The most influential person in government opened his press conference with the suggestion that every newspaper in the country print the text of the fifteenth Psalm. The passage had just been read at the services the renowned leader attended with his cabinet at St. John’s Episcopal Church. He noted to the sea of reporters, “There could be no better lead for your story.”[i]

So it was that the relevance of Psalm 15 captured President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s heart in a moment of extraordinary national and global crisis on March 5, 1938. It was the fifth anniversary of his first inauguration. The world was at the height of the Great Depression. The people of the United States were struggling to survive. Germany was on the march to dominate Europe, and just days later, Hitler invaded Austria. World War II loomed large. The fifteenth psalm had gripped Roosevelt’s heart as prosperity and peace slid away. It still engages us today as we navigate a world that often feels as uncertain as sprinting in thick fog. We need the assurance of the concluding promise of Psalm 15, “he who does these things will never be shaken” (Psalm 15:5).

Never Shaken?

We struggle. We battle anxiety. Our body fails. Friends move away. We lose jobs. Coworkers scorn our faith. Our children walk away from the church.

Meanwhile, our prevailing culture has its feet firmly planted in midair as it assaults sensible morality and threatens our societal stability. We hold our breath waiting for a news report about the meltdown of another deranged shooter or the announcement of another global health crisis.

Our prevailing culture has its feet firmly planted in midair as it assaults sensible morality and threatens our societal stability. We hold our breath waiting for a news report about the meltdown of another deranged shooter or the announcement of another global health crisis.

Can we really be unshaken? David, the author of Psalm 15, was a seasoned veteran of unsettling hardships. He had plenty of heartaches. David wrote prolifically with the praise that emerged from seasons of pain. He was no stranger to the long recovery road from tragic personal choices and agonizing family distresses. But over and over, he sang of the possibilities of an unshaken soul. David never wrote in a sterile vacuum of religious unreality. He wrote consistently and clearly from the crucible of a tested life.

Unsettled by Testing

The long road from David’s early anointing as the future king of Israel to his eventual royal coronation was about as straightforward as San Francisco’s famously winding Lombard Street. Scholars estimate a fifteen-year waiting period filled with dangers, toils, and snares. For agonizingly protracted years, he was a man on the run. The jealous and God-rejected King Saul resolved to erase David’s influence and existence. David survived in caves, among the enemy camps of the Philistines. He navigated the constant tension of wondering when the trials would end and his divine assignment would begin.

Reputable scholars estimate that David wrote Psalm 15 from another devastating but defining moment during the later years of his life. He was navigating his betrayal and banishment at the hands of his son Absalom. The essence of the story is recorded in 2 Samuel chapters 16 and 17.

Chuck Swindoll captures the moment well:

Just picture the scene. The once-great King David scrambling around, throwing a few things in a bag, preparing to flee from his own son. After all these years, once again he is running for his life. Surely, he recalled the years he lived like a fugitive while running from Saul. He’s back at it. “Been there, done that!”[ii]

Unsettled but Singing

In these circumstances, many might cope by resorting to drugs or alcohol. Anxiety, depression, anger, or revenge might consume others. It might be natural to wallow in self-pity, regurgitating all the mistakes of the past. Some may even consider taking their own life to escape the pain.

David sings!

His psalms are his songs, resonating in and through every circumstance. And yes, in Psalm 15, David sings. The early notes may have begun with dark, minor key reflection, but the psalm culminates with tones of undaunted assurance. His song lingered in Israel’s worship as a plumb line of personal evaluation. So it remains today, in our treasury of the Psalms, as a roadmap for an unshaken soul.

The summary of Psalm 15 is three-fold:

A Question Focused in Intimacy with the Almighty (v.1)

David is inspired to ask the ultimate questions: “O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?” (v. 1) Surpassing his circumstances, doubts, and heartaches, David’s heart is fixed on the need for assurance of an authentic and intimate relationship with God. This is the foundation of his security—and ours.

An Answer Describing Integrity in Daily Life (vv. 2-4)

God answers David by giving him a practical framework of stability and hope.

He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

A Promise of Assurance of a Never-Shaken Life (v. 5)

A treasured old hymn encourages us to declare that we are “standing on the promises of God.” Psalm 15 culminates with this truth.

He who does these things will never be shaken.

One biblical scholar captures the reality of David’s distressing moment:

What emotion and pathos are woven into the fabric of those few words. David was leaving the great city of Zion—the city named after him, the City of David. As he came to the edge, at the last house, he stopped and looked back over the golden metropolis he had watched God build over the past years. His heart must have been broken as he stood there looking back, his mind flooded with memories. All around him the people of his household scurried past, leading beasts of burden piled high with belongings, running for their lives.[iii]

Perhaps it was at that last house that David paused to initiate his song. Aching perplexity produces weighty questions. Life-changing answers often emerge. Doubts may have tormented his soul. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David may have composed this masterpiece in a single sitting. Perhaps it took several days or weeks to discern the Lord’s inspiration of the Psalm 15 truths. We do not know. But we know David would again find the grace and truth sufficient to embrace the promise of a never-shaken life. He would sing about it with confidence in His unshakable God.

Aching perplexity produces weighty questions. Life-changing answers often emerge.

Today, in the unsettling realities of your life and the uncertain ponderings of your soul, the gospel of Christ can provide sufficient grace and truth to be never-shaken. May David’s song become your song as you continually pursue intimacy with Christ, trusting Him for the integrity that He produces, and living in the assurance of His promises.

Today, in the unsettling realities of your life and the uncertain ponderings of your soul, the gospel of Christ can provide sufficient grace and truth to be never-shaken.

Copyright © 2024 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.

[i] “Roosevelt Says, ‘Old Ship of State Is On Same Course,’” New York Times, March 5, 1938.

[ii] Charles R. Swindoll, David: A Man of Passion and Destiny (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000), 398–99.

[iii] Ibid: 399

**For more on this topic, Daniel has written a book titled, Never Shaken – Finding Your Footing When the World is Sliding Away. To purchase a copy of this resource visit our web-store, or click HERE.