Further thoughts on Psalm 15:1-5. This passage is so rich it deserves another look.

Jesus is the perfect Paragon of excellence, the sinless Savior and supreme Shepherd, the marvelous and majestic Maker and Master of our faith. As we read through Psalm 15, every quality the LORD requires for dwelling in His sanctuary is found in Jesus.

Psalm 15:1-2 “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless”

[I praise you, Lord Jesus, that you are blameless. In you there is no sin, no evil, no slipping into error, no darkness, no injustice or rebellion; you are without blame, without accusation, without sin. Praise you for your perfection, your purity, your pristineness, that you are the summation of all virtues.]

“and who does what is righteous,”

[All you have done and will do is right, Lord Jesus, there is no error in your ways, no wrong, no fault, no unrighteousness. Therefore, you are absolutely trustable and believable in your faithfulness and goodness.]

“who speaks the truth from his heart”

[You are Truth itself and therefore speak only Truth from the center of your being. All you say is true, right, correct, positive and good.]

Psalm 15:3 He “has no slander on his tongue,”

[When you judge, Lord Jesus, it is correct, it is spoken to the right person with the right motive at the right time in the right way. There is no malice, selfishness, evil motive or wrong desire in your speech. Instead, you speak correctly to convict, to bring repentance, to restore and lead, giving light, love and life.]

“who does his neighbor no wrong”

[You only do what is positive and pure, helpful and good. To live with you is to experience the light of your goodness, the power of your purity and the provision of your positiveness.]

“and casts no slur on his fellowman,”

[You never speak unjustly, you never maliciously cut people down, or try to put them in a bad light. In fact, as the good Shepherd, you will work to protect people rather than expose them to ridicule. You always first nudge us towards repentance before having someone come and confront us.]

Psalm 15:1 “LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?”

[Praise be to you, Lord God, the High and Holy One, who invites us into your sanctuary, to live with you on your holy hill–through believing on the risen Jesus.

This possibility is a delightful demonstration of your deep delight in sharing your glorious grace and your generous goodness with us, offering us life and love even while we were still dead in sins. This is your pure and positive Character at work in the midst of a broken, twisted and destructive world.

Psalm 15:2-4 “…who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?

–The one whose walk is BLAMELESS,

–who does what is RIGHTEOUS,

— who speaks the TRUTH from their heart;

–whose tongue utters NO SLANDER,

–who does NO WRONG to a neighbor,

–who CASTS NO SLUR on others;

–who despises a vile person

–but HONORS those who fear the LORD;

–who KEEPS AN OATH even when it hurts,

–and DOES NOT CHANGE their mind….”

Each of these conditions for living in close relationship with you, Lord, is unreachable for us in our own strength; our sinful flesh prevents this, even when our spirit is willing.

But, in the face of our inability, you, Lord God, in your rich and powerful, persistent and active agape love have, through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, provided these qualities for all who believe. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Pet. 1:3).

Help us, Lord, to deny our natural self, take up our cross daily and follow you up this holy hill.

 Psalm 14:4 “Will evildoers never learn—”

[Lord, this means you are consistently working at teaching all rebels the error of their ways by letting them suffer the consequences of their destructive choices. In your faithfulness and love You are calling them to repentance and surrender–but they are not listening!]

“those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD?”

[These rebels commit two evils: they abuse people, and they trust in themselves, rather than you, Lord. They delusively believe they are in control, able to handle life on their own as they bully all those around them.]

Psalm 14:5 “But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous.”

[In spite of their bravado, inside they have dread because they sense God’s presence among believers. That’s why they so viciously attack those who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ. This has happened repeatedly all down through history and we see this today as religious terrorists and leaders try to wipe out all Christians in their territory. And how leftists seek to disempower Christians.

Such evildoers are afraid of death. They may be aware of the coming judgment, and that because of their stubborn selfishness they are set apart from the righteous–those have surrendered to Christ–but in spite of this they do not repent. Their path only leads them to death while the road to life lies open before them.]

Psalm 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

[This is a clear definition of a fool: one with no spiritual discernment or interest, who rejects truth in favor of his own unfounded opinion.

The statement “there is no God” is so far from reality, so entirely limited to this tiny earth, this moment; it is a view that it is a sorry position, void of hope, truth, goodness, meaning and a future. I pity the person who believes that there is no God, as he is caught in his own delusion and ends up in the darkness of a meaningless, hopeless existence.]

“They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”

[We are all by nature fools, making ourselves our own god until we meet Jesus, the true and living God. In our natural selves there is no good, no ability to do true good, for all we do is corrupted by our selfishness.

We’ve all heard the advice, “Just follow your heart!” But, our heart is a fool, deceitfully wicked; as on teacher told me, “it is a moron.” So why should we follow that? What we should follow is Jesus and shepherd our new heart.

This is reality—and this is why we desperately need you, Lord Jesus, you who are goodness itself.  You desire to give all people a new heart filled with righteousness, joy and peace so we can do the good works you have prepared for us (Eph. 2:10).]

Psalm 13:2 “How long will my enemy triumph over me?”

[At times the enemy does triumph over us—evil leaders arise in nations (such as ISIS), bad decisions are made by government or mission leaders, churches fall apart, families dissolve in bitterness, hard-working people can suddenly become homeless. The fog closes in around us and we could lose our way, but you are there to guide us.

None of these, Lord, are your desired, overall will, but you allow them for greater reasons. For unbelievers, it is to nudge them towards belief (many have come to Christ in the Middle East because of ISIS). For believers, it is an opportunity for trust, growth and mature glorifying you and earning rewards.

As it says in 1 Pet. 1:6-7, “Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith and…may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

So, we can know, no matter what, Lord, that you are always there and you always have a plan: you are at work for good, moving deeply, quietly, powerfully and patiently, waiting for the right moment to remove the pressure. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” In your goodness we can rest. Help us to do so today.]