The great questions of Psalm 15 “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?” and “Who may live on your holy hill?” centers on the realization that there are conditions which are present and must be fulfilled if one is to obtain the privileged life that lives in the favor of the Lord. Jesus echoes this idea throughout the Gospels in making statements such as “…anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27), “ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20) and “ I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15). In making such statements, one could easily argue that there are individuals who inherit salvation based on their faith in the work of Christ who are vastly different from those who have experienced salvation but have inherited the kingdom of God as a way of life. The latter are the people, who Spurgeon explains that are “Members of the visible church, which is God’s tabernacle of worship, and hill of eminence,” that “diligently see to it, that they have the preparation of heart which fits them to be inmates of the house of God.”[i] Those who “dwell” in God’s sanctuary and “live on His holy hill” have made certain “marks” in their lives----lines in the sand that have propelled them into a life of Christian maturity.
Centuries before Jesus revealed to His disciples the challenges that would face those who desired to obtain a life defined by the kingdom, David penned the words of Psalm 15 realizing that in order to become a person whose life would be identified as being “unshakable” in worshiping Yahweh, there were stipulations which needed to be fulfilled to experience such a life. Although it only contains five verses, Psalm 15, reveals three “marks” of maturation that must be present in one’s life if one is to live an “unshakable life” that is defined by the presence of God; consequently, these three “marks” are the result of the life-long journey of pursuing a life of spiritual formation, which is steeped in discipline and exercised through the desire to know God deeply and passionately.
The first mark of maturity that allows one to live an unshakable life is purity. David said in response to his question of “who may dwell..?” (v.1) in the sanctuary and holy hill of God, that it is “He whose walk is blameless…”(v.2) who will be able to reside there. The Hebrew word, tamiym means “complete, whole, without defect, and entirely in accord with truth and fact.”[ii] Blamelessness infers that when a life is under examination through the eyes of the Lord, He is seeing a complete, unadulterated heart that is free from sinful contaminates. The whole person is able to stand in purity before the Lord. The way of blamelessness, however, is not an easy road for the believer to walk. It is evident that those who would strive for purity in a world that is over wrought with sin would need to maintain a disciplined life. This calls for the practice of submission in every area of one’s life. Richard Foster explains that submission is “…the ability to lay down the burden of always needing to get our own way.”[iii] It is the self-less life that leads to the blameless life as one seeks to fulfill the living out of the pure love of Christ in “laying down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). As one submits to the will of the Lord, he is able to fulfill the act of blameless living as David described as “who does his neighbor no wrong” (Ps. 15:3).
The second mark of maturity found in Psalm 15 is obedience. David’s observation that those whose walk is “blameless” may dwell in the unshakable place of the Lord’s presence is followed by the addition of “and who does what is righteous” (v.2). The word righteous in this context portrays the meaning of doing what is “ethically and morally right.”[iv] In order for one to do what is morally and ethically “right” one must adhere to the commandments of the Lord. By doing so, one is exercising the discipline of worship. Foster writes that “just as worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience…in all things and in all ways we do exactly what Christ says because we have a holy obedience that has been cultivated over years of experience.”[v] Although the believer has been given a “righteousness in Christ” (Phil. 3:9), the act of righteousness, which David is referring to in Psalm 15, is something which must be exercised in one’s life. Disciplines such as study, prayer, worship, and service, all play an important role in developing an obedient heart which seeks to live out the commandments of the Lord. Only in doing so can one “do what is righteous;” otherwise, acts of righteousness would be exercised through selfish motives rather than the desire to please God. David inserts the application of what the practice of righteousness reflects itself in one’s life as being “…has no slander…does no wrong…casts no slur…keeps his oath…and does not accept a bribe” (Ps. 15:3-5). Thus, obedience to what the Lord requires in one’s life results in acts of righteousness which allows one to “…dwell in your sanctuary” in unshakable worship before the Lord.
The third mark of maturity found in Psalm 15 is one of “integrity.” It has been said, that “Integrity is who you are when no one is looking.” David’s reflection on this idea in Psalm 15 is found in the phrase, “…who speaks the truth from his heart” (Ps. 15:2). The word “truth” denotes “faithfulness, stability, continuance and reliability.”[vi] Speaking truth from one’s heart expresses more than spoken words. Motives and thoughts are things which also come from the heart. If one is not faithfully, continually, and reliably living out the “truth” of the Christian life then speaking “truth” from one’s heart would be an impossibility. Only a person who will remain true to themselves can fulfill what David had in mind for this requirement of the unshakable life. Matthew 5: 8 states “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” John Stott notes that those who have a “pure heart” have a heart that is “utterly sincere,” furthermore, he adds that “Their whole life, public and private, is transparent before God…yet how few of us live one life and live it in the open.”[vii] Truth encompasses the essence of the spiritual disciplines. Without one living in integrity, the foundations of spiritual formation cannot be supported as one would deny the truth of who he is in Christ and opt to live his life governed by the flesh. To dwell in the sanctuary of God and live in His holy hill, however, the believer must be true to the life he has been given and through that life----physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, speak the truth in all things.
A life that reflects purity, obedience and integrity is not a result of an instantaneous work of the Spirit; rather, it is a result of a life that journeys on the road of spiritual formation. Psalm 15 shares the important truth that if one chooses to embark on the journey one can live an unshakable life which dwells with the presence of God. Although the believer has been given all he needs in Christ to fulfill what is required for the unshakable life, he must realize that “sufficient strength and insight” will not “be automatically infused into our being in the moment of need.”[viii] The context of Psalm 15 makes it clear that the privilege of living the unshakable life is a matter of choice. God cannot make His people choose purity, obedience or integrity. He cannot make them choose a holy life nor can He make them choose a disciplined life. He can, however, make it possible. By giving the believer the opportunity to take the “yoke” of Christ upon him and by “adopting His overall life style,” the unshakable life becomes a reality.[ix] This reality can only be made possible through a life of spiritual formation. The disciplining of one’s self to live as Jesus lived. The provision has already been made. One only needs to discipline one’s self to pursue the life that has been provided. In other words, mature in the Christian life. If one can do that, then he can come to live the unshakable life that dwells in the presence of the Lord.
[i] C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: vol. 1(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), 176.
[ii] Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger III, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 1508.
[iii] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (New York: Harper One, 1998), 111.
[iv] Francis Brown, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008), 841.
[v] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 173.
[vi] Blue Letter Bible. "Book of Psalms 15 - (NIV - New International Version)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 3 Oct 2010. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=15&t=NIV >.
[vii] John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1978), 49.
[viii] Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines,(New York: Harper One, 1988), 4.
[ix] Ibid., 5.
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