Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Greetings…

The theme for the last several Sunday evening sermons has been “Lessons From The Psalms.”

With the hope of drawing closer to God by examining the powerful emotions behind much of our worship.

Tonight we will be focusing on a small but powerful psalm, Psalm 15.

This psalm is said to be written by David and it is thought by many that it was after Uzzah touched the ark and David was perplexed as to how to get the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, for proper worship.

David was confused and angry at what took place.

You can almost hear David’s prayer to God upon hearing of Uzzah’s death…

Tent i.e., tabernacle and holy hill are symbolism of the house of God and God’s house is always a house of worship.

Let’s begin our lesson tonight looking closer at…

The Questions

Who Shall Sojourn In Your Tent?

At first glance it appear that these questions are similar but upon a bit of a closer look we can see that they are not.

Let’s take a closer look at David’s first question…

Psalm 15:1 (ESV)

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?

Some translations have, instead of sojourn, “abide” “reside” and “dwell.”

The Hebrew word here means, “to stay as a temporary resident” i.e., a guest.

Who will the LORD allow to be a guest in his tent or tabernacle?

In other words, or maybe an easier way of asking the question might be…

Who will the LORD invite as a guest into his home?

There is no doubt that God has been “inviting humanity” to his home since the beginning.

However, sin had kept that from happening which is why God’s word spends a significant amount of time discussing how much “God has called us to him.”

Unfortunately, more often than not mankind ignores that call or invitation.

Matthew 22:14 (ESV)

14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

David then asks another question…

Who Shall Dwell On Your Hill?

Again, at first glance these appear the same question but they are not.

In the first question David asked “who will the LORD invite into his home in his second question he asks…

Psalm 15:1 (ESV)

1 Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

In this second question David is asking “who will you allow to live with you in your home.”

There is a difference between being a “guest” in a home and “living” in that home.

One is temporary the other is permanent.

David wants to know “how can we get invited to your “house” and once there “how can we become a resident.

Summary

So, David is asking who do you invite to worship you and what worship allows them to stay indefinitely worshiping you “night and day.”

As we have said before, God never leaves a doctrinal question unanswered.

We see in the four verses…

The Answer

One Who Walks Blamelessly.

The word blameless here means to “meet fully or completely the requirements of God’s law.”

Deuteronomy 32:4 (ESV)

4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Deuteronomy 18:13 (ESV)

13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God

This reality is further bolstered by the next statement in Psalm 15:2…

Psalm 15:2 (ESV)

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right…

Now, for any child of God this isn’t a surprise as God has always required such.

As we just read earlier God told the Israelites, before going into the promised land, “You shall be blameless before the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 18:13).

Now under the Old Law, there was only one way to actually be invited to worship God and stay forever and that was through actual perfection under the Old Law, however God made provisions by forgiving sins under the Old Law based on Jesus’ blood, which would go “back wards and forwards” (Hebrews 10:10).

As those under the “new law” the “Law of Christ” we are told the same thing.

And just like for those under the Old Law we only can be this way through Jesus.

Jude 24 (ESV)

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy

Thanks be to God that Jesus’ blood keeps us blameless and upright as we walk in the light of God’s word (1 John 1:7).

But to “walk blamelessly” one must have…

Truth In His Heart.

The heart is the most vital part of every person’s spiritual walk.

There is no one found blameless through the blood of Christ, if their heart is not right first ,which is why God responds to David’s questions with the answer he does in verse two.

Psalm 15:2 (ESV)

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart

God has always been clear, where the heart lies there is where our treasure i.e., true wants and desires lie.

This is why we cannot worship God properly i.e., blamelessly and righteously without the heart.

Matthew 15:8 (ESV)

8 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me

With the heart playing such a vital role it’s no wonder God said a “true worshiper” will speak truth in his heart.”

A true or truth seeking and living worshiper of God will be one…

Psalm 15:3–5 (ESV)

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…

Summary

What this tells us is that, though not all life is worship, how we live our life will effect how we worship our God.

If we go about are daily life not caring for truth’s impact on how we treat other and live our life we will not worship God who is truth biblically.

Conclusion

So, before we begin worshiping our God either on a personal level or collective level we need to make certain we are have been living blamelessly in our day to day life.

In other words, that we don’t have a past that is keeping us from worshiping in the present.

Invitation