There are some keys in this Psalm that are very practical and concerns my heart attitude. If I keep my heart attitude right according to this Psalm, I know that I can always dwell in the presence of God.
Ps 15 contains only 5 short verses:
Verse 1 - "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
This verse is a question that the Psalmist is asking of God. Yet it is also like a prayer because the Psalmist is expecting an answer from God.
He is in a way framing his prayer like a question! I believe that he really wanted an answer from God because his heart's desire is to abide in God's tabernacle.
God's tabernacle is equated with "His holy hill". The word in "hill" in Hebrew is har which is a shortened form of a mountain or a range of hills. In the KJV it is equivalent to a mountain. Only once it is used to describe a promotion.
Mountains are places of spiritual encounters with God. Isa 56:7 talks about God bringing us to His holy mountain which is also His house of prayer.
There are 7 important mountains where God was present:
1. Mount Moriah - where Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice but encountered God's provision.
2. Mount Sinai - where Moses communed with God and received His laws for His people.
3. Mount Nebo - where Moses saw the promised land but God spoke to him that he will not enter it because of disobedience.
4. Mount Carmel - where the fire of God came down from heaven to consume the sacrifice and God gained victory over the prophets of Baal.
5. Mount Hermon - where Jesus transfigured and a voice spoke out of a bright cloud to his disciples "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" Matt 17:5.
6. Mount of Olives - where Jesus was crucified, died and resurrected from the dead gaining authority over death.
7. Mount Zion - the heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual city of God where God's throne is and innumerable company of angels and in the presence of many witnesses who have gone before us into the presence of God.
Thus God's holy hill = His tabernacle = the Mountain of the Lord = His house of prayer.
As his question is framed like a prayer, God answers him in his heart. Indeed such a prayer pleases God because the Psalmist is only desiring what God desires of him!
Verse 2 - "He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart
There are 3 prerequisites contain in one verse:
1. Walk uprightly - It is to walk in obedience to God's word. It is also to conduct ourselves with confidence and faith knowing our position in Christ who has delivered us and saved us from our sins.
2. Work righteousness - To work righteousness is to do those things that are righteous and pleasing to God for e.g I know that God does not want me to grumble, complain or gripe about my boss. To work righteousness is to have a thankful heart and gracious speech toward my boss and my staff for e.g. if delay in my work is due to my fault and not my staff I should not blame them for my own neglect.
To work righteousness is also to be submissive to my husband whom God has placed over me. One way of ensuring that righteousness is worked out in our lives is to pray for the person who is causing us to be hurt or distressed and to verbalize our forgiveness toward them.
3. Speaks the truth in his heart - To speak the truth in my own heart and not into the hearts of another party is to have a heart to heart conversation with ourselves. It is really like judging ourselves and doing a spiritual ''heart-check" like we do a blood pressure check or a glucose sugar check!
Is my heart bitter toward so and so? Is my heart angry toward this sister or brother? Is my heart offended by her actions or her speech?
If yes, I need to own up to my own heart condition and ask God to help me forgive the other person in order to be set free from bitterness/unforgiveness.
Verse 3 - "He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbour, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend.
Again, there are 3 things to be aware of here:
1. Not to backbite with our tongue - Only our tongue can be used for backbiting thus we need to ask God to cleanse our tongue. To backbite is to return evil for evil, reviling for reviling, cursing for cursing or tit for tat. No wonder James firmly admonishes us to bridle our tongue for wrong words used cannot be retracted.
2. Not to do evil to his neighbour - We must harm nobody especially the person closest to us. We must take care not to cause another person to stumble by spreading poison with our tongue about others.
Complaining, grumbling, insulting God and Moses - these actions caused the downfall of the children of Israel in the wilderness.
In Ex 17:3, they complained that Moses took them out of Egypt to die of thirst. Not only did they complained, Moses said that "They are almost ready to stone me!" They were ready to follow through their words with physical violence.
In Ex 16:3, the children of Israel complained that they had no food in the wilderness and started to think of Egypt with the pots of meat and the bread which they could eat to the full. In fact they insulted God who delivered them by saying that they would have preferred to die in Egypt. What a great insult to God!
They directed all their complaints to Moses and Aaron because they were neither dwelling in the tabernacle of the Lord nor in His holy hill. Comparing Moses and his people, it is obvious that only Moses dwelled in God's holy hill and fulfilled the principles of Psalm 15.
However I am fully aware that we cannot escape from grumbling, griping and complaining when we are not happy about things like when I am unhappy with my boss for stressing me out with her harsh words and high demands. What do I do to deal with all the complaints churning in my mind?
Let us frame our complaints directly to God in the form of a prayer like what Moses did each time. Ex 17:8 "For the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord"
This is how Moses framed his complaint to God like a prayer - Ex 17: 4 "So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!"
3. Not to take up a reproach against his friend - To me this is keeping offenses committed against us by our friends for too long. Be sure to be quick to forgive. Do not let anger fester in our hearts against the person who offended us...deal with it quickly before God.
Verse 4 - "In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change"
There are 2 principles here:
1. We need to take the side of those who fear God including to stand with Israel.
To stand with those who stand with God. To pray for the persecuted church. If others are cursing or blaspheming do not participate by joining in. We are not to allow ourselves to be influenced by those who are vile or who mock the Lord. We are to love those who love God and honor those who honor God. This does not mean we should not fellowship with them but we are not to adopt their values or agree with their corrupted values.
I watched a program once where the father being a Christian had to say the right words without rejecting his gay son. Yet he had to make a stand with regards to the lifestyle of his son. We need to love the sinner but hate the sin.
2. To swear to our own hurt and not to change
We need to be people of principles who say what we mean and mean what we say. Daniel and his friends in not bowing down to the idol made by the king swearing to their own hurt when they said to the king that they will not bow down to the idol even at the risk of perishing in the fire. Joseph in not sleeping with his master's wife swore to his own hurt in the process and was blessed by God in the end.
Verse 5 - "He who does not put his money to usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved"
There are 2 principles here:
1. It is important to give graciously.
It speaks about giving without expecting anything in return. Give without expecting any favors.
2. Not bribing the innocent is not to harm those who are helpless to help themselves.
To show mercy to those who are not in the position to defend themselves. Not to use our money, authority or position to threaten people or brow-beat them into obedience.
To sum it up, Psalms 15 requires me to position myself as follows:
1. Walk uprightly
2. Do righteously
3. Speak truthfully
4. Harm nobody
5. Keep my integrity
6. Give generously
7. Show mercy
Psalm 15 is all about the Lord Jesus Christ and we need to follow His example!
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