Psalms for Turbulent Times - Psalm 15: We shall not be moved

Psalm 15[1]

מִזְמ֗וֹר לְדָ֫וִ֥ד יְ֭הֹוָה מִי־יָג֣וּר בְּאָהֳלֶ֑ךָ מִֽי־יִ֝שְׁכֹּ֗ן בְּהַ֣ר קָדְשֶֽׁךָ׃

¹LORD, who may sojourn in Your tent,

who may dwell on Your holy mountain?

הוֹלֵ֣ךְ תָּ֭מִים וּפֹעֵ֥ל צֶ֑דֶק וְדֹבֵ֥ר אֱ֝מֶ֗ת בִּלְבָבֽוֹ׃

²He who lives without blame,

who does what is right,

and in his heart acknowledges the truth;

לֹֽא־רָגַ֨ל ׀ עַל־לְשֹׁנ֗וֹ לֹא־עָשָׂ֣ה לְרֵעֵ֣הוּ רָעָ֑ה וְ֝חֶרְפָּ֗ה לֹא־נָשָׂ֥א עַל־קְרֹֽבוֹ׃

³whose tongue is not given to evil;

who has never done harm to his fellow,

or borne reproach for [his acts toward] his neighbor;

נִבְזֶ֤ה ׀ בְּֽעֵ֘ינָ֤יו נִמְאָ֗ס וְאֶת־יִרְאֵ֣י יְהוָ֣ה יְכַבֵּ֑ד נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לְ֝הָרַ֗ע וְלֹ֣א יָמִֽר׃

⁴for whom a contemptible man is abhorrent,

but who honours those who fear the LORD;

who stands by his oath even to his hurt;

כַּסְפּ֤וֹ ׀ לֹא־נָתַ֣ן בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮ וְשֹׁ֥חַד עַל־נָקִ֗י לֹ֥א לָ֫קָ֥ח עֹֽשֵׂה־אֵ֑לֶּה לֹ֖א יִמּ֣וֹט לְעוֹלָֽם׃

⁵who has never lent money at interest,

or accepted a bribe against the innocent.

The man who acts thus shall never be shaken.



Psalms 13, 14 and 15 have a trajectory together. Commentators point this out. There is a movement from the threat of being shaken (13.6) to the affirmation that God is with the righteous (14.5) to the promise that the righteous person will ‘never be shaken’ (15.5). They are in God’s glory, living with integrity under the vault of heaven (the tabernacle or tent) and on the firm footing of the mountain of God (the place of God’s earthly dwelling – the Temple). The promise is that the righteous person shall not be moved.



During the Civil Right’s movement of the 1960s, a negro spiritual ‘We shall not be moved’ was made popular by many singers, Pete Seeger among them. It takes its inspiration not from this psalm but from Psalm 1. It contains that unshakeable hope which stirs the soul and provides a firm foundation for courageous living. 

We shall not, we shall not be moved, (2x)

Just like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved

We're young and old together, we shall not be moved, (2x)
Just like a tree that's planted by the water, We shall not be moved

We're women and men together, we shall not be moved, (2x)
Just like a tree that's planted by the water, We shall not be moved

Here's the city and country together, we shall not be moved, (2x)
Just like a tree that's standing by the water, We shall not be moved

We're black and white together we shall not be moved, (2x)
Just like a tree that's standing by the water, We shall not be moved

Yes, straight and gay together we shall not be moved, (2x)
Just like a tree that's planted by the water, We shall not be moved

Together, we shall not be moved. Yet daily we are shaken by the news of the havoc being wreaked by the virus. Today’s shocking revelation was a huge step up in death in the UK, rising by 563 in the last 24 hours. This included a 13-year-old boy, a 99-year-old man and twenty people with no underlying health concerns. The people of the United States are now being braced for 200,000 deaths. The World Health Organization predicts 1million people will have been diagnosed with the virus in the next few days. There have been 734 confirmed cases in the Birmingham area and 186 in Sandwell, the latter having a rate of 60 people per 100,000 of the population. We know locally of some of those who have had untested symptoms, including four people in their late 70s and early 80s in our street and a neighbouring street. The presumption is that there is a much wider presence of the virus than has been tested. Meanwhile, life as we have known it up to just two short weeks ago is changing so fast. Many people are being laid off work. Luckier ones are being ‘furloughed’, with the assurance of pay topped up by the Government scheme. NHS clinicians are shaken by their sense of helplessness as, latest figures show, fifty per cent of people admitted to intensive care beds do not survive. The UK has a fatality rate of 7.9% over all, compared to 11.9% in Italy. The surreal bleakness of funerals happening in crematoria chapels with no more than three or four family members is one of the more grim realities of these days.

So, we turn back to today’s psalm of promise of an unshaken life. It starts by posing the question: which one of us can sojourn – or as the Hebrew literally can be translated, ‘be a resident alien’ – in God’s presence? The unshaken life begins in God’s presence, not in the presence of all that shakes us.



It suggests that no-one deserves to be dwelling in the presence of God by their actions. Yet by God’s grace, we can. And in so doing, our lifestyles, our actions and our words are shaped by this grace. The sign of God’s unshakeable grace is found in many ways. Such unshakeable people live with integrity and truthfulness, they do not slander others (quite literally, ‘tread on others’), they do not slur their neighbours, they keep their word even when it hurts them, they do not lend money at interest, they do not accept bribes to bring down an innocent person.



These are descriptions of the character of a person who is not shaken even when everything around them is crumbling. If God is a refuge to the poor and the needy, then so are they. If God seeks wisdom and justice, then so do they. If God keeps his word, even at great harm to himself (as to his Son), then so do they. In lifestyle, action and speech, such a person entrusts themselves to God each day. And such a person shall never ‘be moved’ or ‘shaken’ as they grow in the character shaped by grace – while firmly rooted in real life under the magnificence of the heavens. 

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[1] https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.15?lang=bi