Whoever does these things will never be shaken. Psalm 15:5
Summarising the list of behaviours in this Psalm tells us that whoever is kind, speaks the truth, is reliable, keeps their promise, makes an honest living and generally does the right thing is not “shaken.” They aren’t shaken because they don’t live in fear of being found out, or worry about something from their past having ongoing repercussions or fear someone they have hurt will retaliate. They can live in peace and not worry about their past haunting their present life.
These days there’re many high profile politicians and corporate leaders who live in fear that something from their past will be dug up by the media. Perhaps they experimented with drugs or excessive alcohol at university, had a sexual or financial indiscretion, lost their temper or behaved badly in a public place. If uncovered the best outcome might be embarrassment or the worst scenario might be losing their job.
The world sometimes mocks the way Christians live as if they are strange and deprived because they don’t involve themselves in dubious lifestyle choices. They avoid activities which compromise their standards and disadvantage others. They can be relied upon to do what they commit to. Long term Christians become the best candidates for high profile positions because their employers have less to worry about when the media starts trolling their past.
The Message Bible translates the verse, “You’ll never get blacklisted if you live like this.” Living a morally sound life isn’t only God honouring but a sensible way to live. It brings more blessings than we realise and one of them is that we never have to worry about being shunned by people if they discover our past.
Or we say, those things happened before I became a Christian.
