The fool declares in his heart that
there is no God. We get that. Or at least we think we do. We see and hear atheists espousing their
theories of anything and everything.
Their babble has become more and more acceptable in this modern
world. We know it not to be true, but
that does not stop the endless spewing of nonsense.
But the psalmist knows that truth
resides in the heart. The fool not only
says with his lips that there is no God, he actually believes it. His heart compels him to share what he
believes to be true.
There are plenty of atheists out there
today that know they are on shaky ground.
Their lips say one thing but their heart is tugging at them to wake up.
The fool has no such dissonance.
We are not talking about the physical
heart. This is not about pumping
blood. We are not talking about
emotions. Emotions can lead us astray. We are talking about the core of our
being. Is it the same as our soul,
perhaps? At least the distinctions
between the two are difficult to discern.
The psalmist knows that truth comes
from the heart and if your heart tells you there is no God, then you are a fool
and the truth is not in you.
But what about those of us who are
certain that there is a God. He is
Creator. He is sovereign. He is just.
He is holy. He is Redeemer. He is Friend.
We know him best through his Word and his Spirit.
We come to him through the mercy and
favor we know in Christ Jesus.
We declare not only with our lips but
we believe in our hearts there most certainly is a God. He is a God of love, love so great he paid
the price for our sin in his own blood.
We speak the truth from the heart.
I know that I promised you analogies
from my vehicle wreck where I totaled my truck and from hitting a deer and from
having my heart stopped, but those will probably have to wait until 2020. They have to
have time to marinade or percolate or whatever other metaphors account
for the internal process to take place to get these experiences into a sermon.
So, this morning, you get yet another
Marine Corps analogy. When young men and
women arrive at boot camp, they are greeted as soon as they get off the
bus. It’s sort of the Marine Corps
version of the Welcome Wagon.
These young men and women are met with
people enthused about what they do. How
do I know? They get right up in the face
of these new arrivals and start screaming commands and compliments in the face
of these recruits.
Sometimes they go
straight for the ear so none of the message is lost.
Within a few short hours, everyone who
has not had a mental breakdown has learned basic obedience. You do what the crazy man in the round hat
tells you to do and you had better do it correctly and immediately.
It’s quite the welcome aboard event
that you might expect.
It takes a very short time to get
obedience, but obedience is not the goal.
What? Of course obedience is the
goal.
Actually, instant and willing
obedience is the goal. Simple obedience
is driven by outside forces. Instant,
willing, obedience to orders only works from the inside-out. Instant, willing obedience takes longer to
achieve but you can see the difference.
This instant and willing obedience
comes from the heart. It is who these
young men and women are now. Yes sir, aye-aye sir, and overwhelming motivation
to accomplish the order are these young Marines trademarks. It’s who they are now.
Who can enjoy the presence of the
Lord? The one without blame and who does
what is right and, who speaks the truth from his heart.
What comes from our heart is our
identity, our character, our very being.
God receives those who speak truth from the heart.
The psalmist says, here’s some
examples.
You don’t slander others. The command says don’t bear false
witness. The psalmist says, don’t do the
passive-aggressive thing either. Don’t
smile in my face and slander me behind my back or with generalities.
You don’t wrong your neighbor. You don’t put down your fellow man.
You don’t subsidize those with vile
intentions. The extent of your
discussion with these folks is repent, and believe the good news.
We stand with those who honor and
revere the Lord. We don’t say good luck
with that when they come under attack.
Our integrity is not inversely
proportionate to our pain. Our yes is
yes and our no is no and there are no gray areas.
We are honest in all of our personal
financial transactions. If we loan our
neighbor a hundred dollars, we don’t tell them to pay back two hundred or even
a hundred and ten.
We also are not swayed by money or
power or anything else that would cause us to deal unfairly with another
person, especially one with little means to defend themselves in the arena of
the world.
The psalmist is not making an
all-inclusive list. Much of what he
offers up in psalm you know from the Decalogue or the Proverbs.
He is also not saying that doing these
things makes you truthful. He is saying
that if the truth is within you and finds its way to your lips, these things
follow naturally.
This is not an outside-in
outcome. It is completely inside-out.
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred
tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor
without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.
Whoever lives with the truth in his
heart is disposed to trust the Lord.
Whoever speaks the truth from the
heart is not disposed to give in to her own understanding.
Whoever is governed by the truth
acknowledges the Lord with every step.
Whoever rejoices in the truth will
know the path the Lord has set before him.
The truth must reside within us. We must speak it. We must live it. The truth is a huge part of who we are now.
Amen!
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