Who May Dwell With God?

We've been spending our summer in the Psalms.

Today our sermon text is Psalm 15,

the five verses of Psalm 15.

It's another Psalm of David.

The occasion for Psalm 15 is not given to us explicitly,

but the theme reminds us of Psalm 24 that we just sang.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

As I read Psalm 15,

you'll be hearing the law and the standard of God.

I'm not going to tell you up front what genre this is,

but I want you to try to answer that question in your mind.

And then about halfway through the sermon,

I'll try to make that very clear as well.

So as I read this,

I do so believing that this is God's inspired,

inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.

And if you receive it as such,

when I'm done, I'll say this is the word of God

and you say, thanks be to God.

Psalm 15, a Psalm of David.

Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle?

Who may dwell in your holy hill?

He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart,

and who does not backbite with his tongue,

nor does evil to his neighbor,

nor does he take up a reproach against his friend,

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.

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.

This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated.

Would you pray with me?

Lord, only you can cut us to the heart.

We pray, Lord, that by the power of your Holy Spirit,

you will minister your word to your people.

I pray that you'll help me to be very careful

as I minister and exposit the words that your Holy Spirit inspired.

I pray for your Holy Spirit in every true believer to be discerning,

to take only what is from you,

and that your Spirit will apply it to our lives.

I pray, Lord, that for the glory of Jesus Christ,

the only mediator,

that your law and your gospel will be distinct

and also harmonious in the life of the believer.

We ask all of this for your glory, for our good.

Amen.

Do you think it's true that there is no place like home?

We say home is where the heart is.

We think of a place where you feel at home.

If we're pilgrims and sojourners in this life,

like Peter wrote to the church, that's what we are.

We should feel most at home right here

with God's people, with the Holy Spirit abiding with us.

Do you feel at home when you're with God's people?

And there's no place like home, is there?

In Psalm 15, David says,

Lord, who may abide?

Who may dwell?

Who can be at home with you?

That's the question.

So that's my question for you this morning.

Who may abide or who may dwell with God?

On what grounds can you dwell and be at home with God?

My first observation is the longing in David's heart

in verses 1 and 2.

My proposition is that every heart has this longing.

Every heart has a longing.

Look at verse 1.

The question on David's mind is this.

Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle?

King David had his army.

He had his family.

He was thinking about the succession to the throne.

Yet he longed to be somewhere else, not in the palace.

He longed to be in God's house,

in that little tent on Zion,

that little tabernacle.

That's what his heart really longed for the most.

And as king, we don't know what emotions he's feeling,

but he certainly felt the responsibility over God's people.

It was the king's job to provide all the provisions for the priests

to be able to do their job and minister.

It was the king's job to defend the borders

and keep the people of God safe and stable and at peace

so that they can worship their God peacefully.

But it was the king's limitation

that he depended on this other office,

the office of priests.

The king was not omnipotent in Israel.

The king was a vessel,

and it was the Lord who had to welcome people onto his holy hill.

So there David is with this tension.

He's responsible and accountable,

but yet he's powerless at the same time.

One commentator pointed out how in 1 Samuel 6,

there's the bizarre story.

It's bizarre to us

because it's meant to shock us

and teach us something about God.

And the story is about the Ark of the Covenant,

which represented the presence of God with his people.

And as the Ark is being transported,

the oxen that are pulling this cart stumble,

the Ark gets rocky and it's about to tip,

and a man named Uzzah reaches out

and touches the holy Ark of God's covenant.

And the Lord strikes this man dead.

John McKay, professor of Old Testament at Edinburgh,

he wrote,

quote,

a right goal does not validate the use of improper means.

Wanting to help God,

but doing it in a means that God has not ordained,

doesn't make it okay.

And his comment was that perhaps because David did not feel

in personal danger in handling the Ark of God,

David forgot to consult the Lord and pray

over instructions on how to do this.

We read in 1 Chronicles 13, 11,

that David was angry.

David was emotional, perplexed,

frustrated, angry,

because this happened.

It was on his watch.

He was responsible.

Lord,

Lord,

who may abide in your tabernacle?

Who may dwell on your holy hill?

Who can get close to you

in your covenant presence?

We long to be with God,

yet we know God is holy.

We know that if we approach God by our own terms,

he has every right to strike us dead.

But it's still the longing of every heart

to dwell on God's holy hill.

If you're like me,

you have friends at work or others

who say church is my,

it's in the mountains, you know.

Where's your church?

My church is in the mountains.

I just love to go up there.

That's when I feel like I'm at home.

We read in Genesis that from the Garden of Eden,

the rivers flowed in all four directions,

and rivers flowed downhill.

So the Garden of Eden is this hill

or this mountain

where God came to dwell

and to be worshipped by his creatures.

In all of the Bible,

the kingdom of God is represented

as a mountain, as a hill.

But it was the plot of Satan

to cause these mountains and hills

to become a place

where idolatry would happen,

where people would go up to the hilltops

where the trees were

and try to worship the false gods there.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

It's the longing of every heart.

Ecclesiastes 3.11 says that

the Lord has put eternity

in the hearts of man.

Every man longs to be with God,

the Creator.

Every heart has that longing.

My second point, though,

from Psalm 15 is that

the standard of the Holy God is fixed.

While we all have that longing,

the standard of the Holy God is fixed.

So what's the genre of Psalm 15?

Psalm 15 is a legal psalm.

The theme of this psalm

is the justice of God.

You may dwell,

you may live,

you may abide with God

if you do three things.

In Psalm 15,

it's you must walk,

you must work,

and you must speak

according to God's standard.

Look at verse 2.

You must always walk uprightly.

You must work righteousness.

And you must speak the truth

in your heart.

That's God's standard.

You may only stay

and abide and dwell

in God's presence

if you love your neighbor

according to God's

high moral standard.

That's what Psalm 15

preaches to us as law.

And then he opens that up.

What does that look like?

In verse 3,

you must never backbite

with your tongue.

To backbite is to

stab someone in the back

by using your mouth.

You must never do evil

to your neighbor.

The Pharisees tried to twist this

and get themselves out

of this high standard.

And the Lord Jesus gave

the parable

of the Good Samaritan.

No one is off the hook.

And you must not take up

a reproach against a friend.

You've heard someone say,

are you picking up

what I'm putting down?

Well, this,

to take up a reproach

means that someone

took your friend

and reproached him.

Said all these bad things

about your friend

or mocked him.

They put that down.

You went over there

and you took up

that reproach

against your friend

behind his back.

See, if you have done

any one of these things,

you cannot dwell with God.

While we're talking about

how well we love our neighbor,

Psalm 15 piles it on

even more

and the stakes

get even higher.

In verse 5,

you may never hurt

the poor

with your money.

Usury is an old term

for doing just that.

The Hebrew word

is a picture

of biting with your teeth.

Remember how in the Psalms

he says the wicked,

the evil,

are like wolves.

They're trying to come at me

and devour me

with their teeth,

with their mouths.

When you misuse

the power God's given you,

you're doing just that.

And you may never take a bribe

against the innocent.

It's not hard

to become very wealthy

in our country.

All you have to do

is have no moral standards.

You could be an expert witness

and lie

and hurt the poor.

Make a lot of money

being a false witness.

If that's your goal in life,

if you have that much love

for money,

you're devouring the poor.

You're taking a bribe

against the innocent.

See, Psalm 15 teaches us

that you will only be welcome

on God's holy hill

if you obey him

according to his high moral standard

perfectly,

personally,

and perpetually.

will you honor those

who fear the Lord

in verse 4?

You see someone

who honors

and who loves the Lord

and you treat them

as a dear friend.

This is someone,

they love the Lord,

they love the same God

as I do.

That's the friendship

that I'm going to value the most.

This is a true brother

or sister.

And that's hard enough

to do well, isn't it?

To love a Christian well.

But on top of that,

verse 4 says,

you must also despise

the vile person.

That's something

we've probably never preached

very much.

To be godly,

you must despise

the vile person.

That's the standard

of Psalm 15.

When you think the stakes

are already impossibly high,

it gets even worse.

Verse 4

says that you must

not change.

If you don't do

all of these things,

if you say you will,

then don't.

You must swear

to your own hurt

by breaking the promise.

You must make

a maledictory oath

against yourself.

You must say

that if I am not loving

toward my neighbor,

or if I don't honor

a person who fears the Lord,

may I lose my home,

may I lose my job,

may I lose everything

that I hold dear.

That's what it means

to swear by my own hurt

if I break my promise.

So every heart

has a longing

to dwell with God,

but the high standard

of God,

it's fixed,

and it's not going anywhere.

So we're still back

to our original question

at the end

of Psalm 15.

Who may abide

in God's tabernacle?

I mentioned that the theme

of this psalm

is God's justice.

And if that's the theme,

then Psalm 15

must teach us

something special

about God

in relation

to His justice.

Before I tell you

what I think

it's teaching us,

I want to be very clear.

All of us have probably

sat under false gospels

relating to the law

or the justice of God.

So first,

what does this not mean?

How should this not be preached?

One way we can twist

the gospel of God

is to say

because the standard

of God is so high,

He just lowers it.

There really are

no conditions

for you to be counted

as righteous.

God lowers His standard.

I heard this

at a funeral sermon.

Lene was actually

there with me.

It was like the first time

we talked about God,

I think.

We had a family

in the school

where we were serving

and we went to this funeral

at a big church in town

and one of the pastors

was running

through the service

and the message

we all walked away with

was that if you're funny

and charming

and more likable

than the average person,

you're going to be with God.

In other words,

there really are

no conditions,

there's really no standard.

That's the message.

There was no ministry

of the Word.

There was no clear teaching

about God's holy standard

and what that means

for sin

and if there's no sin,

there's no need

for a Savior.

So that's a wrong gospel.

It's a false gospel.

James Buchanan,

a Scottish theologian,

made it very clear.

Where there is no law,

there can be no transgression.

The same token is that

where there is no law,

there can be no

objective righteousness.

See, to say God has no standard

or there really is no moral law,

it does away with both.

There's no objective righteousness

and there's no sin

because what are you deciding

that against?

So to say there are no conditions

or that God simply lowers

His standard is a false gospel.

Here's another false gospel.

You are the one

who fulfills those conditions.

Have you heard this version

of the gospel?

Your final salvation,

says this false gospel,

it depends on your covenant keeping.

Your obedience,

your work,

is what's going to fulfill

your salvation.

Have you been preached this?

In other words,

only those displaying

relative obedience

to God's moral standards

will be counted righteous.

You must work harder

to meet the standard.

The principle there is

do this in order to live.

That's a principle of works.

That's a principle of the law.

The gospel says,

live and you will do this.

There's a big difference.

Romans 3.20 and so many other passages

make this very clear.

By works of the law,

no one is justified

in God's sight.

Through the law

comes the knowledge of sin.

Amen?

Now,

as I'm trying to be

really clear here,

some of you are saying

what you're saying

is simple,

common sense,

that's just the gospel.

I've heard nothing new.

There are others of you

who have raised

on a few conversations

and the look

you're giving me right now,

it's refreshing.

Thank you

for making the law

and gospel

so clear from scripture.

It's not,

it's not anything special.

It's what God's word says.

So here's what

the gospel,

according to Psalm 15,

should be.

Here's how we should

interpret this.

Some of our youth

are going through

with Jonathan

our principles of hermeneutics,

how to interpret the Bible.

We're going to look

at the context here.

So the context,

let's begin with the passage

and then let's look

at the surrounding psalms

and then finally

the Psalter as a whole.

150 psalms.

And I'm going to keep it brief,

just one or two from each.

So first of all,

are there any important phrases

or clues from this psalm itself?

Psalm 15.

The first phrase

is in verse 2.

Look at verse 2.

There's a loaded phrase.

He who works righteousness.

It's the one who fulfills the law

to obtain the blessing.

It is a principle of merit.

It is a principle of law keeping

that's preached in this psalm

because God is just.

He does not lower His standard.

The question is,

who is the one

that can keep this law?

Works righteousness.

The next phrase is in verse 4.

Think about if this could

actually mean you and me

or David.

Verse 4.

He will swear by His own hurt

and not change.

Can David keep that standard?

We all know He can't.

You and I,

we change.

And we ask God for forgiveness.

In verse 5.

He who does these things,

here's the real clincher,

shall,

what's the next word in yours?

Never.

He who does these things

shall never be moved.

God's standard does not change.

It's extremely high.

It's impossibly high

for anyone under the curse of Adam.

Amen?

But if you're not convinced,

just from Psalm 15,

let's look at the cluster of psalms.

At least my view,

we can talk more

if you want to understand this.

My view is that

not only the words of the psalms,

but also the arrangement

of our whole Bible

was under the supervision

of the Holy Spirit.

So most likely,

Ezra,

as he's putting all of the psalms

that the people of Israel

have collected

over their entire history,

as he's putting it together,

he's arranging it

in a way that's ordained

by the Holy Spirit as well.

So looking at a cluster

of psalms together

gives us a context

for the message

or the theme

of that part of the book.

So we won't look beyond

the chapter right before Psalm 15

and the chapter right after.

So let's turn back

to Psalm 14 first

because this was our psalm last week.

In Psalm 14, verse 3,

Psalms 14:3

you remember this from last week,

all have turned aside.

All have become corrupt.

There are none who do good.

No, not one.

That's what we just read

in Psalm 14

and then we come to Psalm 15.

That's what's in our mind.

That's the context.

He is giving the law

and making it clear

that none can keep the law

to obtain their own righteousness.

So that's the psalm right before.

How about the psalm right after?

Let's go to Psalm 16.

In Psalm 16, verse 2 first,

Psalms 16:2

notice what David says.

He says,

You are my Lord.

My goodness

is nothing

apart from you.

There's one to memorize, isn't it?

You are Lord.

My goodness

is nothing apart from you.

In other words,

if there is fruit,

if there is goodness,

good works,

if there is law keeping

and a growing longing

to be with God,

that's good.

But it's nothing

on David's own.

It's nothing apart from God.

Well, let's look at the whole Psalter

and if you've been paying attention

to what we've arranged

as the elements

for today's service,

you'll know which psalm

we're going to.

Psalm 24.

We sang this.

Psalm 24, verse 3.

Psalms 24:3

The question in Psalm 24

is the same

as Psalm 15.

Who may ascend

the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand

in His holy place?

This is a glorious psalm

describing

the Lord

entering

His kingdom.

Be lifted up,

gates.

Lift your heads,

you everlasting doors.

Now look at the answer.

Who is it that may ascend

the hill of the Lord?

Look at verse 10.

The King of glory.

And who is this King of glory?

It's the Lord of hosts.

He is the King of glory.

So the answer to Psalm 15

is answered by David himself.

It's the Lord alone

who may ascend

His hill.

You and I are in a dilemma

that's impossible.

But God has taken

what's impossible

that sinners could dwell

with Him

and He's made it possible.

Let's celebrate the gospel

of how He has done this.

The only possible solution

to sinners like us.

We see the gospel

in Psalm 15.

You can turn there again.

Psalm 15, verse 4.

Psalms 15:4

That little whisper.

That little shadow

of the glorious gospel.

Verse 4.

The Lord is the one

who swore

by His own hurt.

Psalm 10.

Yahweh has sworn

and will not relent.

You,

speaking to God the Son

as Jesus Christ,

you are a priest forever.

Do you see how

Psalm 15, Psalm 24,

the whole Bible,

God does not lower

His standard.

But God the Son

took on flesh

and He alone

perfectly,

personally,

perpetually

obeyed,

fulfilled God's moral law.

And God decreed

that our Lord Jesus Christ

would become the Lamb

slain for our sins.

As Revelation 13 calls Him,

He is the Lamb

that is slain

from the foundation

of the world.

Jesus Christ

willingly obeyed

His Father.

Isaiah 49.8,

the Father promised,

I will preserve you

and give you freely

as a covenant

to the people

to restore the earth.

Praise God

that verse 4 says,

our Lord,

He swore by His own hurt

and He is the only one

who does not change.

In Isaiah 50.7,

we get the words

from the perspective

of the Son.

The Lord God

will help me.

I will not be disgraced.

Therefore,

I have set my face

like a flint

and I know

that I will not

be ashamed.

Our Lord did not

change on His mission

marching to the cross

of Calvary.

Psalm 15.5 says,

He who does these things.

And in Hebrews 5.8,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

He learned obedience

and He fulfilled the law

and He shall never be moved.

Psalm 2.6 says,

I have now set my King

upon my holy hill of Zion.

The Father has taken Christ

with His finished work

and put Him forever,

unmovable,

on the holy hill of heaven,

ruling over His people.

Psalm 110.1,

Yahweh said to my Lord,

sit at my right hand

till I make your enemies

your footstool.

Our Lord Jesus Christ

has done it.

He has ascended

the holy hill of the Lord

and He shall not

be moved ever.

Praise the Lord.

Well, how does the holy God

bring you and me

to dwell with Him?

How does the holy God

bring you and me

to dwell with Him?

David's longing in verse 1

was to dwell

in the tabernacle of God.

In John 1,

we read

that our Lord Jesus Christ,

the very word of God,

God Himself,

the creator of all,

has tabernacled

among us.

The Lord Jesus Christ

became God's tabernacle.

He became the meeting point

between the holy God

and saved sinners like us.

As the ruler of God's people,

like David,

our Lord Jesus Christ,

He is concerned

for the well-being

spiritually of His people.

Better than David,

however,

our Lord Jesus Christ,

He does rule over you

supremely.

He's not only the king,

He's also the priest

and the prophet.

He does have authority

over His people.

He conducts our worship.

God has made Him

a better priest

from a better order

that cannot be shaken.

Our Lord Jesus Christ

secured this ministry

because He submitted Himself

to God's own law

and He achieved it

for you and for me.

That high stake of verse 2,

to walk,

to work,

and to speak,

our Lord Jesus Christ

fulfilled

because we can't.

He fulfilled it for us.

Jesus always walked uprightly.

He always worked righteousness.

And He always spoke

the truth in His heart.

And this is good news

because Jesus turned around

and He preached in John 8.

Truly, truly,

everyone who practices sin

is a slave to sin.

God's standard does not get lower.

And the slave does not remain

in the house forever.

But the good news is

that Jesus Christ,

the Son of God,

He remains forever.

And He's the one

who became the tabernacle

and brings you in

and He says,

in me,

you are free.

You are not a slave

to your sins.

Our Lord Jesus Christ,

He removed

every barrier

that could impede us

from approaching God.

And our Lord Jesus Christ,

He sends His Holy Spirit

to dwell inside of us.

And He supplies us

as a nation of priests

so we have all the resources

we need to serve Him

in the ways that He's ordained.

So who is it

that can abide

in God's tabernacle?

It's all those

whom Christ's perfect life

and precious blood

freely cover.

Amen.

Amen.

Romans 4, 7,

And blessed are those

whose lawless deeds

are forgiven

and whose sins

are covered.

Romans 4, 24,

Jesus our Lord

was delivered up

for our trespasses

and He was raised

for our justification.

It's all the work

He has done

that justifies you.

The Lord of hosts,

He is the King of glory.

It's the righteousness

of our Lord Jesus Christ

that God freely counts

to you and to me

who believe in Him.

And when God gives you

a new heart,

you do long,

like David,

to be in God's house.

Don't you?

How do you know

if you've been washed clean?

You're at home

with God's people.

You long to dwell

with Him more and more

and to not go away.

Let's stay with God.

Well, this is not

the end of it.

This is our justification,

but there's even more glory,

more promises

that God pours out

through Christ.

The final question

I want to open up

for us is this.

What happens to you

and to me

as we abide with God

through Christ?

As we abide

with God through Christ,

something happens to us.

it struck me

that the tabernacle

is a tent.

It's not a walled city.

It's not a shining,

expensive palace.

But it's a tabernacle

and it's enough shelter

to protect us

from rain and heat

and from the storms of life.

You long to be

in the tabernacle

in this life,

don't you?

David was a shadow

of Christ

in His first coming.

My understanding

is that Solomon

is a picture for us

of Christ

in His second coming.

There is a glorious

kingdom of heaven,

not just a tent,

but it's an entire city now

that will descend

and there will be

a new heavens,

a new earth

and Christ will reign

like Solomon did

over all of the land,

over all the world.

And when Christ returns,

we will be with the Lord

forever,

not just in a tabernacle,

in His house.

Jesus was so eager

to tell His disciples

about His Father's house

and He's not left us

as orphans.

By His Holy Spirit,

we are drawn to Him.

We abide with Him

through faith now

in this little tabernacle

on this earth.

and as we commune

with Him,

we are being made holy.

Sinclair Ferguson said,

to be holy

or to be sanctified

is to become

like those with whom

you are communing.

Isn't that true?

You become like the people

you spend a lot of time with.

That's another reason

we should stick together,

stay with God's people,

stay with the church.

Ferguson wrote,

sanctification is simply

the outworking of communion.

Do you see the difference

in tone?

It's not do this and live.

It's live with God,

abide with Him.

And you'll have

His eternal life.

Sanctification means

you are becoming

like Christ

by His power.

Buchanan once again commented,

your increasing obedience

to God's moral law

by the Holy Spirit's

power

is a good thing.

In other words,

Christians should be

checking themselves.

We should not be

taking bribes against the poor

or backstabbing our neighbor

or taking up a rebuke

against a friend.

We should become

more and more like Christ.

But it's

the effect of your faith,

not the cause.

It's the fruit of faith,

not the root.

It's the evidence of faith,

not the condition for faith.

He wrote,

as such,

your sanctification

cannot form

any part of the ground

on which your justification

depends.

But according to

1 Corinthians 6.17,

we have this glorious promise.

Ken and the brothers

on Wednesday morning

helped me to see this one.

Jonathan brought this verse to us.

1 Corinthians 6.17,

we read this earlier

in our service.

You who are joined

to the Lord,

you are one spirit

with Christ.

Verse 19,

your body

is the temple

of the Holy Spirit

who is in you.

From you,

I'm sorry,

whom you have from God

and so you are not your own.

For you were bought

at a price.

Therefore glorify God

in your body

and in your spirit

which are God's.

Do you remember

how David

was troubled

that this Ark of the Covenant

is so sacred

no one could touch it

or approach it?

God has made that lesson

very clear.

Moses,

do you remember

how the priest

couldn't even enter

the tabernacle

because the glory

of the Lord

so filled the tabernacle?

And at the dedication

of the temple

under Solomon,

do you remember

the same thing happened?

The priest could not

even go inside

because of the weight

of God's glory.

So when God's glory

fills the dwelling place,

everything else

is pushed out.

What a glorious picture

of what the Spirit does

in our sanctification.

Because you belong to Him,

our catechism says,

Christ,

by His Holy Spirit,

He assures you

of eternal life

and He makes you

wholeheartedly willing

and ready

from now on

to live

for Him

increasingly,

progressively,

more and more.

Last week we sung

this powerful song,

does the Father

truly love us?

He does.

Does the Spirit

move among us?

He does.

And does Jesus,

our Messiah,

hold forever

those He loves?

He does.

Does our God

intend to dwell

again with us?

He does.

So long to be

in God's holy presence.

Long to abide

with God

through Jesus Christ,

God's tabernacle

in this life.

And know that

He promises

that as you

abide in Christ,

He holds you forever.

You shall never

be moved.

Dwell with Him.

T'was grace

that brought you

safe thus far

and grace

will lead you home.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Lord, we praise You

for Your grace

from start to finish

so that no man

may boast.

Thank You

for Your powerful

Holy Spirit

who gives a new heart,

who draws us

to Yourself

and who keeps us

with You.

As we commune

with You,

You make us

more like Your Son.

All glory be to God.

We ask that You

will do this work

in the lives

of each one

that You have brought

here today, Lord,

for Your glory.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.