Psalm 15

 

Psalm 15 and 16 have a common theme of security.  One ends, “He who does these things shall never be moved;” the other begins, “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.”  It illustrates 2 Timothy 2:19 where the “solid foundation of God” is two-fold: “The Lord knows those who are His” (i.e. the Lord preserves, Psa. 16); and “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (i.e. he who does these things shall never be moved, Psa. 15).

Let us avoid the confusion of those who are ignorant of Scripture.  Psalm 15 is not saying that we “earn” a relationship with God by a righteousness of our own.  This is never the case, whether under the Law (Old Testament) or under grace (New Testament).  It is true that we cannot dwell in God’s presence without a change so profound that Jesus referred to it as being “born again” (John 3).  But that righteousness is first “accounted” to the believer (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4; Phil. 3:9).  And then that righteousness is worked out in the day-to-day life of the believer as he is transformed into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).  This is the one who “walks uprightly and works righteousness.”  It is never the product of the flesh (i.e. the personal effort of the man); it is always God who works in and through the man (Phil. 2:13). 

The joys of this great hymn are bound up in a good understanding of the opening verse.  Verses 2-5 are quite understandable and should be the object of meditation, allowing the Spirit of God to convict and encourage us in our walk.  But what is David’s question?

Both key verbs “abide” and “dwell” have to do with being settled down.  The first means to sojourn, to seek hospitality.  It emphasizes being in a place not necessarily our own but in which we find a real welcome.  The latter term means to reside, to make our home there.  The emphasis takes us beyond being a welcome guest to making the place our actual home. 

The “place” we are talking about is the LORDs “tabernacle” and “holy hill”.   The former term refers to a tent, the place where nomadic people would live or people like shepherds whose work moves them to different places.  In other words, it is a place that we have no matter where we happen to be at the time.  It was the term used for the tent of God’s dwelling in the wilderness, and then the place David built was a tent in which the Ark of the Covenant was placed (1 Chron. 16:1). 

This tent erected by David was in Jerusalem which sat on the upslope of what is today the southern upslope of Mt. Moriah.  However the city was called by the name of the larger hill to the west, Mt. Zion.  Thus in David’s day a reference to God’s holy hill was appropriate.  It is the hill of God’s apartness or separation.  This is the reason the answer to the question (vs.2-5) is what it is.  We cannot enjoy God’s presence and enjoy sin at the same time.

Thus David’s question asks who may be at home in the welcoming-home of the God who is to be revered as totally set apart from us.  Ponder this thought!  There are believers who err on both sides of the blessed relationship we have with God.  Some stress familiarity with God, a friendship similar to that which we have with our hunting buddies or shopping pals.  Others hold the holy God at such a distance that He cannot be enjoyed; they struggle to be “settled down” with Him.  Still others come along and say “it’s both.” 

I would suggest to you, NONE OF THIS IS CORRECT!  Yes, sometimes in His presence we are rejoicing, other times we are burdened.  But ALWAYS we come in uprightness, confessing our sins and acknowledging the atoning sacrifice of Christ.  Always we come, welcomed by grace, without forgetting the holiness of the One in whose presence we live. 

Now let us remind ourselves of one final thought.  The “holy hill” of the LORD today is not in Jerusalem.  Neither is it in the New Jerusalem, the heaven we long for.  For believers in Jesus Christ the temple of God is within, by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.  1 Cor. 6:18-20 is the New Testament version of Psalm 15, if you will.  Since our bodies are the temple of God, the movable dwelling place (tabernacle), the hill of His separateness, let us glorify Him with our bodies as well as in our “spirit”.  It is all His.

What a glorious blessing that God bids us come into His presence.  Let us enjoy that Presence.  Let us not visit occasionally; let us dwell there, let us be at home there!  In that “place” you will never be moved!