Who May Dwell in Your Holy Hill?
Psalm 15
Feast of All Saints, 2003
Edgar Allan Poe sets "The Masque of the Red Death" inside a castle-like abbey. Prince Prospero rules a land ravaged by the plague. Once the countryside is nearly depopulated he decides to host a party for the healthy and wealthy. Only one thousand of the Prince's closest friends are invited to celebrate their survival of the plague. While people expire from the contagion outside, the guests will eat, drink, and make merry inside. Poe writes, "The Prince had provided all the appliances of pleasure. There were buffoons, there were improvisatori, there were ballet dancers, there were musicians, there was Beauty, there was wine. All these and security were within. Without was the "Red Death." A strong and lofty wall guaranteed that nobody would enter or leave the party. These conditions were to remain until the plague passed.
The guests arrived in their party costumes. The abbey consisted of seven large rooms. Room number one was lit up in blue; room number two completely in purple; room three green, the next orange, then a white room, a violet, and the last one was draped in pitch black, and illuminated by rays of blood red light. The participants mostly avoided that room as they danced and drank away the night. Then, towards the wee hours, unexpectedly, a tall figure appeared masked as the "Red Death." Who let in this character? Outraged, the Prince chased the uninvited guest with drawn dagger. Many of you know the ending. It is not a happy one. The point is this: Prince Prospero's party was a privileged affair. People were more than eager to be a part of it.
The Psalm for this feast of All Saints begins with two questions: "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?" (Psalm 15:1). The questions assume that entering the temple to worship the Lord is a great privilege. People want to do it. The Psalms always communicate this strong desire to worship at the holy hill of Zion. The qualifications for entry are high but the joy is higher. C.S. Lewis gets the sense of it: "I want to stress what I think that we (or at least I) need more; the joy and delight in God which meet us in the Psalms These poets knew far less reason than we for loving God. They did not know that He offered them eternal joy; still less that He would die to win it for them. Yet they express a longing for Him, for His mere presence, which comes only to the best Christians or to Christians in their best moments. They long to live all their days in the Temple so that they may constantly see "the fair beauty of the Lord" ((27:4). Their longing to go up to Jerusalem and "appear before the presence of God" is like a physical thirst (Psalm 42:1). Lacking that encounter with Him, their souls are parched like a waterless countryside (Psalm 63:2). They crave to be "satisfied with the pleasures" of His house (Psalm 65:4). Only there can they be at ease, like a bird in the nest (Psalm 84:3). One day of those "pleasures" is better than a lifetime spent elsewhere (Psalm 10)." [Close quote. C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms. Pp. 50-51.]
So, first of all, we see in Psalm 15 this excellent eagerness for God, this thirst for an encounter with the Creator. Secondly, once we acquire this appetite for meeting God some preparation goes into that encounter. Psalm 15 responds to the two questions: "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?" Who may dwell in Your holy hill?" What is the answer? Ten answers are given; Ten Commandments if you will; ten qualifications to enter God's temple and join in His worship. On this feast of All Saints it is fitting that we analyze these ten demands. Our worship is heavenly. It takes place in the presence of saints, angels and the Lord God Himself (Hebrews 11:22). This is a great privilege. What are the requirements for coming before the Lord? Let us delve into them.
The first is, "He who walks uprightly." What does walk uprightly mean? A dirt path ran beside my house in rural Paraguay. It led to the forest and a river. The women would pass by on their errands of wood-gathering, washing clothes, and hauling water. Frequently the ladies carried their burdens on top of their heads: a stack of firewood, a bundle of clothes, or a pot of water. I never saw anyone spill their load. They walked perfectly perpendicular. They were good. To walk uprightly means to act in honesty and integrity. The Hebrew word is related to righteousness. Who may abide in God's tabernacle? The righteous may.
That leads us to the second demand in verse two. It says that the one who "works righteousness" may dwell on God's holy hill. This has to do with good works. How does my faith prove itself a living faith and not a dead faith? By good works. According to John the Baptist, trees that bear no fruit are chopped down and thrown into the fire. We heard over and again this week how dangerous dead wood is. Bark beetles have sucked the life out of the pines in the San Bernardino Mountains. After this week's holocaust, everyone agrees they should be cleared away. The believer devoid of good works is like one of those dried up pines.
What is the next demand for the man who would enter God's sanctuary? "He speaks truth in his heart." This means that the saints of God avoid telling lies out loud, and even in their thoughts. Of all the ten demands this may be the hardest. They know that God is omniscient. He hears all the deceptions, white lies, evasions, justifications, and exaggerations that percolate in the mind. The believer who speaks truth in his heart strives to halt lying thoughts.
What is the fourth demand to those who would enter God's house? According to Psalm 15:3 they do not "backbite with their tongue." The commentators tell us that the root of the word backbite is the same as the word spy. The phrase here may point to persons who sneak into houses. The backbiter pries into the secrets of families, and then divulges them, casting things in a bad light. People who do this disqualify themselves for the worship of Christ.
The fifth and sixth requirements go together. "He does no evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend." This has to do with slander, the spread of rumors and gossip. A memorable scene takes place in Emma, the movie and book. Everyone is sitting around sharing a picnic lunch. A large group of neighbors lie on the green grass enjoying the afternoon sun. Seemingly out of nowhere Emma insults an old friend of the family. This older lady had been a selfless helper for years. Later on, the rich and kindhearted Mr. Knightly takes Emma aside and rebukes her for disgracing the poor woman in front of everyone. Mr. Knightly's confrontation is successful. Emma apologizes. It is St. James who likens the tongue to a fire. James 3:5 says, "See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity." Keep that in mind. It is so easy to speak badly of your friends and fellow believers. You might not intend to do them harm, nevertheless, it does damage. Gossip is included here. Gossip is a horrendous habit not to be tolerated.
Let's move on to the seventh and eighth of the ten requirements. Who are qualified to come into the temple? The passage says, "In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord." The verse here implies the ability to read and evaluate the character of others. We honor those who fear the Lord and denounce villains. To treat vile people with mercy may seem like a good policy, but it is wrong. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed the same thing: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). The Bible prohibits us to wink at wickedness, or encourage evildoers in their crimes. Some university professors are assigning to their students the writings of the Unabomber. Ted Kozinsky killed and maimed innocent persons yet some people praise what he did and said. Eminen and the MTV crowd for ruining adolescents are also to be despised. To laud someone when he deserves rebuke is wrong. Yes, we honor those who fear the Lord, but we denounce those who do evil. Dennis Prager is right when he says, "Those who deal mercifully with the wicked will deal wickedly with the merciful."
Requirement number nine is curious: "He who does not put out his money at usury." What is usury? It means lending money with interest. Banks and mortgage companies do this today. The Church's attitude toward usury is a long story. It used to be condemned despite the parable of the minas in Luke 19:11. God convicted the servant who dug a hole in the ground in order to hide his mina. He should have put his mina in the bank so it could earn interest (Luke 19:22). What the Bible denunciates is interest at intolerable rates; a grinding and excessive interest that becomes exploitative.
The tenth and last demand has to do with bribery: "nor does he take a bribe against the innocent." We can be thankful that bribery is relatively controlled in America. Bribery is so pervasive in some nations that they are justly called "cleptocracies," that is, they are ruled by theft and corruption. Once judges, politicians, and policemen routinely demand bribes, the culture is doomed economically and politically.
These are the ten prerequisites for encountering the Lord. The focus is ethical. Are they too plain and mundane. Shouldn't we approach the Lord with lofty emotions, heavenly raptures, and yearnings of ecstasy? Don't we approach the Lord with fasting and ascetic practices? There is a place for those things, but the Psalm leads us to simple obedience. Sometimes the best things in Christianity are not always the most flashy or flamboyant. A few Christians follow the Church that produces the best adrenaline rush, or boasts the most talented worship band, or follows the latest fashion. Psalm 15 tells us that the wisest and most godly things are quite low key and subtle: walking uprightly, telling the truth, practicing humility and responsibility, keeping confidences, treating well the people around you. These things are priceless. God will not receive your worship nor does He want your communion if your life is a moral cesspool. David asks who may worship on God's holy hill? And the answer has to do with ethics. The worshiper must be morally fit. True faith always leads to holy living.
It is important at this point that we correct any misunderstandings. In the history of Christian worship, there have emerged two extremes toward which the worshiper may be tempted to move. On the one hand, there have been times when the holiness of God has been stressed so powerfully, that the ordinary Christian has felt it impossible to approach God in worship or prayer. It is said that a man named Gamaliel would weep when he read this psalm. It made him aware of his personal shortcomings. How could he ever be qualified to worship the Lord? How could God receive such a sinner?
On the other hand, easy and open access to God in prayer has sometimes been so stressed that coming to the Lord becomes a thoughtless and casual matter. This has spawned a chatty, flippant attitude in some churches. Between these two poles, there is a proper median: there is indeed access to the Holy Almighty in worship and prayer, but our access to God must be done carefully, not casually, with appropriate preparation and reverence.
If it were not for grace Psalm 15 would be a big problem for us. Who can walk uprightly at all times and do good works, and speak the truth in his heart? The answer is nobody, but Jesus. He is the only One who perfectly obeyed God's demands; He is the only man who is totally righteous. That is the kind of obedience and righteousness we need in order to enter God's presence. There is good and bad news to this. The bad news is we can never attain it on our own. The good news is that in Christ and by faith we can attain it. When you put your faith in Christ, His obedience becomes your obedience; His righteousness your righteousness. Who may dwell in your holy hill? Who may approach the Lord? Christ, and those who are in Christ by faith and baptism. Members of the visible church realize that they come up to the Lord's holy hill by God's grace alone. Without the wedding-dress of righteousness in Christ Jesus, we have no right to sit at the banquet of communion.
Come now to the feast of the Lord. Examine your actions. Confess your sins. Thank the Lord for His grace. Then resolve to work on the moral precepts of Psalm 15. These are some of the proper preparations for personal communion with the Lord.
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