Who Gets To Be God's Houseguest? (Psalm 15:1-5) Series

Today we continue our sporadic study of the psalms by working through Psalm 15. Let's start by reading verse 1:

(15:1) A psalm of/for David.

Yahweh, who shall live as a guest in your tent?

Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?

The psalmist begins by asking God two related questions. Yahweh, what kind of person is it, that you welcome into your tent as a guest? What kind of person is it, that you want to live permanently on your holy mountain?

When we read these questions, we should understand what the psalmist is, and isn't, asking. We need to read these with some context in mind.

What these questions aren't doing, is asking how one can become a member of God's people. This is a psalm written by someone on the inside-- someone who is already a member of God's people, who lives within the community of God's people.

All of Israel lived in covenant relationship with Yahweh. They had the same shared salvation history-- they were led out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the Promised Land. They all were given the Mosaic covenant, with its blessings and curses. And now they all lived, in theory, in faithfulness to Yahweh-- and Yahweh lives in faithfulness to Israel.

But in many ways, this is just theory. For most of Israel's history, the people didn't try particularly hard to be faithful toward God. And God, in turn, wasn't particularly pleased with most of them.

Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 (NKJV):

10 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Technically speaking, God was in a covenant relationship with all of Israel. But for most of Israel's history, God wasn't pleased with most of them. God has expectations for his people. He insists that they live in a particular way toward Him, and toward each other. And it's people who meet those covenant expectations that God is happy to welcome as a guest into his tent.

God is a good host (Psalm 23:5-6), but He is picky about who gets to sit at his table, and sleep in his tent, and live with him on his holy mountain.

So the psalmist begins by asking these questions. And when he does this, he forces us to ask these questions as well. What is it, really, that God wants from his people? What kind of people is God looking to dwell with?

The psalmist continues by answering his own question, first stating positively what God wants.

Verse 2:

(2) The one walking wholly committed,

and the one doing righteousness,

and the one speaking truth in his heart.

God wants people, first of all, who walk wholly committed. Let's turn to Genesis 6:9:

"These are the family records of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man.

Wholly committed, he was in his generations.

With God, Noah walked.

Noah was a model of a man who was committed to walking with God (until he hit the wine too hard). He lived rightly toward God. He lived a life wholly dedicated to God.

People who live this way know that God is trustworthy (Ps. 26:1), and that you can commit to God and not get burned. You don't find yourself struggling with a lack of faith ("I don't stagger/waver"; Ps. 26:1); you know God has your back.

Maybe the easiest way to talk about what it means to be "wholly committed" is to use an example from marriage.

When a man and woman get married, one of the things they have to make a decision about is whether or not they will have a joint checking account. You maybe trust your new spouse to be faithful to you, and not commit adultery. But can you trust them to spend "your" money wisely? Can you trust them not to blow "your" savings on stupid things?

And so, in some marriages, the husband and wife have separate checking accounts. And, sometimes, they have a secret stash of cash they hide from their spouse, in case their marriage goes sour.

Married couples that live this way are not "wholly committed" to each other. They have reservations about each other. They are not really sure they can trust their partner, and so they don't give themselves to each other the way they should.

God wants us to be entirely devoted to himself. We don't set aside any part of ourselves, or our lives, and not give it to God. We don't trust in God+ something/someone else.