Psalms 15 Series by DUO Inspirations - Post 3

“He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.”
                                Psalms 15:3 (KJV)
 
 
 


 
Hi friends,

     How are you?  I hope you are enjoying the Psalms 15 Series by DUO Inspirations.  Today, we will ponder the words in Psalms 15:3.  Last week, we pondered the words in Psalms 15:2 and saw how King David starts answering his own questions (which he posed in Psalms 15:1).  You can read last week’s post here.

     Like in Psalms 15:2, in Psalms 15:3 continues to answer the questions he posed in Psalms 15:1.  In Psalms 15:2, King David lists some traits such people may have in order to dwell in the Lord’s tabernacle.  These things include walking uprightly, righteousness, and truthfulness.  In Psalms 15:3, King David mentions things in which those people are NOT.  Let’s look at it.

     Psalms 15:3 notes some things that we are not to do to our neighbor.  However, the meaning of neighbor here doesn’t mean just the person who lives next door to us or even just in our own town.  I believe the word neighbor refers to either all others.  Maybe, at the very least, it means all other believers.

     The first part of Psalms 15:3 KJV states, “He that backbiteth not with his tongue…”.  So, we are called not to backbite our neighbors.  What does that mean?  I believe that backbiting refers to saying mean and cruel things, regardless of whether they are true or not about someone behind his or her back.  No matter the true meaning, we can gather that it has something to do with saying not so kind things about others behind their backs. 

     In the second part of Psalms 15:3, we see that are not to do any sort of evil to our neighbors.  Hopefully, we know this anyway.  Yet, it is good to look at it as part of King David’s thought process here. If we brainstormed some specific ways to not do evil to our neighbors, we might come up with things like: not fighting others, not stealing from others, not cursing others, not cheating others, not causing harm to others, and not ruining any property or belongings of others.

     In the last part of Psalms 15:3 KJV it states, “…nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour”. I am not quite sure what is meant by this part specifically.  However, in my mind there could be at least two possibilities to the meaning.  I think the first possible meaning is that we don’t scold or maybe join others in scolding our neighbors.  We tend to want to be quick to point out the wrong that others are doing.  It might be that King David is saying that it isn’t good to do point out the wrongdoings of others.  The second possible meaning might be that we are not to take part in anything others are doing against our neighbors.  Neither possibility seems very kind anyways, so we may want to steer clear of either action.

    The bottom line that King David was saying in Psalms 15:3 is to be kind to others.  We see that in so many verses of the Bible.  God definitely calls us to love and be kind to others.
 
Heavenly Father,
     Thank you for loving us and showing us the way you want us to live.  Help us to take your Word to heart and to heed it always.  Help us to not only read your Word, but to ponder it and live it as well.  Help us to be kind to our neighbors as you call us to do.  I ask you this through your Son, Jesus. Amen.
 
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Reflective questions for Psalms 15:3 (KJV):
*What does Psalms 15:3 mean to me?
*What does backbiting mean to me?
*What does “doing no evil” to my neighbor mean to me?
*What does “taking up reproach against my neighbor” mean to me?
*What is the definition of “neighbor” in the verse?
*What message is God giving me with Psalms 15:3?
*What can I do to better heed the message in Psalms 15:3?
*About what other verses does Psalms 15:3 remind me?

Now, it is your turn.
     Thank you for being here.  I hope you are enjoying the Psalms 15 Series by DUO Inspirations.  If you find value in the Faith Blog by DUO Inspirations, please feel free to share it with others.  Also, if you feel called to write a comment, please do so.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts.  I think it is nice to be able to share thoughts about God's Word and learn from each other.  However, please, remember that your ultimate teachers are God's Word and God through prayer, as well as Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  (We are not called to seek each other, like we are called to seek God.)

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