Psalm 15:1-5 NKJV
15 Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
3 He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
One of the first things revealed in this Psalm for today is how man (specifically, anybody praying this Psalm) should recognize their condition of total depravity in comparison to the Holy Triune God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Psalmist poses the question to the Lord, but in praying the Psalm, inevitably, the question gets turned around to be posed toward the self. How would you stack up? Would you be able to abide in God’s tabernacle? Would you be able to dwell in His holy hill? Honestly, there’s only One that could.
Hear and see — through verses 2-5 — how your eyes are opened and, ultimately, re-focused. The condition of the self gets further revealed as each verse throws God’s Law at man’s impure, sinful flesh. Man’s old nature doesn’t stand a chance of escaping, having fallen well short of the good life and good works put forth.
The demand of how man was intended to be before the Fall becomes clearer and clearer with each verse. There is a specific way that man is supposed to be in order to abide in God’s tabernacle and rest on His holy mountain. And, yet, with fallen, sinful man not being what he’s supposed to be, is there hope that he somehow can become that which is demanded. Who can do these things and never be moved?
Thanks be to God for the sending of Christ Jesus for us! Now that God’s Law has brought done its job of revealing man as the sinner that he is — now, read through the verses and hear and see how Christ Jesus was the active obedient One, who fulfilled these perfect demands for us! You must be all of these to abide and dwell with God — and you do — through repentance and belief in Christ. God’s rescuing Gospel is such a true relief when His Law is welded clear and deep.
Let us pray: We give thanks to You Almighty God for sending us the way of our rescue — restoring us in Your eyes as You account as having our true life and being and can abide and dwell with You through faith in Christ’s fully atoning merits for us. Amen.