Only by the power of the Spirit

O Yahweh, who may sojourn in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?
He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart.
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear Yahweh;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;
He does not put out his money at interest,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.

Psalm 15

Introduction

Much like the first Psalm, Psalm 15 details the differences between one who is blessed by God and one who is not. In this case, the one who is blessed, “may dwell on Your holy mountain,” giving this Psalm its title.

The other locale where this blessed one may go is in God’s “tent.” These are the two places where God meets with man. Perhaps the most famous mountain where God met with man is on Mount Sinai. Here is where the Lord gave Moses the Law by which His people were to live. Not only did He meet here with Moses, but Exodus 33 even records God revealing a portion of His glory to Moses on that holy mountain, after which Moses himself shone like the glory of God.

That is not the only mountain where God met with man, though. There is also the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17), where Jesus met with Moses and Elijah, revealing His glory to the disciples. And then there is Eden. Genesis 2:10 states, “Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.” We know rivers originate in mountains, where they are either rain fed or snow fed. And this makes sense for Eden to be such a mountain, because when God speaks to the King of Tyre (or perhaps Satan) in Ezekiel 28, He says, “You were in Eden, the garden of God… …You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God.”

This would make the place where God first met with man His holy mountain.

The other place where the blessed one goes, again, is in His “tent.” Before the Temple which Solomon built, God dwelt with His people in the Tabernacle. This is where David would have worshiped when he wrote this Psalm, and the Tabernacle was a tent. It was a holy tent God gave the people to build so that He might dwell among them and bless them.

So what kind of person is able to meet with God?

What he is not

The Psalm begins by saying such a man “walks blamelessly, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.” But then it goes on to define that by submitting the negative; what a blessed man does not do.

First, he does not slander. This is one of those cases, however, where I prefer the way the King James Version renders the text, “He that backbiteth not with his tongue.” The term “backbiting” is not used much in common English these days, but originally referred to a phenomenon in ancient blood sports where fighting dogs would attack the back of a chained up bear. It was quickly adapted to describe social behavior where people would speak poorly about one another without the victim present. These days we tend to call it, “talking about someone behind his back.” It is not always slanderous, but it is always cowardly. And it always is with the intent of tearing that person down in the eyes of others.

For someone to walk with God, he must not tear people down behind their backs. Neither should he do evil to his neighbor, a broad and far reaching category. But like so many vague sounding directives in scriptures, it is something we intrinsically know. Evil is plainly recognizable, and the one who works righteousness does not work evil. And he does not shame his friends.

What he is

Now for the specifics: the one who walks blamelessly holds relationships with others in two categories. He honors God-fearing men, and despises those who live to reject God. That might sound shocking at first. Aren’t we supposed to “hate the sin and love the sinner”? Well, yes and no. We must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We must bring the joy of the gospel even to those who have rejected God their entire lives. But righteousness recognizes unrighteousness and does not befriend it. When your mind and heart are set on pure, lovely, and praiseworthy things (Philippians 4:8), you take no interest in what captivates the world.

Other things that mark the one who may walk with God are an unwavering spirit, a charitable heart, and a life of integrity. Money is not his interest. It is a tool of righteousness. “He who does these things will never be shaken.”

But he cannot do these things on his own. The only one who is able to make a man worthy of walking with God is God Himself. Only by His grace can we do anything good. Remember that and praise the Lord that He makes us into ones who hate evil and love righteousness; praise Him for making a people holy for Himself.

May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.