As I've been studying my way through the Psalms, I've felt personally blessed that I've been chosen by God to do this. I've just been so amazed by how practical these Psalms are, how do they really do speak into our experience and life in this fallen world. They require us to ask questions that maybe we wouldn't normally ask of ourselves. And so, we want to jump in today to Psalm 15. I would entitle this Psalm "Who Is Worthy?"
Let me read:
O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the LORD;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
This is really the question of questions; you couldn't ask a better question than the one that is being asked by this Psalm. It is this: Who is righteous enough to dwell in God's presence? Who has the right, by the way that he lives, to be accepted with God?
Well, I can say right away, if you're asking this question, you've already been visited by God's grace. The average person on the street doesn't care about being accepted into the presence of God. That average person isn't haunted by their relationship with God. In fact, most people don't think about this at all. So, if you're asking this question, God has already met you and produced that desire in your heart.
The questions are these: Who walks blamelessly? Who always has truth in his heart? Who never speaks evil with his tongue? Who never wrongs his neighbor? Who always honors those who fear the LORD? Who makes promises to his own hurt and does not back away from them?
I mean, if you could say, "Oh yeah, I'm that person; I'm always holy." Well, you're probably shockingly self-righteous or delusional. This is a tremendously convicting Psalm. You have to stand back from this Psalm and say, "If this is what it takes to be in God's presence, I'm cooked." Because I don't live up to this standard, not just every day, but probably hourly, or moment by moment.
Now, Psalms like this are designed to be aspirational, designed to produce this response in our heart - "I long to be this kind of person; I want to live this kind of life" - and to cause us to pray for God's empowering grace because we fall so short of the standard that's here in this Psalm.
But that's not just where this Psalm goes, and it's definitely not where this Psalm ends. This Psalm is an Old Testament finger pointing you to Jesus because the ultimate answer to the question is Jesus! Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life all of the time and in every way. And this is what's important: he did that as our substitute because God knew that we would never live that way.
And so, Jesus, in his righteous life and acceptable death, purchased for us our acceptance with God. So because we are now righteous in Christ, we can live in the presence of God.
If you can look at this list and say, "I just don't live this way," then you should be thankful for the grace of God that is found in Jesus, that God provided a substitute, who lived a perfectly righteous life so that we would have the eternal blessing of living in the presence of God.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. Consider the list of qualities of the person worthy enough to dwell on God's holy hill. Without being unnecessarily self-condemning or punishing of yourself, how have you failed or fallen short in one or more of these areas in the last week (or another quality mentioned in Psalm 15)?
- Slandered or participated in gossip about someone else when you know you should have stayed silent or changed the topic of conversation
- Missed or ignored a chance to love your physical neighbor by serving them in practical manner (even something as minimal as taking in their trash can)
- Selfishly used your money for your own pleasure and gain when there was a clear opportunity to give generously or use it for Kingdom purposes
Then, consider the motivation of your heart behind that action, or failure to act.
2. After considering the way (or ways) in which you failed to live a worthy life, identify examples of how Christ did so perfectly. How should his perfection, in the face of your failure, give you assurance and peace? Do you wallow in guilt or beat yourself up with shame unnecessarily, when Christ has taken the punishment already? How does his perfection and the empowering through his Spirit give you another opportunity to live according to these worthy standards this week? How can you be more aware of your tendency to sin? How can you prepare to combat the selfish motivation of your heart? How can you ask for grace in your next moment of need? Be specific and look back on the area(s) where you previously failed, and prepare for another opportunity where, by grace, you can live up to that aspirational worthy standard.
Conversation Prompts to Use with Children
For Younger Children: Do you know what it means to be perfect? Do you know that mommy and daddy are not perfect - not even close! The Bible has a standard, a set of rules, that God wrote for protection and so that we could have a good life, but we break those rules and fall short of the standard all the time. Here are a few of those rules:
- Don't say mean things
- Don't do mean things
- Be generous, kind, and share
Have you done all of these things perfectly? When did you make a mistake? (Share times when you have sinned in these areas) Did you know that Jesus did all of these perfectly? He never once broke God's rules. He was always kind and never said or did bad things. And because he was perfect for us, that means God still loves and accepts us when we make mistakes, and it means that when we get another chance, we can do the right thing with Jesus' help. How can you ask Jesus for help the next time you have a decision to make?
For Older Children: Do you ever feel shame about the way that you live and the choices that you make? (Or, the way that you aren't living that you know you should be, and the choices that you aren't making?) What are some of the areas where you know you are failing or falling short? (Share specific examples of how you have sinned and fallen short recently) What do you tell yourself in these moments? How can the perfect life of Jesus comfort you in your failure? How can the perfect power of Jesus help you think, desire, act, and speak better in these areas where you fall short?
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