Psalm 15, Who Will Live With God?

Psalm 15
Who Will Live With God?

We start today with a question:  Who will live with God?  That is the theme of our sermon today.  This is the question presented to us in Psalm 15:1.  King David of Israel writes this psalm starts this Psalm by asking a question:  “Lord who may dwell in your sanctuary?  Who may live on your holy hill?”  The holy hill refers to Jerusalem.  The sanctuary in Jerusalem was the tabernacle, and it was in that tabernacle that God’s presence dwelt.    The heart of David’s question then is this:  O God who can live in your presence?

 

God lived with Adam and Eve in the beginning, until sin caused the separation and God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden.  The great end of all this human history is the time when God finally cleanses the heavens and the earth and comes down to live with His people.  Revelation 21:3 says, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.” 

 

Who will live with God?  The question makes us think of who these people are that will live with God, but, actually the question  is meant to drive our attention to who God is.  In other words, if we want to identify who it is that will live with God we must identify who God is.  So while the rest of Psalm 15 is a description of the character of someone who will abide with God, what we see is actually a description of the character of God. 

 

***The very simple point here is this:  God will live with those who live like Him.  He is holy, and will not abide with the wicked.  Psalm 5:4 says, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.”  There is no sin in His presence, there is no sin in His environment.  Listen to Revelation 22:15, “Outside are the dogs, those who practice .”  Here is a question I asked myself:  Does my life on earth demonstrate my desire to live life with God in heaven? 

 

This is not to say that a man can earn salvation.  This is to point us to the fact that God is righteous, that He works righteousness on the earth, and that He demands righteousness.  This Psalm all by itself might seem to teach salvation is earned by a righteous life.  But taken in light of all the rest of Scriptures teaching what we see is a portrait of a righteous man’s life.  A picture of the kind of man whom God desires to live with.  Don’t see this Psalm today as a way to get to heaven, but, a way of fellowshipping with God.  We have our place with God secured for us, all our unrighteousness has been washed away, now we are called to righteous living. 

 

#1:  Righteous Walk (v2a)

            First of all a person who will live with God will have a righteous walk.  Notice verse 2 says, “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous…”  We are to walk righteously.  Romans 1:18 says that those who live unrighteously suppress the truth of God in their unrighteousness.  We are to be a mobile display of God’s righteousness as we live our lives.  God has not called us to life of unrighteousness.  He has called us out of unrighteousness.  Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 6:16-18.  [Read]

            A person whom God will live with will have a righteous walk.

 

#2:  Righteous Speech (v2b-3)

            Secondly, a person who will live with God has righteous speech.  If our talking was recorded would we want God to hear it?  Do we realize God hears it before we even say it?  Psalm 139:4 says, “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.”  The Bible says God knows every word we say before we say it, and, that we are accountable for every word we say.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, “Men will have to give an account on the day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”  Are we hearing from God that what He hears from our mouths is a serious matter to Him?  The Psalmist knew it, and he says that the person who will live with God has speech that is righteous in 2 ways.

 

First, their speech is Honest.  Verse 2b says, “[He] speaks truth from his heart”.  He is honest and there is no deceit in His speech.  Ephesians 4:15 says to “speak the truth in love”.  Romans 12:9 says “love must be sincere”.  Proverbs 24:26 says, “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.”  God is truth and He does not lie.  Jesus was the Truth (John 14:6), and there was no lie on His lips (Isa. 53:9).

 

Second, we do not slander.  Verse 3 says, “[he] has no slander on his tongue.”  Slander is the Hebrew word “ragal”, and according to Unger’s Dictionary it means to “run about” tattling. 

 

Have you ever said something about someone that you wouldn’t ever say to their face?  Ecclesiastes 5:6 says, “Do not let your mouth lead you into sin…”  Charles Spurgeon said something that really struck me.  There is a collection of sermons to his pastoral college students that are in a book called, “Lectures to my students”.  Read quote from pg. 33. 

 

Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 says, “Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you – for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.”

 

guards his tongue, speaks well of others, Pvb 29:5, Do not wrong, These two are related to the golden rule, 2^nd greatest commandment, cain’s retort to the Lord in Gen. 4, speaks well of others,

Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth will speak.  We don’t injure our neighbor by our speech.  Paul said, “Honor one another above yourselves” (Philippians 2:4). 

 

 

#3:  Righteous Reverence (v4a)

            Thridly, a person who will live with God is someone who has a righteous reverence for God.  Notice verse 4, “[he] despises a vile man and honors those who fear the Lord.”   A person whose life is lived to God’s honor is a person who should be regarded with great respect.  Anyone who fears God will recognize another person who fears God.  

 

The verse says that those who are vile are to be despised.  Is that how God feels?  Psalm 5:5-6 says, “The arrogant cannot stand in your Presence; you hate all who do wrong.  You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.”  Those who are vile are those who suppress the truth of God in their unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18).  They do not love God, they do not obey God, they do not trust Him, and they do not revere Him. 

 

You see there is a principal at work in Scripture that is lost on us today:  God’s people are to love what God loves and hate what God hates.  We are not to love money.  Jesus said in Luke 16:15, “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”  (You can’t serve 2 masters).  We’re not to love this world.  First John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.”  Do you find that God is giving you a greater love for the things that He loves?  Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  That means that if God is your delight, then God will put in your heart the desires He has in His heart. 

 

Do you find that God is giving you a greater love for the things that He loves?  Do you find also that He is giving you a greater hatred for the things He hates?  God loves those who honor Him.  A righteous man will honor others who honor God.

 

#4:  Righteous Integrity (v4b-5)

 

            First, he is Faithful.  When someone has a righteous integrity they don’t break promises.  Verse 4a says, “[he] keeps his oath even when it hurts.”  People today break their promises all the time.  They renege on contracts and agreements and go back on their word.  But the man of righteous integrity keeps his promises.  And notice it says here he keeps them even if it hurts.  He makes sure to do what he promised to do even if it costs him, even if he has to suffer for it.  If the situation gets tough, he won’t even consider going back on his word just to make it easier on himself. 

 

Why would he do this?  Because Numbers 23:19  says, “God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and then not fulfill?”  God’s righteousness is seen in his faithfulness.  So is ours.  Do we follow through on our everyday promises?  How about our marriage contract?  How about our business contracts?  Do people know our word is always good?  A righteous integrity means we are faithful.    

 

            Second, he is Generous.  When someone has a righteous integrity they live generously.  Psalm 15:5a says, “[he] lends his money without usury”  Usury means interest, and, not necessarily exorbitant interest.  The Israelites were forbidden by God to charge any interest to each other if they loaned one another money, food, etc.  Leviticus 25:35-37 says, “…”  They were to be generous to the poor among them and not take advantage of the poor to get rich.  This is very similar to what our Lord said in Luke 6:34-36.  Turn there with me.  [Read]  Jesus wasn’t just talking about

 

Generosity is an expression of righteousness.  Listen to Psalm 112 when it says, “Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely…He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever…”  Greed doesn’t corrupt the man who is generous.  A righteous integrity makes a person generous, not greedy.

 

            Third, he is Just.  His character can’t be bought.  Verse 5b says, “[he] does not accept a bribe.”  You will not be able to buy this man.  He is not for sale.  He cares about what is right and he will do what is right.  He will never falsely accuse anyone for any reason, especially not for a payout.  He is just.  God is just.  Psalm 33:5 says, “The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing love.”

 

 

Conclusion:

By the end of this sermon we should each be convicted.  Who here can say “I have lived in perfect righteousness”?  Or who can say, “I have always spoken the truth”?  Is there any of us who can say, “I’ve never taken advantage of anyone else” or “slandered or insulted my fellow man”?  Which of us can say, “I’ve never envied an evil man” and which of us can say, “I’ve always kept my promises even if it hurts”? 

 

By this time we should each be convicted by one or more of these.  And why not?  The Scriptures testify against us repeatedly that we are unrighteous.  In Psalm 14:2-3 that we are all corrupt and none of us is righteous before God.  Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God”.  Proverbs 30:12 says, “[There are] those who are pure in their own eyes and yeet are not cleansed of their filth.”  Ecclesiastes7:20 says, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”  No it is like in the days of Noah when in Genesis 6 it says “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of his heart was only evil all the time.  The earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.  God saw how corrupt the earth had become for all the people on the earth had corrupted their ways.”  Like 1 John 1:8 says, “If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

 

Hope:  Jesus Christ.