LIBERTY UNIVERSITY LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

MARKS OF MATURITY

A PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. RUSSEL BARKSDALE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE PLED 520

BY TRACEY L. STALLWORTH

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

SUMMARY The author of Psalms 15: 1-5 was David who was the son of Jesse and the King of Israel. In the scriptures below they are very personal and they come out from the depth of David heart. David was a true worshipper and he begins to ask two questions to God following statements in general to who will be accepted in his house. LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. (1)

Some people may say the main reason that David began to question Jehovah (Lord) was because of what happened to Uzzah touching the ark while it was being carried incorrectly. On the other hand it proposes a question to who will abide in your house. Generally speaking we know that the book of Psalms relates to David being a worshipper unto the Lord. This is a life style of a person who is constantly doing the right thing in the site of God. Ultimately their will has become Gods will.

The life of a worshipper is very important. It is imperative of them to live a complete disciplined life under Gods will. For example, a true worshipper is one who does not lie despite what the situation is they are always going to tell the truth, Eph 4:25. Theyre not going to backbite or talk about people, James 4:11. Doing these things is very important to developing spiritual formation in the body of Christ. David knew in his heart that these were the right elements to being a true worshipper in the sight of God. He also knew that there was a process to developing into a worshipper.

In the book of Romans 12: 1-2,

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

In this scripture which is somewhat the same in Psalms, but Paul here is telling the people that you need to become available to Gods will through sacrifice forsaken the world and fulfilling your duty. He further states that this process can happen but you have to have a mind changing experience and this come through renewing your mind with the thing of God and not the world.

You have two people saying the same thing but in different tones and times. The word of God states in the bible that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Both of them authors realize that anybody can enter in they just have be of righteousness to do so.

Throughout the bible we see God move through people who we think are just terrible. The key thing that God determined was there heart and their compassion to follow Gods will. This was very important to Him. I have that having a relationship with the Father allows you to experience His heart in you like David did. Through this experience he was able to produce a Psalm that had great impact to those who took the quality time to examine the scriptures for themselves.

He plainly illustrates to us in Psalms 15 that consistency of the things spoken in the five scriptures will assist us into entering in the holy of holies and that is spending quality time with the Father. There is a purpose why the priest had to follow a set of protocols before they entered into the tabernacle. Sin cannot be present in the sight of God. Why did they tie a string on the priest leg when he went into the tabernacle?

PERSONAL/CONCLUSION For me in my own life presently, I have been faced with a lot of opposition that doesnt feel good. The maturity that I have learned of the years as a believer has and is being tested as I type. I expect a lot of things out of people because you assume they know how to react. Yes I have talked negative and expressed words about them to certain peers who I get counseling from. I have developed a callous when I get around them and it is hard for me to be genuine with them in my presence. The bad thing is that they live with my wife and me now. The good thing is that this married couple has been approved to get their own apartment December 9, 2011. I am very happy because I want them out of my house but I am sad because of the friction that has occurred in my house with each other. Hopefully we will be able to talk before they leave so that there will not be any hard feelings towards one another because we are both Christians. I truly believe that maturity truly exist when you are faced with opposing things against you that make you want to come out of your comfort zone, but yet you maintain and do things the way God would want to do them. A boy can get somebody pregnant at 10 years old because he is mature in the natural man. The mark of maturity is when he helps to take care of the child and raise him up as a man in Gods eyes.

Bibliography
Editor, D. S. (1984). Key Word Study bible. Chattanooga: AMG. Jamieson, R. A. (1997). A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. Psalms. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2011, from Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalms%2015&version=NKJV Topical Bible. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2012, from Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalms%2015&version=NKJV