Psalm 15
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Have you ever caught yourself wondering, “who are God’s children? Who can live with God? Who can be confident in salvation?” Perhaps you’ve caught yourself wondering then if you can be considered one of God’s own children, his people, with assurance of salvation. Well, God has revealed that Jesus is absolutely central to answering this question and that’s what I’d like to spend time considering with you this morning in Psalm 15.
In fact, this Psalm even starts by asking that question in different words.
O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
King David as he writes this Psalm is asking God, who can walk with you? Who can approach you? Who can rightly come before you and worship? Who can live with you?
Then David writes down the requirements for such a person, which we will now dissect together.
Only the righteous can dwell with God
Only the righteous can dwell with God
He who speaks blamelessly and does what is right
in other words, if we could pull up a transcript of everything that every person has ever said and done, whether in public or in secret, whether directly to people or when they weren’t around, the one who is a child of God is the one who cannot be blamed for saying or doing any wrong thing. The one who dwells with God must be one who is totally blameless in speech and deed. He must do what is “right”, and this is an objective judgement. This does not mean that you dimply do “what is right in your own eyes,” because everyone does that, and God has condemned it many times in the Scriptures. No, what is in view here is someone who lives up to the objective moral standard that God has set out for humanity. And it actually runs a bit deeper than that,
He who speaks truth in his heart
The child of God can’t simply be morally pristine on the outside, but he must also be so on the inside. It isn’t enough to speak kindly to someone with your lips if you then turn and curse them in your heart. It isn’t enough to proclaim proper doctrine out loud if you fail to truly believe in your mind. You see, the child of God must be full of truth inside and out without harboring any falsehood or lies.
who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor nor takes up a reproach against his friend
One who belongs to God is one who treats others with perfect conduct. One who gossips about others is not a child of God, one who stirs up controversies is not a child of God, one who sins against his neighbor is not a child of God. Rather, the child of God speaks truthfully concerning others in all circumstances. The child of God only does good to others.
Who despises vile people but honors and fears the Lord
The child of God does not make wicked people into role models, but honors and fears God alone. The child of God does not look up to morally corrupt celebrities, athletes, influencers, or politicians. The child of God sees evil in a person and despises it. Seeing immorality and evil in the world disgusts him.
Conversely, the child of God honors and fears the Lord. The child of God does not challenge God’s authority, nor take his name in vain, nor despise his laws, nor relax the command to obey. The child of God loves the Lord and lives to serve him.
who swears to his own hurt and does not change
The one who stands with God is not fickle, saying one thing today and another thing tomorrow. The one who dwells with God does not waver on matters of word. When he says something, he delivers on it. His word can be completely trusted, even if it becomes incredibly inconvenient for him to deliver on his promises. There are no excuses for unfaithfulness, but he can be fully trusted and depended upon in every matter that he has spoken.
who does not put money out at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent
The one who dwells with God does not seek to take advantage of others, no matter the personal gain that might be at stake. He does not see others as stepping stones to achieve personal goals. He treats others with the utmost respect and dignity, even if it isn’t efficient to do so.
He does not show partiality or act unfairly towards anyone, even if doing so would make him the richest man in the world. Rather, his integrity remains intact as he acts justly and fairly.
So who is God’s child? Who can dwell with him? Who belongs to God and has assurance of his love? The person described in Psalm 15 does. In other words, only the righteous belong to God.
Apply: It’s important for us to realize that the Bible does not lower it’s standards for what constitutes holiness. There is no “curve” when God looks at us and judges our moral character.
We often tend to think in these kinds of ways. We like to find ways to justify ourselves, fiddling with the scales so that we can convince ourselves, others, and even God that we really are good people who belong on God’s holy mountain with him.
We will think about how sinful other people are, and try to quantify sin in such a way where we’re at least better than the average person. When we acknowledge our imperfections, we will try to play this game where we’ve done enough to cover up the bad.
Or maybe we will even try to convince ourselves that God doesn’t really care about holiness and he will just accept everyone to come to him.
This is not what Psalm 15 is trying to get across to us. Psalm 15 is making it incredibly clear: God cares about holiness, and he will not relax his standards for those that would come to live with him.
This leads us to ask the question: who can come to live with God? Who lives up to the standards? And understand, this by itself is bad news for humanity, because there isn’t anyone that fits this description in themselves. Well, almost nobody; there is one person in the history of our race that has fit this description perfectly. That person, of course, is Jesus.
Jesus is the righteous Man of God
Jesus is the righteous Man of God
This leads us to see another very important function that the psalms serve in Scripture: not only do they help us to learn about our ourselves, but even more importantly, they help us to see and know Jesus.
Jesus spoke blamelessly and did what was right.
Jesus spoke truth in his heart.
Jesus did not slander and he never committed any evil towards anyone.
Jesus called his enemies his friends and treated them as such.
Jesus despised evil deeds while remaining faithful to God, honoring and fearing him in life.
Jesus has always been true to his word, and he has never changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Jesus has never taken advantage of anyone for his own gain.
You see, Jesus is the man that Psalm 15 is talking about. Jesus is the truly Righteous One. Jesus is the one who can sojourn in God’s tent, who can dwell on his holy hill.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
When we read Psalm 15, we should see Jesus in it, and as we see his righteousness on display, we should fall more in love with who he is. The chasm between what we are like, and what Jesus is like, is massive; he is above all else.
And yet, this righteous Man of God was not content to simply be righteous (although he certainly is), but he actually gives that righteousness to all who believe!
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
When the Son of God came into the world and assumed a human form, he did so to become what we never were, truly perfect in righteousness. He also promised that everyone who receives him by faith also receives this righteousness.
What this means is that when God looks upon his Son Jesus, he sees a man that truly deserves to sojourn in God’s tent and dwell on his holy mountain. When God looks upon those of us who trust in Jesus Christ, he sees exactly the same thing.
What good news! What a savior! That we should be counted among the righteous and become coheirs with Christ is the greatest news we could possibly conceive of, and Jesus has made it a reality.
Another way of talking about this is to say that we have been united with Christ; everything that he is, we have become through faith in him. We have lived his life, died his death, and rose again in his resurrection. All of this and more is yours through faith in Jesus Christ.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
And the good news doesn’t stop there. When we place our faith in Jesus, God doesn’t just call us righteous, but he actually begins to make us live in righteousness as well.
Our union to Jesus causes us to be righteous
Our union to Jesus causes us to be righteous
In other words, through faith in Jesus, God is actually causing us to look like a Psalm 15 man or woman. This process is often called sanctification and it is the process of God redeeming our sinful selves by the power of his Holy Spirit.
It’s important for us to recognize that this, just like every area of our salvation, is a free grace of God in our lives given to us through faith. Our sanctification doesn’t happen over night, and a sinner doesn’t act like Jesus in every way immediately upon believing, but God has promised to work this process out in every single believer.
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
No longer are we slaves to sin’s power in our lives. No longer are we doomed to repeat the same evil deeds forever. But now, slowly but surely, God is redeeming our hearts and wills to love him and obey him, to become Psalm 15 types of people.
And did you know that one day, every single person who believes in Jesus will actually be exactly what Psalm 15 describes? It won’t happen in this life, where we are still hampered by the effects of sin, but this is what our future looks like. When we pass away and Jesus finally brings us home to himself, this is his final act of grace, often called glorification. This is what it looks like for God to be making all things new, just like he promised in the book of Revelation.
If you trust in Jesus Christ today then take heart, by his grace he has made you clean and called you a child of God.
If you haven’t trusted in Jesus Christ yet but you long for this grace and love, there’s no better day than today. Jesus calls you to love and trust him today, and he will make you a child of God.
Thoughts:
Who are God’s people? this is the basic question the Psalmist is exploring.
The Psalm gives the picture of someone who is basically righteous.
It seems we must be careful of two errors in interpreting this Psalm. On the one hand, we can’t assume that only perfect people can be counted among God’s people, for then there would be nobody. On the other hand, we have to take the Psalm seriously when it gives the characteristics of one of God’s people.
Jesus is the one who fits this description perfectly
Though we do not fit this description perfectly, Jesus is making us into people who eventually will fit this description.
Jesus does this as we continue to express faith in him. When we walk by faith, these characterstics become our own.
So our call is to walk by faith in the Son of God, attempting each day to be faithful to the calling Jesus has given to us.
Interested in exploring:
freedom from the bondage of sin! What a joy.