Charactorizing the Walk With God – Psalm 15:3-5
So, the question Psalm 15 raises for us is this: Lord God, what is it like to be the kind of person who is fit to live in Your Presence from day to day? We are invited into a life in the presence of God. And, by the grace of God we are enabled to live lives pleasing to God. What are we told about this kind of life? It is a life of wholehearted devotion and a life of inner integrity.
I am reminded of a verse from the New Testament: “…if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7 NRSV). Walking with God means continually walking in the light of God. There is a kind of honesty and openness and transparency to it. Our hearts are open to God and to others — insofar as that is possible for us.
Now, notice the qualities of the person who walks with God in this wholehearted devotion. (more…)
A Perfect Walk – Psalm 15:2
Eugene Peterson paraphrases Psalm 15:1 this way:
“GOD, who gets invited to dinner at your place? How do we get on your guest list?”
Or we might state it this way:
Lord God, what is it like to be the kind of person who is fit to live in Your Presence from day to day?
Verse 2 gives us the response to this question: (more…)
Living in God’s Presence — Psalms 15:1
Don’t miss the invitation just because it comes to us in the form of a question.
We are invited into relationship with God: into the presence of God.
A question is addressed to the God of Israel, using his personal name יְהוָֹה: (which may have been pronounced”Yahweh”) who can live in Your presence?
Psalms 15:1:
יְהוָֹה מִי־יָגוּר בְּאָהֳלֶךָ מִי־יִשְׁכֹּן בְּהַר קָדְשֶׁךָ
“O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?”
That’s the way I interpret this: it is talking about the presence of God. We need to see beyond the place. Yes, it speaks of God’s “tent” or “tabernacle” (pointing to the time of David, before the great Temple of Solomon was built). Yes, it speaks of God’s “holy hill.” But, these places are symbolic of God’s presence. And, I think that’s the real point: the presence of God. (more…)