A Psalm for Sunday
Psalm 15:1
“LORD, who may abide in Your
tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” Psalm 15:1 (NKJV).
The
Bible opens with a picture of man walking and talking with God. God had made
man and placed him in a garden. Here he enjoyed beloved companionship in the
midst of beautiful surroundings. And he was given a pleasant and satisfying
occupation.
The
Bible closes with a picture of God dwelling with the redeemed of all ages in an
eternal home where ignorance, poverty, pain, disappointment, failure, death,
and separation are unknown (Revelation 21:1–4).
Mankind
began with God. Their final destiny is intended to be with God if they will but
respond to the divine efforts to forgive and redeem. It was sin that wrecked
man’s Garden of Eden.
The
Bible is a record of the activity of a gracious God who through the ages has
sought to win people away from the way of rebellion and self-destruction. God
would persuade us to walk by faith and obedience the way to fullness of joy and
satisfying achievement.
I.
The psalmist hungered for fellowship with
God.
Psalm 15 was written
by a man who expected that many others would like to find again the position of
privilege and security with God that had been lost because of sin. This hunger
and delight in the presence of God is repeated many times in the hymnal of the
ancient Hebrews. Example Psalm 84:10 “For a day in Your courts is better
than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to
dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
To dwell in the
presence of God was to enjoy safety.
“I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house
of the Lord” Psalm 122:1.
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Highest shall
abide under the shadow of the Almighty” Psalm 91:1.
People need the security of a sense of
the presence of God in this modern age when the only thing that is certain is
change. People’s hearts are easily captured by fear when they have no awareness
of the presence of God in the events that are taking place about them.
The psalmist
believed that the highest possible human satisfaction was to be found in God’s
presence.
Life apart from God was barren and incomplete, but with him
life could be joyful. “You will show me the path of life: in Your presence
is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures for evermore” Psalm
16:11.
David pictured this experience in terms of a feast prepared
by the divine Host. “You prepared a table before me in the
presence of my enemies: You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over” Psalm
23:5.
The
psalmist had observed that those whose character and purpose of life permitted
them to enjoy the friendship and fellowship of God enjoyed a wonderful
stability that was to be desired by everyone. He declares this
conclusion in the last sentence of the psalm. “He that does these things
shall never be moved” Psalm 15:5.
Conclusion
They
who would dwell with God and enjoy His presence, His protection, and His
provisions must be men and women of high ethical and moral character with
genuine faith and a faithfulness that expresses itself in kindness and mercy.
Who is sufficient and adequate? Only through Jesus Christ can our sins be forgiven,
and can we find the inward strength and guidance that can make possible for us
a life of fruitful fellowship with God and His people.
