Monday, July 9, 2012

Who can dwell in Your tent?

Psalm 15 is not good. It is not a nice, sweet song of praise. It is not comforting. Psalm 15 asks an honest question, gives an honest answer. Honestly, we cannot do what the answer requires. "Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken." (Psalm 15:1-5 NIV) Honestly, after reading this I was left with the initial thought "I can't" Immediately after that thought the Holy Spirit stepped in, "Good. You see, if you could do it on your own you would never know Jesus. Me and you would never meet. You can't dwell in the tent of the Lord, oh, but He can dwell in you!" This psalm points out our insufficiency and highlights His all-sufficient power. So instead of reading Psalm 15 and being discouraged I can read it and be joyful, thankful, confident. Even if for one day I could live up to those standards, just one day, I would be living under the Law. My relationship, standing, and justification with the Lord would be based upon my deeds. It would be dependent on me. How far off is that? How could I for one second believe that I could handle that? The creation determines how the creator sees, interacts, and values it? Not in this world. While the requirements in Psalm 15 will never be fully achieved by me I can still hold them as standards to reach for. But in my reaching I can rest easy in the results. When, not if, I fail I do not lose the dwelling of my Lord. Praise be to Him forever on high, even when my lips forget to bring it.