A True Heart

A few years ago I had the opportunity to spend a week in the beautiful Canadian wilderness with my father and a few close friends. In order to reach our destination, we had to hull a weeks worth of gear and four boats well over a mile. The laborious endeavor took almost the entire day. Our group was working by lantern light as we set up our tents. I couldn’t wait to crawl into my sleeping bag for some much needed rest.

In Psalm 15, David expresses his own desire to enter the ultimate place of rest: the tent of God. He describes those who will “abide in [God’s] tent” with the words integrity, righteousness, and truth. Living with integrity (or the lack thereof) determines the hidden action of a man. The man whose works are righteous exemplifies a godly character. Both integrity and righteousness come from a heart that speaks truth. John Calvin explains in his commentary in Psalm:

David does not intend to exclude faith and prayer, and other spiritual sacrifices; but as hypocrites, in order to promote their own interests, are not sparing in their attention to a multiplicity of external religious observances . . . the Psalmist, for the purpose of discovering and drawing forth into the light all who are of such a character, takes the marks and evidences of true and sincere faith.

In other words, Calvin is pointing to the root of our spiritual disciplines. Prayer, faith, and other spiritual sacrifices are hypocritical if the heart is not in God’s hands.

In verses 3-5, David goes on to list actions that exemplify a true heart: He “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.” David’s final comment in verse 5 is encouraging in light of his opening questions. He writes, “He who does these things shall never be moved.” Not only does a true heart lead to dwelling in the Lord’s tent, it also leads to eternal residents with Him.