He Shall Never Be Moved
He Shall Never Be Moved
Psalm 15
Open Your Bibles to Psalm 15
Some of you here woke up and went through a routine . . . best clothes . . . here early . . .
What does God desire of us before we come into His presence?
Does what we wear matter? David is going to show us that our behavior throughout our lives out there is what prepares us to come together in God’s presence.
Once again we are looking at a Psalm of David . . . this Psalm was used by the priests in the times of Jesus to prepare those for worship who entered the Temple Mount.
It is called a didactic Psalm (teaching)
Let’s read it together and see what God wants to teach us this morning.
Read Psalm 15
Pray
Psalm 5:4 states “Psalm 5:4 (ESV)
4For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
As if David is picking this theme back up in our text . . . he asks the obvious question . . . then who can dwell with you?
We are confronted by two parallel questions that are addressed to “The Lord!” A paraphrase of the first question is “who can hang out at your home” . . . the word sojourn implies that the person is a guest in the home of another . . .
the second is a very similar question “Who is allowed to live with you?” God’s Holy Hill is the Temple Mount of Jerusalem, but the important image here is that it was the place that most readily brought to mind God’s presence!
Important to understand that these are both spiritual questions. The gist of them being . . . what type of people are admitted into the presence of God . . . Who is allowed into heaven. Amazing thing to note is that being admitted into heaven is pictured here by Being a guest of God and being allowed to live in his neighborhood. There is a whole sermon just in this one truth . . . Heaven is to be with God!
The remainder then of the Psalm is descriptive of those who will be allowed to dwell with the Lord. It is not telling you what you must do to get to heaven, but describing what a person is like who gets there.
Saved by Grace . . . we don’t work for it . . . It is not just clear in the New Testament that salvation in by faith, Under the Old Covenant, Abraham was chosen before he had done anything . . . his works followed being chosen as child of God, (1st Birth – Jews 2nd Birth – Christians) . . . and here we will see a list of the THINGS THAT GOD VALUES.
Not just some arbitrary list, but these are moral and ethical requirements to please God because they reflect HIS CHARACTER!
By the time we are done with this list of the 11 things that are required to enter God’s presence . . . we will know that nothing in our lives is outside of the scope of God’s concern . . . The Rabbis during the life of Paul actually declared that all 613 commands of God in the Torah are summed up in these 5 verses!
Verse 2-
Walks Blamelessly – The person who can enter God’s presence is integrated in themselves. They are the same person Monday through Saturday as they are on Sunday! The word is ultimately. Integrity means the same all the way through. Jesus called this person “the pure in heart.” By way of opposite a person without this character is seen as double-minded. They will live a compartmentalized life . . . with closets that they keep God out of.
Does Right – He acts in accord with the commands of God. Not just avoiding evil . . . but seeking out the right things to do.
Speaks Truth- “In his heart” Important that this doesn’t say he speaks the truth FROM his heart. The person worthy of the presence of God values truth and speaks accurately to themselves.
Have you ever spoke lies to yourself? Pride starts often as lying to ourselves about ourselves! As if to say to myself “Self . . . you are good!” As a matter of fact self, you are the most intelligent person I know . . . (an handsome to boot!)
Ultimately, in verse two we see that God is concerned with our testimony before others (blameless) he is concerned with what we DO (Do right) and he is concerned with our thought (that we think truth)
Verse 3- (a progress from general relationship to specific)
Does Not Slander (anyone by implication) – a euphemism for slinging mud at someone! Our words toward others are extremely important. Oh, how gossip and slander have become acceptable sins among believers . . . “boy do I have something you need to pray about . . . did you hear that . . .”
Does No Evil (to neighbors) The person God allows as a “houseguest” is the one who causes no pain to his acquaintances. This can be either emotional or physical pain. Ask yourself if your neighbors are glad you are there?
A step further for us as a church is to ask if our community is glad that Berean Baptist Church is here? Are we a blessing to those in Portage. Berean just disappeared and a grassy field was here where the church stands would anyone out there miss us? We are not to accommodate the culture to make them like us, but we are called to LOVE people! How are we doing?
Does Not Reproach (a friend) – God desires for us to be faithful friends. He refuses to insult a companion. Have you ever been the only one to say, “not my friend” he/she wouldn’t do that. We need to think the best of others and especially our friends.
Verse 4-
Despises Vile Persons – Aha, finally one that most of us excel at. We are all pretty good at looking down at those less spiritual than us! But this must be taken in conjunction with the following. Do we ever honor those who do evil?
I watched a movie a few years back . . . it was highly recommended by many people . . . the premise of this movie is a group of people pull together a high tech heist in order to rob a casino. By the end of the movie the audience is completely enamored by the cunning of this crew of 11 people who pull off this theft. This movie was so successful that they made two more sequels. Yet the reality of that movie is a complete glorification of a group of people who have perfected the art of breaking the 8th commandment! Oh how quickly we can be turned on our heads in regard to hating evil!
Honors God-Fearers – are your heroes, those who fear the Lord? Reserve your accolades for those who put God first in their lives. Heroes are hard to come by these days . . . they usually come in the form of athletes living the American dream. Hero is almost synonymous with wealthy these days!
Keeps His Vows – This person keeps promises. Matt 5:37 (Sermon on the Mount) Let Yes be Yes and No be No. Be the kind of person who is dependable. A vow means nothing anymore in our culture as the central vow of marriage is only honored 50% of the time. This vow serves as perfect example because most who divorce perceive that it would be less painful to divorce than to stay together. But David says God’s character is one that keeps his vow even when it hurts . . . Just like Jesus in the Garden . . . wrestled with the pain, and kept to his purpose.
Verse 5- Financial Balance
Doesn’t make money off the poor or God’s People –
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 (ESV)
19“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. 20You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
Exodus 22:25 (ESV)
25“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.
We are not to loan money to fellow believers at interest, nor are we to do this to the poor. To do so would show that money is more important than helping others!
Doesn’t take a Bribe –
Deuteronomy 16:19 (ESV)
19You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
Again, the place of money is called into question here . . . loving and caring for others is more important than money!
What is your price? What would you do for a million dollars? For many, their ethics go out the window somewhere on the scale as the offer is ramped up. Ask yourself, how much would someone have to pay me in order to testify falsely against someone. Any amount shows wrong priorities!
Conclusion:
A person who has these characteristics in their life will not be moved! Their position within God’s presence is assured. They are not going to be knocked off the Holy Hill, they will not be shaken out of God’s tent.
Encouragement and Challenge!
But back to our original question . . . how do you prepare to enter God’s presence?
In John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus Says:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the invitation to be a guest of God for eternity! His death on the cross covers the sins of those who trust in Him. We can dress up on the outside and follow rituals and routines as we come together to meet with God, but if all we have is our attempts to follow this list, it is like showing up for a concert all dressed up without a ticket! If we have accepted Jesus as our savior, then these characteristics will flow from a relationship with Him!
Do you know him? How prepared are you to meet God face to face?
Let’s Pray!
Father if there are any here . . .