If you will take your Bibles and turn to the 15th Psalm. If you do not have your own copy of God's Word, feel free to use those Bibles there provided for you in the back of your pews. But we are in the 15th Psalm. Again, this is a Psalm of David. And as we have been breaking for the last couple of weeks from our journey through the Gospel of Mark, we continue our journey through the songs of wisdom, these psalms of wisdom that teach us how to live well in this sin-fallen world. And you will actually see how this psalm, this 15th psalm, is full of application for our daily lives. Because it's here in Psalm 15 that we are reminded that our God is one who longs for communion and fellowship with His people, but at the same time, longs for His people to be holy as He is holy. And as David ponders these things, he writes, O Lord, who shall sojourn in Your tent? Who shall dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart, who does not slander with his tongue and who does no evil to his neighbor. nor takes up a reproach against his friend, and 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, who does not put out his money at interest, and who does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved." The prophet Isaiah reminds us that the grass wither and the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever and ever. A couple of years ago, the Pew Research Center released a major study entitled Religion in the Everyday Life. And as I was reading it a couple of years ago, I thought it was pretty shocking because There's a large percentage of Christians who, quite frankly, does not know what it means to be a Christian. Think about some of these statistics as I read them. Buckle your belt because, again, they're pretty shocking. They asked all across the nation if it was an essential part To know God and to believe in God, to be a Christian, what would you think the percentage of those who affirm that would be? Well, I thought it would be 100, and yet it's 86. They asked self-identifying Christians how important it was to pray regularly. Again, I was expecting 100%, and yet it was 63. How about reading the word of God? Expect 100%, right? And yet it was 42. What about attending public worship services at your church? Again, I was really hoping for 100%, and yet it was 35. How about observing the Lord's Day? Again, really rooting for 100%, but it was a low 18. I hope that's as shocking to you as it was to me, because, you know, so often we like to complain about how our culture is so distorted and so against the ways of God. And yet these statistics show us that oftentimes there's a bad problem even within the membership of the church. And what these statistics illustrate to us is how important it is to really know God. to know what He commands of you, to know what He demands from you as His children, as His people. To know what it means to have real relationship and fellowship with Him. And of course, that means that you will be the person that is described for us here in verses 2-5. And yet, what has happened within the life of the church and modern day evangelicalism, is that we have a major wave, a major influx of nominal Christianity. Nominal Christianity, I think, is simply put by knowing of God. And yet our Bibles tell us that we must know God. I hope you see the difference there. We can know of something. We can know of someone and yet to really know them, means that we have an intimate relationship with them. I used the illustration a number of weeks ago on Sunday evening as we were beginning our journey through Genesis 1-3 talking about Christian identity and purpose. And I said that one of the real ways that you really can show that you know someone personally and intimately is that if you can describe them. And so I used the example of my wife Beth. I use the example of my wife, Beth, because I can tell you a lot about her. I can tell you what she looks like. I can tell you what kind of clothes she likes to wear. I can tell you what kind of food she likes to eat. I can tell you what kind of food she doesn't like to eat. I can tell you what her husband does to make her happy. And I really can tell you what her husband does to frustrate her and to make her mad. I can tell you all sorts of things about her, her family, her upbringing, her likes and dislikes, her hobbies, her interests. And that shows to you, that proves to you that I really do deeply know her, not just know of her. And in the Christian faith, if we are to be the people that we will explore here in just a moment in verses 2 through 5, we are to be a people who are not just nominal in our religion, but we are a people who are called to be real, personal followers of Jesus Christ. And so when we look at the 15th Psalm, the 15th Psalm is teaching us how to live in fellowship with God. And it does so in terms of describing the lifestyle of those who are in fellowship with Him. Notice that this isn't a psalm about the basis or cause or reason for our salvation. No. This is a psalm that's describing the Holy Spirit's work, the Holy Spirit's effect within the life of the believer. Because the way that this is explained, the way that this psalm is structured, it reminds you of first, our unworthiness to dwell with the Lord, and yet, the promise, the assurance of our faith as we cling to Him and love Him and obey Him and His commands. And ultimately, we need to just say right out of the gate that this psalm points us to Christ. Because if you're anything like me, when we read verses two through five, it is much like the 10 commandments. We see how often and how grossly we fail. And it points us to Jesus who does not fail, who actually obeys the law perfectly, who actually is the epitome of what is described before us here in verses two through five. But it also encourages us to know that if our Christ lived in such a way. He can create in us a new heart that strives to live in such a way that that enables us to live in such a way to the glory of his name. So there's really three main points. And please know I am aware of the time. But as we journey into this psalm, I want us to look back to first one, where we're looking for our answer, because here it is that the psalmist David asked us two questions, two questions that really have the same answer. Oh Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? If we move back to that Pew Research study, we can notice how practical living is connected with knowing God. If we really are to know God, if we really are to claim that it is of the utmost importance to believe in God, to know Him personally and intimately, to cling to Him in faith, it pushes us to understand that that is going to impact the way that we live. You see, it's not surprising that if only 86% of people believe that it's essential to believe in God, to know Him, to be a Christian, it's really not that surprising to realize that only 18% are going to understand what it means to observe the Lord's Day, to keep the Sabbath day holy and blameless before the Lord. See, we need buy-in at the front end. We need to understand that the first and the utmost important thing for the life of the Christian is to know God. And if we know Him, it will change the way that we live this life. Now, one of the things that you would have noticed if we were journeying through the book of Psalms in chronological order is that is that Psalm 15 stands in drastic contrast to Psalm 14. If you have your Bibles open, and I hope you do, look back at verse 1 of Psalm 14. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. And so the psalmist, David, in Psalm 14 and in Psalm 15, the psalmist compares for us in these two psalms the fool and the wise man. The fool dismisses God. But here in Psalm 15, the wise and the faithful desires God. And you see that desire, don't you? With who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell with you in your holy hill? You know, here it is that we need to understand that the language being used in verse 1 of 15 is language that is derived from the story of the Exodus. In the book of Exodus, you remember that God saves His people out of the bondage of slavery against the tyranny of Egypt. And He delivers them into the promised land. And as He is guiding them by the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, the climax of Exodus. And if you know Exodus, there's many remarkable things going on in Exodus. You have bread falling from heaven. You have water sprouting from a rock. the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan River being split, but the climax of Exodus is there at the end. where God tells him to build his tabernacle, to build his place of dwelling, right there in the middle of the camp, and all of the tents of the people are to face towards that tabernacle, to be reminded as they see that tent, that that is where God dwells. Well, David is thinking back to that language, and he's saying, who is worthy, O Lord, to dwell in that place? who is worthy, O Lord, to be there in Your presence in that tent. And of course, in the times of the Old Testament, it was only the great high priest who could enter in. But now, as New Testament Christians, we realize what David is saying in all of his fullness, that we can know God. And if we know God, we can be in the very presence of God through Christ Jesus, our Lord. But we have to understand the desire, that longing that David has to be there in the presence of his almighty God. In high school, I loved to camp out with my friends. I absolutely loved pitching a tent, sleeping on the ground, cooking over a fire. Now my idea of roughing it is a three-star hotel. Why would you want to sleep on the ground in a tent when you could stay at the Holiday Inn Express and you could sleep on a comfortable bed and take a hot shower in the morning and you could go to the greatest of restaurants and eat the greatest of foods? Why in the world would you want to do such a thing? And so when I read David's longing here in verse one, it is resonating with me and saying, even if I have to sleep in a tent, Lord, that's where I want to be because I want to be only in your presence. I long in such a way that I would do whatever it takes to be there with you, to dwell with you, to be with you forever and ever there in your holy hill. It is a longing that shows us David's desire for a deeper fellowship with his God. And so let me ask you, believer, Do you desire fellowship with your God in such a way? Do you desire fellowship with God in such a way that it says, even if I have to sleep on the ground in the tent, that's where I'll be. If that's where you are. If I have to put aside all the cares of the world, if I have to put aside all the riches of the world, Lord, my soul longs after you. Just like we sang, right? As a deer longs for the streams of water, so our soul longs after thee, O God. You know, it's in Psalm 27 that David says, one thing I have asked of the Lord, one thing that I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, is that your prayer? Is that what you're seeking after? To be in the dwelling place of the Lord so that you may gaze upon His beauty and to learn at His feet. It's a looking for answers, but also it's a living out of the affections. Verses 2 through really 5b, if you will. All the way through against the innocent is where we're stopping for this main point. If we are looking for our answers, who can dwell in your tent? David, answers. his question with a proclamation that we must live out our affections. If we are to love God, if we are those people who know God intimately and personally, as we have already said, it will change your life. And this is structured in such a way that it just underlines for us that David is talking about a life that is living only for the glory of God. Actually, you'll see in verses 2, that there are three positive qualities of the Christian life. And then in verse three, there's a mirror of negative qualities of the Christian life. And then in verse four, there's two positives. And in verse five, there's two negatives. And so, so David is comparing and contrast who's the wise man and who is the wicked and foolish man. But if we take math for a second, and I'll be honest with you, they don't teach us math in seminary, but I think we can all do this. Three plus three plus two plus two. Ten, right? David's making a play on the Ten Commandments. He's showing us that within the law of God, there is a wholeness to the Christian life. You know, through the Old Testament, we have like 742 laws. I'm making that number up totally. There is a bunch of laws, hundreds and hundreds of laws that the people of God had to live by, but they were summarized into 10 for the people. And David's making a play on that very thing. He's saying there's a wholeness to God's law that can be found here in the explanation and the application of the Christian life. It's the one who walks blameless. It's the one who does right. It's the one that speaks truth in his heart. Do you realize it's an inward rightness? It's an inward obedience and an outward obedience. To continue on that play on the Old Testament, David draws us to understand that the law of God, the 10 commandments teach us what our duty to God is and what our duty to man is. You remember the 10 commandments were even written on two tablets. The first tablet contained the first four commandments that taught us how we are to live a life that shows our love for God. And then the second tablet contained the last six of the commandments. And it told us how our love for God pours out into our love for neighbor duty to God, duty to neighbor. And so he tells us here. That we are to be people who know God intimately, and if we are to know God intimately, that means that our whole life will be transformed by the power of the gospel, where we'll love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength. and where we'll love our neighbor as ourselves. You know, it's here that, excuse me, it's here that we see the quality, the qualities of those who love God. that their love for God will pour out in their love for each other. And then finally, our third point. Is the last sentence of first five, because if we're looking for answers, David answers and says that we must live out our affections and we must leave with our assurance. He who does these things shall never be moved. Now, if you were to read this psalm, you would think the psalm would end with, he who does these things shall dwell in the tent, shall dwell in the holy hill. But do you notice how God's promise gives to us more than we even expected? In the light of verse one, you think that David would close? If we are to live out our affections, we can be in the very presence of God. And that is a good, and that is a beautiful thing, and yet, not only. Does David promise that if we do these things, if we live out our affections wholly before the Lord, not only do we get to enjoy his presence, but we get to be kept in God's permanent grip. You see, he gives us more. He promises more than we even expected. He who does these things shall never be moved. Now, of course, This is a comparison to the wicked and foolish man. Again, if you have your bibles very quickly, turn with me back to the first song. I want to read it in its entirety. Remember four weeks ago, this is the song, the wisdom song that we first started with. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits at the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree. planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in the season and its leaf does not wither. And all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. If you think about that illustration that's painted for us in the first Psalm, and when you compare it to the last sentence there in verse 5, we shall never be moved. We, as wise people, who delight in the law of the Lord, who takes great delight in obeying the law of the Lord, we will be the tree that bears fruit. We will be the tree that endures. We will be those people of God who stand forever and ever held in the in the hand of God that grips us so tightly that nothing can snatch us away. Do you see how David tells us in Psalm 15 that God is answering our question with a promise that's even more sure, even more everlasting, even more beautiful to us as Christians? Here in the psalm, we begin by wanting to sojourn in the tent. And David concludes by saying that the Lord will give us an assurance of faith that we may be safe in his hand forever and ever. Isn't that the ways of the Lord? That He takes our prayers and He reminds us of promises that are more than we can ever ask or imagine. Thanks be to God. Let us pray together. Father in heaven, we do thank You for Your Word. And we thank You that it's living and breathing and given to us for our good and Your glory. Father, let us be challenged to live wisely among this sin-filled world. Let us be those who are the people of verses two through five who live in obedience to your law, who love you wholly, who love our neighbor sacrificially. And let us be reminded that as we strive to live in this way, we are following the example, the example of Christ Jesus, who lived in this way perfectly. And oh Lord, let us have that assurance that David leaves us with to know that as we strive to live in these ways, as we strive to trust and obey, as we strive to turn our eyes ever upon thee, we pray, oh Lord, that we will be reminded. that we are held in the grip of your hand. And from there we shall never be moved. Let us be those trees. Let us be those children of God that bears fruit and endures for all eternity. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.