Psalms 15:1–2

Psalm 14 gives the character of the wicked who will be cut off, and Psalm 15 gives the character of the remnant who stand. The remnant who are godly in practice will have the blessing when Christ comes.

"Jagur" means "he sojourns," the word used by the Psalmist for "abiding" in God's tabernacle. (Ps. 15:1; Ps. 61:4.) The land of Israel was God's, and they were His guests — "strangers and sojourners with Me," He says. (Lev. 25:23.)

In David's reign the ark stayed in a tent on Zion, but here that is only the veil through which we look forward to the future. The "tent," understood this way, and the thought of sojourning in it, do not mean anything temporary. We must see it as parallel to abiding in God's holy hill. Each expression adds something to the full thought. The grace of the wilderness journey shines out in the first. And God's dwelling among His creatures must in one sense always be only a tent, though the "abiding" takes away the fear that He may leave again after all.

This is the character of the preserved remnant of the Jews. They will share in the blessings of Jehovah's dwelling and Jehovah's government — the "tabernacle" and the "hill" — when the Lord reigns from Zion.

In view of all the wickedness in the world, he wants to know who can have a place with God. Have you ever thought that the fifteenth psalm is one great question mark? It asks a question without really answering it, because it sets the standard so high. But we move on into the sixteenth, and there is the answer — there is the One who will stay in God's tabernacle. Who is it? Is it some mighty king?... No. It is He who once walked here as the lowly Jesus, the man of faith, walking through this world as you and I have to walk through it.

It is a Psalm of David, but its subject is clearly Christ. Jesus alone had the qualities that prove a man is fit for his Maker's presence. He practised righteousness because He was the Just One. He walked in the perfection of His own spotless nature, and He always chose the way of obedience to the Father's will. The master thought in the fool's heart is "there is no God." The delight of Jesus was to do the will of God.

The question here is not about a sinner's right to the kingdom. That would be handled very differently. This is about the remnant, showing themselves to be righteous, in contrast with the evildoers of Psalm 14.

But we must always remember that we have duties to GOD, as well as to our fellow men. More than that: unless we carry out our duties to God, we fail — and we are bound to fail — in our real attitude to our fellow men... Suppose the planets of our solar system agreed to keep in right relation to each other. What use would that be if they ignored the centre of the system, the SUN? Nothing but terrible disaster would come of such an arrangement.

The question is plainly a question of congruity. Let God's grace be all that He has shown it to be, yet He cannot dwell with those who are alien to His nature. Grace itself can only avail to bring us near to God by bringing into His likeness also those it brings near. Thank God that it really does this, and we have now the character of those who are fitted by grace to dwell with Him.

Each of these qualifications is possible only for those who have been born again by the word and Spirit of God. How wonderful it will be when all Israel shows such characteristics! First, it is essential that one walks uprightly and works righteousness, speaking the truth from his heart (v. 2). So his walk, his works and his words are right. This reminds us of 2 Timothy 2:22, where an obedient servant is told to follow "righteousness" first of all.

The first thing is righteousness then, which must be the basis of all else. The second is love, for, as the apostle says, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor."

The man in the Psalm speaks truth in his heart. The cynic who said that honesty was the best policy, because he had tried both policies, was not honest in his heart. He was honest for profit, for he found he could gain more by honesty than by dishonesty. If he could have gained more by dishonesty, dishonest he would have been. To speak truth from the heart is to love truth for truth's sake. And he who has to do with the God of truth will revere truth and speak it from his heart.

We must always remember that we have duties to GOD, as well as to our fellow men. More than that, if we do not carry out our duties to God, we fail — and we are bound to fail — in our real attitude to our fellow men. We might illustrate it like this. Suppose the planets of our solar system agreed to keep in right relation to each other. What use would that be if they left out the centre of the system, the SUN? Nothing but terrific disaster would come of it… It matters little what social background a man is born into. What matters is his relation first of all to GOD. Right with Him, he will be right with his fellow man.

It is a Psalm of David, but its subject is clearly Christ. In Jesus, and in Him alone, were found the qualities which prove man's fitness for his Maker's presence. He worked righteousness because He was the Just One. He walked in the perfection of His own spotless nature. He always chose the way of obedience to the Father's will… The law was within His heart. Truth came only from the lips of Him who is Himself the Truth.

Such things as these are characteristic of those who have been born of God. One who has such character will never be moved. They will abide in God's tabernacle and in His holy hill. This will be true for the godly in Israel during the millennium, and in a higher way still for all believers of the present age, who will enjoy the presence of the Lord for eternity in the place of highest honour.