Psalm 15 - Access Rights

A psalm of David. Question 1 Lord, who may sojourn in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? Answer 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, and speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbour, and casts no slur on others; 4 who holds the wicked in disdain but honours those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath come what may, and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

This Psalm starts with a question: How can I gain access to God, How can I get to Heaven? The verbs in the first verse show a progression. Lord, who may sojourn in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? Who may sojourn; visit, dwell for a time, seek hospitality with; becomes the more permanent live; to settle down, dwell, reside. Likewise the first line talks of God's temporary dwelling on earth, his tabernacle or sacred tent which progresses to be His holy mountain or permanent dwelling place. There follows a list of 10 conditions that affect our access to God. Keeping these conditions does not earn us the right to come into God's presence. Keeping the law does not earn us a reward, only breaking it earns us something, and then it is punishment not reward. Our faith in Jesus's work of taking our punishment enables us to come into God's presence. However, breaking these conditions will affect our daily access to God. In the same way, my dog has access to my house, but if he rolls in the mud, he's not going to be sitting on my knee until he's been hosed down a bit. Christianity tends to focus on our faith, our belief as our means of access to God. Jewish culture focuses on the fruit of that belief - "you believe? prove it - show me your good works!" Good works should come naturally out of our belief in God - like in Psalm 1 when the good man is likened to a tree planted in a good place that bears its fruit in season - the fruit is a natural consequence of being in good well-watered soil. The fruit of good works doesn't give you access to God, having access to God enables you to bear fruit. One common complaint Atheists have is 'How can a just God punish lack of belief? Simple - He doesn't. No one has been sent to hell because they don't believe in Jesus. Hell is a place of punishment and people are punished because they've done wrong. In other words, the only reason people go to hell is because they've broken God's law. Think about it this way. If God is holy, righteous, and just then He cannot let wrongdoing go unpunished. It would not be just to let sin pass without punishment. Any judge who allows a crime to go unpunished is not a just judge - he would in fact be considered unjust and unfit for the job. God, as a totally righteous being, cannot let even one sin pass unpunished. He must be just, that is his nature. Every man will be held accountable for any act of disobedience against God's law. Now, it is true that by such a standard no one can survive God's wrath. We are all guilty of doing and thinking wrong things. However, God is not only a just God, He is a gracious and merciful God, too. So He provides a way that we can escape this judgment by allowing that Jesus takes our punishment for us. Jesus is like the close relative who sees you have a debt you cannot pay, so He pays the debt instead of you. Once your debt is paid, you are considered clean before God and can now have fellowship with Him. God maintains his righteousness and justice while still showing His grace and mercy. See John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. God's wrath remains on them unless it is removed through Jesus. Condition 1 The one whose walk is blameless The word blameless can be translated as without blemish, complete, perfect or whole. We often compound 1 sin with another by lying about it or hiding it. We feel guilty so hide from God like Adam and Eve did. Instead of seeking God's forgiveness they blamed someone else; Eve blamed the serpent; and Adam blamed Eve and God. God doesn't just want the bits we are willing to share with Him, He wants all of us, the complete package. In fact, the only way we can stay complete and blameless, is to bring it all to Him. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. 22 But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. Colossians 1:21-22 The Message Condition 2 who does what is righteous, and speaks the truth from their heart; The chief priests asked Jesus who gave Him the authority to do the things He was doing. Jesus asked them whose authority John the baptist had. They chose to say they didn't know, rather than replying honestly. So Jesus refused to answer their question. If you are not prepared to be honest with God - don't expect him to talk to you either. Luke 20:1-8 Condition 3 whose tongue utters no slander Condition 4 who does no wrong to a neighbour As Jesus said in Mark 12:31, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' Condition 5 and casts no slur on others Watch that tongue - it's evil! Condition 6 who holds the wicked in disdain In Psalm 1 we saw a progression from walking alongside sinners, to following their way and then to leading others astray.  We should hold the wicked in disdain, look down on their actions not be envious or even interested in what they are doing. Condition 7 but honours those who fear the Lord And conversely, we should honour and look up to and follow the example of the people who fear the Lord, the Blessed man who choses God's law. Condition 8 who keeps an oath come what may, and does not change their mind; In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites had heard how Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai so they planned to trick Israel. They showed up with worn out shoes and mouldy bread and said they were from a distant country and wanted to make a treaty of peace with the Israelites. 3 days later, Joshua found out they were close neighbours, living in the land that God had given them, commanding them to wipe out all its inhabitants. BUT, they had to keep their side of the bargain even if they had been deceived, even if a lawyer could find in favour of the Israelites. They had given their word, and come what may, they had to show integrity and not change their minds. “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. 20 This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.” Keeping a promise is important to God as we see later, in 2 Samuel 21:1, when the Israelites are punished by God because King Saul had broken this oath. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death. Condition 9 who lends money to the poor without interest This condition relates back to the command in Exodus 22:25. "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest."  Look after your family and tribe freely, don't make money from their problems. Maybe Wonga needs to read this and start thinking of it's customers as family, which indeed we all are, we are all descendants of Adam and Eve and Noah.  Maybe then, they wouldn't charge 5853% interest, which is quite frankly obsence. Condition 10 who does not accept a bribe against the innocent As God is a just god, he expects his people to act in a just manner also. Conclusion Whoever does these things will never be shaken. Like the tree, solid and able to withstand the storms.