Psalm 15, An Invitation into the Family

January 15

Opening Prayer

Father, you are marvelous beyond understanding. May my heart be drawn close to you by my time in your word. Thank you for hearing my prayers and filling my heart with your love. Amen.

Psalm 15

Psalm 15:1 ESV

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

An Invitation into the Family

When God called Abram from his homeland to journey to a place he did not know, it was an invitation into the Family of God. All who have followed like Abram in pursuit of God have been given a similar invitation to soujourn and dwell in the promised land of God. David offers a short summary of the pursuit and the invitation in Psalm 15. “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” (Psalm 15:1)

Ancient people groups around the world have often pictured the homes of their gods inside of or on top of mountains or hills. Often even building pyramids or ziggurats with literal houses on the tops where they invisioned their gods would dwell. Even David when he took the City of Peace (Jerusalem) in the promised land he had in mind to build such a temple on Mount Zion.

Yet, a temple on a mountain, or a small one room house built atop a facade of stone doesn’t make for much of home for God or people. The Christian martyr Stephen in the book of Acts recalls Israel’s desire to dwell with God in his final words in Acts 7.

Acts 7:44–50 ESV

44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, 49 “ ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? 50 Did not my hand make all these things?’

It is apparent from God’s point of view that to follow after God and ultimately to dwell with God has less to do with the tents, temples, and churches we build and more with our hearts. “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.” (Acts7:51)

David uses these two words soujourn and dwell because they capture the heart of God’s invitation and our destination. When someone is invited to sojourn in a place it means that they are a merely a guest. They live in that place with no rights or privileges unless granted by the one extending the invitation. In Abram or David’s day you might be granted to soujourn in a tent for a night as traveling guest or given a plot of land to farm for a season as immigrant in a new land. The understanding is that the offer is temporary, but as long as you are invited to sojourn you live under the protection of those who invited you to stay. God must invite us into his family (the tent of Psalm 15) we are not able to crawl under the sides of the tent we can only enter through the door at his invitation.

David’s second word changes the picture as he invision that more permanent dwelling of a temple built of stone. God’s invitation is not as a mere temporary tent guest for a night. God is inviting us to enter into his permanent family. A place where we will settle down and rest. A place of belonging. The invitation is like Abram’s invitation to sojourn with God. It is an invitation to go to a new place and there dwell with God. To settle in and call it home.

So how do we get an invitation to be part of God’s family and know that we are able to dwell with God? Psalm 15 exlplains that those who will be part of the forever family of God are those that are righteous, “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;” (Psalm 15:2) These are the ones who will dwell with God. This is too much, how will anyone every be part of the family of God if it requires us to live a perfect life? Is this just David’s thinking before his own living has caught up with him. Or is this just a part of the picture. The Spirit is speaking truth to us through this Psalm, “He who does these things shall never be moved.” (Psalm 15:5) Or in the words of Jesus the house on the rock stands firm.

Years after David and a series of wicked kings led Israel and Judah astray, Jeremiah saw the nation of Israel destroyed and the people of Judah captured or killed. All this pain and suffering was a result of their sin. The Spirit of God shares through Jeremiah the message of a savior who was yet to come. “In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:6) The messiah will bring about a place of secure dwelling for his people, and this messiah will be known as the one who makes us righteous. We are invited into the family of God to dwell securely in his home through the righteousness of Jesus.

Prayer

God I confess to you that I do not always walk blamelessly or speak truth in my heart. I know at times i have hurt my friends and neighbors with my words. I am sorry for all the times I have walked away from your presence in my life. God I want to dwell with you, and be part of your family. Thank you for your son Jesus who paid the price for my sins and open the door to your home for me. God I want to be strong in following you. Help me to bear your image as your child to the world. May my heart be a throne for your Spirit, may my mind be always thinking of you, and may my daily walk follow in the steps of your son Jesus. Amen.