "vineyard", Chad Bird made a connection between the murder of Naboth and the parable Jesus taught about tenants of a vineyard who murdered the owner's son in hopes of seizing the vineyard for themselves. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that the religious rulers “perceived” that Jesus was talking about them. It is a tragedy that they weren't as perceptive about themselves and the One who was walking among them!
And the contrast between Ahab's request and Naboth's response points to issues that go much deeper.
Deuteronomy records that Moses had long before warned the Israelites against imagining that “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.” He instructed them to remember that the Lord was giver of all, in faithfulness to His covenant. But obsession with power and wealth had infected Ahab, magnified by the "might-of-hands" madness of Jezebel. Ahab ignored the Law of Moses; Jezebel opposed and fought against it.
The gospel writers don't state the connection explicitly, nor did Bird, but I suspect that people who knew the Law and Prophets would also recall that Ahab did more evil “in the sight of the Lord...than all who were before him” and then compounded his evils by marrying the murderous Sidonian princess Jezebel and following her lead in worshiping Baal.
In Psalm 37, in addition to singing that “the meek shall inherit the land”, David urges his audience not to fret about or be envious of evildoers. Jesus also taught His followers not to become consumed in anxiety. But He also knew that evildoers can cause great harm (now as then).
And when the Owner of the vineyard returns, He will hold them accountable.
Gentle Speech
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
—Psalm 19:14
A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
—Proverbs 15:4
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
—Isaiah 42:2-3
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. ”
—Matthew 15:18
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.
—Hebrews 5:1-3
The Scriptures contain direct instruction to speak kindly and gently. It also offers examples of that behavior. What does it mean to speak kindly and gently?
Gentle speech is healing to spirit, mind, and body; the tree of life brings healing to the whole person. The proverb contrasts it with “perverseness”—vicious speech which distorts the truth and the one who accepts it. In everyday terms, we understand the damaging effects on thinking and the body of stress, including that triggered by lying or hate-filled speech.
Gentle speech builds connections from heart to heart; those connections bring healing to broken or fragile relationships. That is the way that Joseph spoke to rebuild a trusting relationship with his brothers, the way that the Levite spoke to his unfaithful concubine late in the book of Judges, the way that Joab urged David to speak to the faithful who had defended him against Absolom, and the way that Hosea records the Lord speaking to His unfaithful people.
Gentle speech brings good things to the hearer; its words—coupled with action—benefit the recipient instead of the speaker. The books of Kings and Jeremiah both record the king of Babylon speaking kindly to Jehoiachin, extending mercy and grace that Jehoiachin's former actions did not deserve. (It is fascinating to read some of the traditions around the effect of Jehoiachin's imprisonment on his heart.)
Gentle speech shows moderation without evil or quarreling; it de-escalates and attempts to be at peace. Paul's explicit instruction on speech in the letter to Titus, as well as his broader teaching on peacefulness, emphasize this quality of thought, speech, and life.
Gentle speech is carefully measured; it comes from a heart that has learned obedience. The letter of Hebrews pointed to the One and Only perfect High Priest who sympathizes with our weakness and intercedes for us.
If that is what He learned and what He does, then all who would follow Him must do likewise.
Fret Not
Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
—Psalm 37:1
Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
...
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
—Psalm 146:3-9
...they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason...they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
—Acts 17:5b, 6b, 7
The Psalms are a wonderful preventive medication against the turmoil of a world gone mad, a world that seems to make every effort to imitate the brokenness and rejection of guidance that the Lord called Jeremiah to cry out against. If I'm honest, the Psalms are a wonderful antidote to my tendency to despair at the grief pouring out of the pages of Jeremiah, combined with dismay at so much of the daily news.
Not to mention the (anti-)social media posts that intrude when trying to check up on family and friends. Angry messages that leave me feeling as though I'm standing on Main Street in Thessalonica.
The self-seekers criticized in the Psalms are very much like that mob that was willing to attack Jason for no crime other than hospitality. Blessed are those who are reviled and persecuted and slandered for being the Lord's people. I am humbled by the faith of Paul and Silas, who continued to put their trust in the Lord instead of letting the threats of the mobs silence them. The disciples, first at Thessalonica and then at Berea, understood the urgency of removing Paul from the path of the beast.
They did not try to reason with the mob, because a mob has a mouth and fists but no mind. And no heart.
The song we call Psalm 146 praises the Lord whose heart hurts for the oppressed and the weakest. And the courage and work of Paul and and Silas and their co-workers praises the Lord who also was hounded by mobs and whose heart was pierced to give life to His people, who acknowledge Him as King.
Call
O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
—Psalm 116:16-17
“For they have turned their back to me,
and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
‘Arise and save us!’
But where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.”
—Jeremiah 2:27b-28
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
—Luke 6:48
...as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct... And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
—1 Peter 1:15, 17-19
It doesn't work to be called the Lord's people while refusing to show the family resemblance.
It doesn't work to look down, worshiping the work of human hands, but then look up expecting deliverance from a Lord who has been ignored.
It doesn't work to ignore the repeated call of the Lord and then call on Him for a bail-out.
Psalm 116 praises the grace and righteousness and mercy of the Lord, who hears the singer's call. But that singer is calling as a servant and as one who is thankful. Not as one who treats sacrifice as a "get out of jail free" card.
So, the word of the Lord through Jeremiah challenges those who praised sticks and stones, who didn't just ignore the Lord, but actively turned away from Him: "How come when things go wrong you suddenly call out expecting me to fix things? Why aren't you calling on those sticks and stones you're so fond of?"
He kept calling, but they never called Him back. Until they needed something.
Peter built on the theme that has been echoing since the Israelites were in the wilderness: "Be holy, because I am holy." Because people bought with the blood of the Son have been ransomed with something far more valuable than the silver and gold (or sticks and stones) of all the idols in human history.
Calling His name while rejecting Him and His teaching is taking His name in vain.
Outside
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
—Psalm 147:2-3
“I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.”
—Exodus 29:45
Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.
—Exodus 33:7
And he shall carry the bull outside the camp and burn it up as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.
—Leviticus 4:21
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
—Hebrews 13:11-14
The Lord walked among the trees of the Garden in Eden. But humans rebelled.
The Lord offered to dwell among the Israelites after setting them free from Egyptian oppression. But they rebelled. Moses met with the Lord at the tent of meeting, outside the camp, and interceded with the Lord on behalf of disobedient Israel. Even the second-hand glory of his being with the Lord filled the people with fear.
When the tabernacle was completed and assembled, the glory of the Lord filled it. Not even Moses was able to enter. Similarly, when the ark was placed in the temple that Solomon had built, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests were not able to “stand to minister”.
It is a fearful thing for fallible flesh and blood to try to be in the presence of the Lord. Much more so for those who, like Eve and Adam, like the Israelites with their golden calf, like those whose abominations drove the Lord away from His sanctuary in the visions of Ezekiel.
The Lord came again to be with His people, but Luke records that when He announced His fulfillment of prophecy, His own people “drove him out of the town”. Eventually the leaders conspired to kill Him. Outside the city.
The Revelation of John echoes with the song of Jerusalem as the place in which the Lord dwells with His people, the place to which He gathers the outcasts and brokenhearted and wounded. But until New Jerusalem, His people who seek Him go where He is.
Outside.
How Long?
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
—Psalm 13:1-2, 5-6
We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
—Psalm 74:9-10
Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste
—Isaiah 6:11
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
—Galatians 6:9-10
The child who asks from the back seat, "Are we there yet?" is taking part in a long-standing practice. A question of the form, “How long...?” appears over fifty times in the ESV, from Exodus to Revelation.
Sometimes it appears as a rhetorical call to action, such as the challenge to Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse...?” Sometimes it is a rebuke, such as Joshua's question to the Israelites, “How long will you put off...?”
Multiple songs of David cry “How long...?” to the Lord for deliverance or forgiveness. Some of them rebuke his attackers. And the same cry comes from later voices who have seen the defeat and exile of Israel. Voices that lived in the aftermath described in the word of the Lord to Isaiah.
Throughout Israel's existence, the Lord asked, “How long will they not believe in me...?” Until finally the people and their leaders demonstrated their willingness to turn their backs completely on the Lord. So the Lord sent messages of warning and judgment through His prophets. And those messages continued until their job was done.
But, throughout all of that history and all of those cries, there remained a remnant of voices who calmed their own outcries with reminders. Despite beginning with a list of “How long”s, David concluded what we know as Psalm 13 with the antidote: remembering to trust. Although Paul's letter to the believers in Galatia doesn't emphasize the "how long" refrain, his instruction echoes the word of comfort at the conclusion of so many Psalms.
Though the impulse to cry, "How long, O Lord?" against the brokenness of the world is strong, the Lord's people do good without giving up.
How long? Until the job is done.
Seek Counsel
Blessed are they who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times!
...
But they soon forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
...
They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
—Psalm 106:3, 13, 19-20
Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.
—Psalm 119:24
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”
—Joshua 5:13-14
So [Jeroboam] took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
1 Kings 12:28
As far as I know, the book of Kings doesn't use the contemporary term "yes-men", but the idea is there.
The description of Jeroboam's creation of his golden calves really makes me wonder: what question did he pose to his counselors? We all know that—from schoolroom tests, to surveys, to using AI models—the quality of the answer depends on the quality of the question that is asked (among other things). If Jeroboam started the conversation with something like, "How can I make sure nobody in my territory wants to go back to Jerusalem to worship?" then it's not hard to imagine how he and his counselors came up with their terrible idea.
This is very different from the conversation that Joshua had with the mysterious figure that met him after the first Passover in Canaan but before the fall of Jericho. Joshua had a question in mind—"Whose side are you on: ours or theirs?"—but the answer might be paraphrased as, "None of the above!" Joshua needed not to worry about whether God was on his side, but instead focus on whether he was on God's side.
The same is still true today.
Joshua's response reveals a heart focused on hearing and obedience. Instead of trying to control the agenda and forcing everything to "stay on point", Joshua dropped his body as fast as he dropped his off-target question. And he asked for direction. Unlike the Israelites at Sinai/Horeb.
Unlike Jeroboam, whose action anticipated Paul's warning to Timothy about people who sought teachers to tell them what they wanted to hear. And when Paul directed Timothy's focus to “the word”, he was bringing forward the ancient song that sought counsel from the Lord's testimonies.
Doing Truth
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
—Psalm 24:3-4
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes
—Isaiah 5:18
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
—John 8:44
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
—Philippians 4:8
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
—1 John 1:6
There's a lot going on as Paul brings his letter to the Philippian believers to a close. But when Paul—who is fond of lists—writes his “Finally...” list of things for them to keep in their minds and practice, he starts with “whatever is true”.
What we keep in our minds, continuing to think about, influences our attitude, speech, and action. Jesus repeatedly taught about the things that proceed “out of the heart”, whether good or evil. He described the devil (and his children) as so completely filled with lies that there is no room for truth in speech or action.
David caught a glimpse of this. One song connected speaking truth in the heart with dwelling in the Lord's presence. Another emphasized not lifting the soul to falsehood. Isaiah uses different imagery that draws to the same conclusion when he speaks of people using lies as ropes to pull carts full of sin.
Do a concordance search for the word “truth” in the gospels, and prepare to be surprised. John's gospel overflows with the word, beginning with the description of the Son as “full of grace and truth”. Teaching after teaching of Jesus emphasizes truth. And John records the cynical question of the politician Pilate, “What is truth?” Pilate's actions (and inactions!) make clear that he used words to manipulate, not to seek and honor truth.
And John's first letter continues the emphasis, as he uses “truth” as more than an attribute of words.
Truth is something to be done.