Psalm 15 - Never be shaken

When I was at high school I had a habit of asking lots of questions. It got to the point that one of my teachers limited me to ‘one question per class’. There are times in life when the days drift by and very things really play on our minds. There are other times when each day moves by slowly and we find ourselves thinking about lots of things, and having lots of questions. Sometimes those questions are big questions and troubling questions.

Psalm 15 opens with David asking a question. It’s a question to do with life now, and life beyond this world. David asks the LORD who gets to dwell in His tent and who gets to live on His mountain.

What is David asking here? They key to getting this is to understand that earlier in the Old Testament both the ‘tent’ and the ‘mountain’ were symbols of God’s presence, symbols of where God lived.

One of the big true stories in the Old Testament is the story of how God led His people across the wilderness for 40 years travelling from Egypt to the Promised Land. These were long, lonely years, but God was with his people all the way. In the wilderness He dwelt among them in a special tent (called the Tabernacle) and at key moments He met with His people on special mountains (for example Mount Sinai when He gave them the commandments).

So David is really asking – ‘LORD who gets to live in your presence now, and who gets to live in your presence eternally, when they die?’

It’s a big question. David answers by imagining someone who is ‘blameless’. Here’s the problem, none of us are blameless. So where do we turn? This Psalm like many of the Psalms drives us to seek a Saviour, someone who can rescue us from our sins, and bring us into God’s presence. David’s question and David’s answer points us to Jesus.

Pause for thought: Read the final line in verse 5. How can grasping this Psalm steady us in anxious times?