Psalm 15:2 He that walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. 1. The first virtue and mark to know the true saints of God is innocency of life. By "walking," in Holy Scripture, conversation and living is usually understood. Men call them innocent whose life is hurtless and harmless, neither stained nor defiled with iniquity or gross sins. The honest conversation of the saints, confirmed with undoubted testimony of a good conscience, is the harmless, hurtless, simple, innocent, and upright life, in this place required. In which virtue excelled Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, David, and the prophets, Paul, Peter, and the Apostles. Righteousness, doing good, and performing of Christian duties to all men is often in Holy Scripture commended unto the saints and lively members of God's Church, and the doctrine thereof is large and ample in the Sacred Word. 2. The second thing wherein the people's duty consisteth is to give the labourer his wages, the workman his hire. There is righteousness of parents, of children, of servants, of the hirer and the hired. 3. The third virtue in God's saints is truth in tongue and talk. The tongue is a necessary instrument in our common life. Truth is required both in our private and in our public life. To this there are sundry motives and things to stir us. The commandment of Almighty God. The example of Jesus Christ. The Gospel which we profess is truth, and the word of truth. We are inspired with the Holy Spirit of God, whose temples we are. The Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, who "leadeth into all truth." To speak the truth from the heart is a mark of them which shall dwell in God's tabernacle. Doctrines: 1. Hypocrites, by their external life, are easily descried. 2. Religion and faith are showed by works of the second table. 3. Sacrifices without works of mercy are rejected. 4. We need not divide ourselves from the Church because there are some hypocrites in it. 5. There is no sound rest in the Church for any but those who desire to live honestly. (R. Turnbull.) Parallel Verses KJV: He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.WEB: He who walks blamelessly does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart; |
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