O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbour,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honours 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.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
Comment: ‘Sojourn’, seen in the first line, according to my dictionary means to spend a little time with someone. ‘Dwell’, in the second line has a permanency about it, as in a shared residency. Hebrew poetry tends to repeat and underline thoughts in consecutive lines and here it seems to mean whom will God allow to enter His tent for a visit and with whom does He desire to have a long term relationship with.
‘No’ and ‘do not’ are often seen as negative words and commands. To me that is not so. If we don’t slander and talk evil about our neighbours; if we are not promise breakers; if we are not extortionists with high interest rates; if we don’t accept bribes – these are all very positive qualities. We come into a right relationship with God by His Grace through faith, we do not earn our way into God’s good graces. Nevertheless, like all good fathers, God has standards and expectations, and obedience doesn’t go unnoticed!
Prayer: I know that I’m not perfect but help me to aim at perfection in Your eyes, Father God.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this Psalm. It reminds me of Psalm 1 where is speaks about living a life following God, and not associating with those whose life style is not following God’s ways. We need to have “clean hands and a pure heart.” God bless you.
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