Psalm 15
Psalm 15
starts with a powerful progression of ideas.
Who will sojourn upon God’s Holy space?
The idea of a sojourner is one who does not officially belong in the
land but who is passing through on a leisurely pace – perhaps looking for a
place to stop and make home for a while.
This is a powerful line, because it hints to the fact that when it comes
to God, we are all sojourners. Not one of
us officially belongs in God’s land, but He allows us to come into His space
and dwell with Him. This is a really
neat precursor to the concept of grace that gets full attention in the New
Testament.
Then we
hit the next line. Who will dwell with
God? To dwell somewhere is to make a
place a more permanent home. This
question takes us from the mindset of the sojourner – staying a while – to the
mindset of the inhabitant – someone staying indefinitely. This also gives us a great precursor to the
faith presented in the New Testament.
God comes to us and invites us to sojourn with Him. Some of us accept the invitation and do
sojourn. Some of those who accept that
first invitation further accept the invitation to stay for life and dwell with
God rather than move on after the time for sojourning has passed.
What does
it look like to make the transition to actually dwelling with God? Those who dwell with God are obedient – they
do what is right. They speak truth. They do not use their tongue to slander. They do not do evil to their neighbor. They do not shame their friends. They despise the actions of the vile. They honor actions that demonstrate fear of
the Lord. They align themselves to God
and do not change. They do not charge
interest to the people that they let borrow from them. They are not interested in bribes.
What’s
neat about this list is that it reminds me of the teachings of Jesus. Love God.
Love your neighbor. Upon these
two commandments hang the whole rest of the Law and Prophets. (See Matthew 22:34-40) That’s really what the psalmist is saying
here. If you are invited to sojourn with
God and you end up deciding to dwell with Him, then demonstrate it by loving
God and loving your neighbor. Quit
thinking about yourself so much and begin to genuinely think about God and
what’s good for your neighbor.
Psalm 16
Psalm 16
is a psalm of preservation. It begins
with a reminder – likely a reminder to David himself. “You are my Lord. Apart from You I have no other good
thing.” Then David speaks about how the
holy ones in the land are his delight.
The reason
this verse reads like a reminder and a confession is because of the verses to
follow. David then turns to confess that
the ways of those who chase after other gods multiply. In other words, the temptations of the world
are many. The ways that one can sin are
plenteous in any land. People are always
inventing new and exciting ways to enter into tried and true sinful behavior.
As an
aside, this is precisely the dynamic that makes God’s Word such a useful
tool. There are many ways to enter into
sin. But the sin itself – that dark part
of our humanity – does not change over the ages. Human beings are still self-centered. We still struggle with lust. We still struggle with drunkenness. We still struggle with stealing. We still dishonor our parents and other
authority figures. We still lie and
cheat. The list goes one. While the method of entry into sin may
change, the name and the feel of the sin don’t change. The Bible can always speak to our sinful
condition.
Because we
have God’s Word and His Holy Spirit, we can be like David and rejoice. We know that He will not abandon us. He will not leave us to fend for
ourselves. He will help us out of the
pitfalls of sin. He will reveal to us
the true path of life. It is indeed at
His right hand that we will find eternal pleasure.
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