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,
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,
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.