Who Shall Dwell? Psalm 15
THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Psalm 15. Domine, quis habitabit?
1 LORD, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? * or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?
2 Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life, * and doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh the truth from his heart.
3 He that hath used no deceit in his tongue, nor done evil to his neighbour, * and hath not slandered his neighbour.
4 He that setteth not by himself, but is lowly in his own eyes, * and maketh much of them that fear the LORD.
5 He that sweareth unto his neighbour, and disappointeth him not, * though it were to his own hindrance.
6 He that hath not given his money upon usury, * nor taken reward against the innocent.
7 Whoso doeth these things * shall never fall.
At one point in my life, I was blessed to do quite a bit of ministry in many countries, amongst different people, cultures, and religious dispositions. Much of this ministry occurred in the Middle East, Asia, and Israel, naturally bringing me into contact with Muslims. For the most part, these interactions and conversations were respectful and peaceful. They would speak of Christians they knew as trusting, faithful, peaceable, and caring people- Christian works of mercy (relief efforts, medical care, and so on) are not lost on unbelievers, even Muslims.
I remember on one occasion in Asia, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a Muslim man, telling him about the God of the Bible who, even though I was a sinner, declared me righteous, that the gracious love and mercy of God in Christ overcame my sin, he calls me son and co-heir with Christ because I trusted in him for forgiveness and salvation unto eternal life. I call this "the great exchange," where a Holy God takes the penalty for my sins, and by dying with him in baptism, I am raised to life, forgiven, a new creature, born again. It's not fair or right, and it makes no sense that God would do such a thing: Christians call it grace.
St. Paul calls this the "free gift of grace," whereby his grace freely justifies us, and this is God's gift given through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Rom 3:24-26). Unfortunately, this message of Good News doesn't quite translate because, to the Muslim ear, the free gift of grace sounds like living a moral life is optional. And if you know anything about Islam, this is very confusing to them. Speaking about Western Christians, this Muslim man told me, "Your life and words don't sync up." Meaning we say we believe, but our lives profess something different. But you have to understand Islam. A Muslim doesn't operate under the idea of separation between religion and government (we call this Church and State). They don't separate religion from culture. For a Muslim, these are all one and the same, and there is no distinction. Islamic culture is Islam, and Islam is the culture. Government is Islam, and Islam is Government: Sharia Law illustrates this clearly.
So when Muslims see the kind of movies Hollywood produces, the base music spun by popular culture, and the fast-paced acceptance of pornography as the new exhibitionism, they label it Christian. When our leaders make geo-political decisions or enact unjust laws and treat their own citizens as if they were enemies, they interpret these through the lens of Christianity. Abortion, accelerated divorce rates, the maddening range of accepted sexual deviancy, and the redefining of marriage and family make them ask, "Is this Christianity?" Broadly speaking, they don't possess appropriate categories to make distinctions.
The sad reality in most of the West and the prevailing Christian instinct is to compartmentalize our lives, to separate religion and morality. Though greatly unfortunate, how often have government officials from the highest office of the land to county officials, high-profile Christian ministers, and pastors been engulfed by scandals of the flesh or unrestrained greed, yet our society has an uncanny ability to separate such moral failures into the category called private life. "I don't care what they do in their bedroom; I just want them to get the job done!"
Even within a Christian congregation, there can be back-biting, gossip, lying, cheating, and all sorts of sins perpetrated by one Christian upon another. Yet, such a person feels no unease about continuing to worship in the sanctuary of God. Even the most respected church members can carry on with such sinful discord and not think twice about sitting in the pews Sunday after Sunday because we dismiss any connection between our choices and our worship. But right from the start, the book of Psalms begins with a stern reminder that God's people cannot separate their praise and prayer from the question of whether they are living according to God's Law. The very first Psalm, Psalm One, sets this out clearly: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." Yet, the psalmist also says, "The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." The wicked, whose choices look nothing like God's commands, will not stand in his house amongst the blessed.
The protocol of approaching God, to ascend unto his house and come into his presence, isn't defined by our feelings about our relationship with Him. We can say we believe in Him, even say we love Him. But feelings and mere lip service towards God aren't enough. Imagine trying to demonstrate the depth of your love and devotion to your husband or wife simply by thinking it into reality; it doesn't work. Or a son or daughter demonstrating respectful obedience to a parent by saying they'll take out the trash and never do. It doesn't work that way, not with one another or God.
You see, the choices we make, the things we actually do under the name "Christian" define what we believe, disclose the true disposition of the soul, reveal us for who and what we really are, or, to say it better in relationship to Christ, it exposes where we are. And in case we have come to think that honoring God in praise or prayer is possible without honoring God in one's actions, in particular in our relationships with other people and our life in society, then today's Psalm reminds us of the real connection between worship and one's choices in this world.
Psalm 15 is unique among the psalter because it's one of only ten psalms beginning with a question. The Christian life is full of questions, but some are more consequential than others. "Will you please pass the ketchup" doesn't quite carry the same import as "Will you marry me?" Of all the questions a Christian might ask the Lord, there may be no other question as important than the one that begins today's Psalm: "LORD, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?" Before answering this, I want to draw deeper into the meaning of this question asked in two parts: to dwell and to rest.
English doesn't do justice in translating the Hebrew here. First, the Tabernacle is a tent, like the tent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob called their home, where their families ate, slept, laughed, and shared family intimacy. To dwell better translates as staying over, to lodge, to spend the night. In modern Hebrew, to dwell generates the word for a hotel. Dwelling likewise suggests staying somewhere for a while. The psalmist's question takes on far more significance because his question is this: "Who may enter into the intimacy of your home "O God, to sit in your presence, eat and fellowship with you, enjoying your hospitality for days upon days?" And, "who may rest upon your holy hill?"
He's not asking God to tell him who qualifies to nap in the tent on his Holy Mountain or who can check into the Lord's lodge and take a vacation. No, to rest on God's holy mountain is to feel secure, safe, and at peace because you are a guest in the Lord's house and his Holy Tabernacle. No harm may come to you: security in God is rest for the soul. He's asking, "God, who may ascend up to you, take shelter, and rest from the weariness of the world, the flesh, and the Devil." "LORD, who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle? Or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?" As I've said, if this isn't the most essential and burdened of questions, I honestly don't know what is. This is within the same vein as other biblical questions such as "Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, or who may stand in his holy place?" (Ps 23:3), or the Philippian jailor who asked of Paul and Silas "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30), or St. Paul recounting his conversion asked, "what shall I do Lord" (Acts 22:10). Or the rich young ruler, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Lk 18:18). And on the day of Pentecost when the crowd responding to Peters preaching asked, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37).
In all of these inquiries, we notice the implied supposition that there really does exist some kind of moral program to be followed. And in the recesses of our hearts and minds, we sense this to be true: the moral life is inescapable, and the imperative to live a moral life haunts every soul, believer and unbeliever alike, as we learn from St. Paul, that "when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature, do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts" (Rom 2:14-15a). Every person is a moral being, having been made in the image of a moral God. Thus, we cannot help but sense that to dwell in God's house and to find rest on his holy mountain, there's truly something that we must "do."
"LORD, who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle? Or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?" The answer to what is required by anyone who desires to ascend unto the intimacy and security of God is described in ten commandments listed in verses two through five. (v.2) "Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life, * and doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh the truth from his heart. First, enjoying intimacy and security with God means being characterized by integrity. Literally, you are someone who "walks whole." There is a moral consistency, constancy, and stability about you. It expresses itself in faithfulness in your actions; it also implies a uniformity between what you are outside and what you are inside. You're not the double-minded man St. James writes of. You speak the truth in your heart; your actions and your thinking match. You don't do one thing and think another. Like the Lord, we aren't varying or shifting shadows (Js 1:17).
(v. 3) "He that hath used no deceit in his tongue, nor done evil to his neighbor, and hath not slandered his neighbor." Second, you don't go around talking about other people (literally, you don't go around on your tongue). The rest of the line spells out the point. You don't use your tongue to wrong a fellow member of the household, the parish, or the community—for instance, by lying about someone to rob a family of its land, business, or possessions. And you don't use your tongue to accuse your neighbor of things falsely.
(v. 4) "He that setteth not by himself, but is lowly in his own eyes, and maketh much of them that fear the LORD." Third, it means discerning how you relate to others in light of their own moral stances. If someone else has earned the community's contempt for such action, you don't turn a blind eye and certainly don't honor such people. We're supposed to honor those who revere The Lord in word and deed. And when you commit yourself to ensuring wrongdoers pay for their wrongdoing, you don't go soft and let them off, encouraging people to assume they can get away with such wrongdoing.
Lastly, (v. 5), "He that sweareth unto his neighbor, and disappointeth him not, though it were to his own hindrance." You watch what you do with your own possessions. On the one hand, you are generous in lending without interest to people who (for instance) are on hard times or need a hand-up to get things going again. On the other hand, when you're involved in some community dispute, you don't use your wealth to get a favorable decision from the authorities by bribing witnesses. "Whoso doeth these things (the Psalmist concludes) shall never fall." Having ascended to God, such a one shall never tumble down the mountain but forever reside in the Tabernacle of God's presence, peace, and security.
Yet, that same awareness of God's moral demands and the great reward awaiting those who attain it is accompanied by an innate feeling of impossibility. "LORD, who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle? or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?" The honest answer is no one... except Jesus. Only Jesus keeps the whole counsel of God, every jot and tittle. He succeeded where every Israelite failed, though they tried and tried. The Royal Law of which every Gentile is a stranger, Jesus fulfilled perfectly because he is the perfect man. Christ met every condition of Divine approach by living a sinless life and thereby conquering death. And this perfect man ascended the Holy Hill of heaven in the presence of his Father, the prince of peace, the Lord of heaven and earth.
And if we are in him and live in Christ, then we have ascended that mountain as well. Do you not know, dear Christian, that
because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus! (Eph 2:4-5).
Friends, though we stand here today in the shadow of the Tabernacle to come (that is, Christ's body), we are presently dwelling in the true Tabernacle of God; we are resting on the holy hill of the Lord. This great and future promise is a present reality for any who faithfully, joyfully, and lovingly serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if we are in him and he in us, then in a real but mysterious way, we are already where he is: in the true heavenly temple not made with human hands (Acts 7:48).
Therefore, remain in him by doing his will. Don't soil the garment with which you were clothed at your baptism, but do the good works he has called you to, which evidence his grace in your life, and show forth a sincere faith and trust in Him. And tend to that garment all the days of your life, so that when the King bids you come to that heavenly banquet, he will gladly welcome you to the marriage supper of the Lamb because you are clothed in his Son Jesus Christ, the only one worthy enough to ascend the Holy Mountain, and in him, we are forever welcomed as more than friends, but as sons and daughters of the Most High God. Amen+
