Psalm 15
1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 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;
5 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.
All the Things
Can I tell you a secret? Sometimes, I don’t do what’s right. Ok, probably a lot of times. Like that time when I was 7 and I pretended I had no clue where my brother’s silver dollar was, when I just happened to find one in my room a few days before. Or that time when I was 13 and I was too afraid to stand up for my friend, even though I knew it was the right thing to do. I all too often honor the wrong person and despise the person I should be honoring. I all too often see the good thing that I should do, but I don’t choose to do it because it’s hard and uncomfortable. Perhaps you can relate?
This psalm condemns us. It shows us that, even if we do some things right, we definitely do not do ALL the things right. And it says that those who do ALL the right things will be the ones who are able to be in God’s presence and worship Him. This leaves us hopeless on our own.
But, in walks Jesus, our Real. Present. God. He came to walk on the dirt of this earth, just like you and me, except when He read this Psalm, He could put a check next to all the boxes. Walk blamelessly: check. Do what’s right: check. Speak truth: check. Don’t slander: check. Despise sin: check. Fear the Lord: check. Keep promises even when it hurts: check.
That last one gets me, because the promise He made was to do His Father’s will, and the will of His Father was that Jesus would get hurt—even that He would die. But Jesus did it all willingly. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” He did it! He did ALL the things, and He was found worthy to be in the presence of God.
But it gets better, because other places in the book of Hebrews show us that Jesus did ALL the things… for us! (Hebrews 10:9-10) AND, because of His work, we can now enter the presence of God. (Hebrews 10:19-22)
Jesus did ALL the things right, so that our own wrongs would not keep us out of the presence of God. Now we are invited to draw near to God in confidence! He loves us, and He has made a way for us, through Jesus, to be in His presence forever.
Prayer:
Jesus, thank You for forgiving all of my sins by Your crucifixion and death, through which You reconciled me to God and gave me access to His presence. Your love for me is my refuge. I love You. Amen.”
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