Friday, 12 August, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Psalm 15

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

² He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
³ who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
⁴ in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the LORD;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵ who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.

Do you want to sojourn in God’s tent? Do you want to dwell with Him in His holy hill? Do you want to go to heaven and spend eternity with God? Well, Psalm 15 gives us a checklist of what you need to do.

Be blameless. Always do what is right. Tell the truth, even in your heart. Never say anything evil or do anything evil. Be offended by those who do wrong, and honor those who do right. Always keep your word. Don’t take advantage of anyone. Never use your position for your own advantage.

That’s it! Simple, isn’t it.

What do we learn from this?

I can’t do this! This is an impossibly high standard. My walk isn’t blameless. My speech isn’t always faultless. I’ve done wrong, and I continue to do wrong, and just telling me that I need to go out and try harder doesn’t help me reach this level of perfection required in Psalm 15. In fact, if that is what I have to do, it drives me to despair as I look at my own life. Despite my desire to be perfect and to please God, I keep sinning.

Where is Christ in this passage?

This is the good news. There is one who walked blamelessly, and always spoke what was right. He never said or did anything that was evil. He was offended at those who did wrong, and honored those who did right. He always kept His word and never took advantage of anyone. He never used His position to His own advantage, but used His position to do good for others.

This Man was perfectly righteous. He earned the right to sojourn in God’s tent and to dwell in God’s holy hill. And the good news for those of us who have failed to achieve the standard of perfection is that this Man is our representative. He lived His perfect life in our place. He offers us the righteousness that He earned by living the perfect life, and He bears the penalty for our sins by dying on a cross. This Man is the substitute for all who come to Him in faith, trusting in Him alone for salvation.

This Man is Jesus Christ.

And because of the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ, everyone who is in Christ can sojourn in God’s tent and dwell in God’s holy hill. All who are in Christ have the righteousness of Christ imputed to them. They can enter God’s presence, not based upon their own imperfect righteousness that doesn’t reach the standard listed in Psalm 15, but based upon the perfect righteousness of Christ credited to them by God’s grace through faith.