← ArchivePsalmsPsalms – Who Can be a Guest of the Lord? (Psalm 15:1-5)DateJuly 3, 2022SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextPsalms 15:1–5Passages in this sermonPsalms 11:54Psalms 232:19Psalms 222:32Psalms 1392:43Psalms 152:51Psalms 242:56John 1416:19TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Well, welcome to church. I want to remind you that we really aren't Bethel Baptist Church.0:29We are the church that gathers, that happens to gather at Bethel Baptist. And we gather because of the gospel. And if you've been around longer than a month, the gospel is simply this. Jesus in our place. At our new members lunch last month, one of our students was there and we asked him to share the gospel. And he said, well, the gospel is this. Jesus in our place. I said, yes. He gets it. But we need to hear that daily, don't we?0:59Because it's not us working for anything. It's not us earning grace or earning righteousness. It is Jesus who took our place to take our sins and give us righteousness that we don't deserve. If you are new here, welcome. We have new families and new individuals every week and you are our guest. You're not sitting in someone's seat. So we want to welcome you where you are. If you are new here, help us pray for you this week.1:26And use the green connect card in the pew or online. You can connect with us. And one of our pastors will follow up with you personally this week to encourage and pray for you. That is our gift to you. We continue our summer jaunt through the Psalms and we're looking at different genres. So we're not looking in chronological order, but we're going back and forth. And when I ask you to mention your favorite psalm, you might think of Psalm 1, right?1:54Blessed is the man who does not walk, sit, or stand in the counsel of ungodly people, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree planted by streams of flourishing water that he will bear his fruit in the season and his leaf will never wither. Or maybe you love Psalm 23, this beautiful picture of God as our shepherd, right?2:19That he prepares a table in the presence of your enemies and your cup runs over. Maybe you think of Psalm 22, Jesus praying that psalm on the cross. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some of you think about Psalm 139 or 138 or maybe 119, the longest chapter in the Bible.2:43But today I'm going to read a forgotten psalm, Psalm 15. You might know the words not because of Psalm 15, but because of Psalm 24, which asks a very important and vital question for our worship gatherings. I learned recently that asking the right question is important to receive the right answers.3:09Some of you have already learned that in your life. I came back from kids camp. Well, I went to kids camp last week with kids and one of those children was my son. And within the first hour of the camp, he fell on his elbow and hurt his arm. And the loving dad in me, when he came to me, he said, Dad, my arms hurt. I said, suck it up, son, go play. In Jesus' name, right?3:39Rub some dirt on it. That's what fixed me. So 24 hours later, he's still favoring his elbow. So I come here and preach on Sunday. I go back and I call urgent care. I get an appointment. One good thing about COVID is now you can make an appointment. And they text you and say, can you arrive in 10 minutes? Yes, I can. So we get there and the professional, the medical professional comes in and asks my son,4:05we see your paperwork, does your elbow hurt? Very important question for the reasoning behind our visit. Okay, are you tracking with me? He hurt his arm. And his response is, no, my elbow doesn't hurt. The nurse practitioner looks at me and I look at him and said, what? So I stopped her and I said, I know him. He's mine. I said, for the next 30 minutes, Eli, your elbow is defined as your shoulder to your wrist.4:35I said, does your arm hurt? He said, oh yeah, it hurts right here. Because in his mind, it wasn't his elbow that was hurt. It was his upper arm. And I learned in that moment, if you don't ask the right questions, you will not receive the right answer. So I asked myself, do we ask the right questions when we come into the presence of God?5:05You see, Psalm 15 is a liturgical psalm. It's a call to worship and it asks a very important question. And it says, who can enter into the presence of God? I think that's a question we've lost today. I never hear that question when I invite someone to church. When I say, hey, you should come to Bethel. I never have had anyone ask me, well, who can go into the presence of God?5:33Who can ascend into his mountain or dwell in his holy tent? We ask questions like this. How long does the sermon go? Like, none of your business. What style of music do you have? Do you have hymnals or screens? Do you sit in pews or chairs? Do you have a dynamic children's ministry? You might even hear things like, well, what should I wear?6:02Or, hey, will the message make me feel good? Or, what's in it for me? And the psalmist would tell each and every one of us, if those are the questions you are asking, you will never get the right answer because the question's wrong. And thankfully, God never leaves us empty-handed. He gives us the right question.6:32So let's read Psalm 15. The sermon title is simply, Who Can Be a Guest of the Lord? Psalm 15, verse 1. And again, a life hack. If you can't find psalms in your Bible, if you have a physical Bible, just open it halfway, and the psalms is halfway in your scriptures. Depending on how many maps and accordances you have, by the way. Lord, who can dwell in your tents?7:02And who can live on your holy mountain? The one who lives blamelessly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in his heart. Who does not slander with his tongue? Who does not harm his friend or discredit his neighbor? Friend, are you asking the right questions of the Lord today?7:23Let's ask his favor on our lives. Father, as we read your word,7:51we confess as fallen, broken people with finite minds. Lord, we could never grasp anything about your infinite holiness or glory without your spirit opening our hearts. And Lord, that is exactly what you promise you will do. So Lord, as we have opened up your word, opened up our hearts and our minds and our hands to know you more, to experience your love and to enjoy you forever.8:19Father, forgive us when we ask selfish questions. Help us ask the right spiritual questions, Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. When's the last time you truly prepared yourself for worship? Now, think about your routine this morning. Maybe it started early. Maybe you woke up five minutes before church and you were rolling in on two wheels. No matter your routine,8:50did you wake up and ask yourself, can I? Not can I make it to church, but would God allow me into his presence today? What a terrifying question to ask. You see, the psalmist is not asking about identity. He's not saying, can Josh enter into the presence? Can Larry or can Susie? He's asking what kind of person.9:19And he's not asking denominational affiliation. He's not asking, well, can Baptists enter into the presence of God? Because if that were what he was asking, I would wonder some days. Can Presbyterians or... He's not asking that. He is asking God, what kind of person does it take to even enter into the presence of a holy, perfect, blameless God?9:46If we ask that question, I think it would change the way that we worship. Now, there are two extremes that we should avoid. I think sometimes when we think about the presence and the holiness of God, some of us emphasize God's holiness to the degree where you don't feel like it is ever possible for you to enter into God's presence.10:15And that affects the way you worship. Even today, you walk in thinking, the ceiling's about to cave in because God is so holy, He is waiting to zap me with an eternal wrath. And if we overemphasize the holiness of God, then He never becomes approachable. And the psalmist doesn't have that view of the sovereign Lord.10:44I think there's another extreme, though. We can overemphasize the approachability of God. We say things like, well, come just as you are. Well, you might want to talk to the psalmist about that. Because the psalmist doesn't say, just show up and say, God, here I am. I'm blessing you today. So we can overemphasize the access to God and we become careless in our worship.11:12Does that make sense? So those are two extremes which are not spiritually beneficial. I think in certain degrees they're sinful and they prevent you from knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. God does not want you to be so careful in your worship that you never approach Him. And God does not want you to be so careless in your worship that you never think about spiritual decisions.11:39So the psalmist asks, who can dwell in your tent? Who can live on your holy mountain? And so he says, in this call to worship, I believe that the Israelites say this when they enter the house of God. When you see Reggie in the front door, he says, who can dwell? Who can live? And we answer him. Right? Verse 2. The one who lives blamelessly.12:10Let's stop there. Before we look at anything else, the fact that we can approach God and enter into His presence, the fact that that's a possibility is cause for us to rejoice. So if we hear nothing else in Scripture, the fact that you and I, that it might be possible for sinful people to enter into the presence of a holy God, we should stand up and say,12:39it's possible. We can do this. God desires us to be with Him. And then the balloon bursts because you have to live blamelessly. You have to practice righteousness and you have to speak truth into your heart. What does that mean? To live blamelessly here in Scripture is not moral perfection. It's the word in the Old Testament13:08used of Noah. Do you remember when God was about to destroy the world, the entire world? Because sin was rampant. So for you who say the world has never been as evil as it is today, one day you're going to have to have a conversation with Noah and he's going to say, you have no idea. Like God destroyed my world because of sin. He has not yet done that to us. And God looked around the whole world13:38and He said, no one was blameless except Noah. And it's said of Noah that he lived blamelessly and righteously before God. Blamelessness is an attitude of heart. So it means that someone desires, they have a heart to follow after the Lord. And that makes complete sense for us because if this is a psalm of David, as history records,14:07we know that David was a man after who? After what? So David knows. He says, you need a heart that follows after God. So friend, can it be said of you today that you have a heart that seeks after God? Who can be a guest in the Lord's house? The one who has a heart for the Lord. But having a heart is not enough,14:37is it? You know, we always say it's a thought that counts. Well, thoughts need action. And the psalmist says, the one who lives blamelessly and practices righteousness. It's literally the one who does what is right. So the first requirement is an inner attitude. The second requirement is a moral aptitude also. It's a doing right. It's a behavior. James,15:07James, the brother of Jesus. Well, it's a half-brother because it's complicated, right? You think that Joseph was both their dads, but really, Jesus was born of a virgin, so his eternal father was his heavenly father. It's complicated. He just says, who was his brother? James says, the one who hears the word and never does it is a broken individual. So we need to be people15:36who not only have a heart for God, but who practice righteousness with our life. I believe this, church. A belief that does not change your behavior is not a belief worth living for. If you say, well, I believe and nothing in your life changes, well, how convictional is that belief? Because belief in Jesus Christ is worth dying for and it's certainly worth living for.16:05So our belief in Christ should change the way that we live. Who can be a guest of the Lord is the one who hears the words of Jesus in John 14. If you love me, he says, you will keep my commands. And if you think that's burdensome, if you think those barriers are difficult, remember the words of the Messiah who says, take my yoke upon you,16:35but don't worry. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. The most freeing posture in the world is to lay your life down to King Jesus. Who can be a guest? The one whose heart is set upon God, the one whose life does what his word says, but there's another qualification, is there not? Who acknowledges truth in his17:05his heart. So the psalmist knows what you and I already know by experience. It's possible for you to have holy desires and not practice what you believe. Isn't that not true? This is yes. This is no. That's true. It's possible also for you to on the outside practice good but not have the heart that undergirds17:35that undergirds the practice. The Bible would call that being hypocritical. Right? The world thinks you're doing right, you're doing good, but your heart doesn't undergird the convictions of your behavior. So you need to have a heart that seeks after God, behavior that follows after Him, but you need to have the internal fortitude that says, God, I agree with the reason I'm doing this. I heard a funny story recently18:04recently just humor me for a second. It was about an atheist and he was walking through the woods one day and it's interesting that this story frames it as a man because the predominant atheists in society are males. Often Caucasian males. I don't know the answer to that, but that's statistically true. And this particular person was walking through the woods and he18:34and he was admiring all the accidents that macroevolution had created. He said, what majestic trees, what beautiful rivers, and what powerful animals, he said to himself. Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bush and he turned around and found a grizzly bear chasing him. immediately he starts to run but he trips on a root. And he looks up and the grizzly bear is cowering over him. One paw19:05One paw on the ground and the other paw lifted in the air to strike a final death blow. And the atheist screams out, oh my God. And time stops. He sees a bright light and a voice shines upon the man. And says this, you deny my existence all these years. You taught others that I do not exist. And you even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you19:35Do you expect me to help you out in this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer? This is what the atheist said. He looked directly into the light and said, I would feel like a hypocrite to become a Christian after all these years. So the man says, I have not acknowledged truth in my heart like the psalmist says must be true of the follower of God. But then the atheist said, well,20:06well, can you make the bear a Christian? Very well, the voice said. The lights went out, the rivers began to run again, time resumed. The bear dropped his right paw and then brought both paws together and prayed this prayer. dear Lord, I thank you for this meal. Bless this meal to my body and my body to your service. Amen. Because the bear was a Baptist deacon, of course. And I20:38And I know that's an acetyl story, but the man acknowledged what this psalm is saying. The man said, I can't call upon you now, God, because I would not be speaking truth in my heart. And I believe that there are people who gather in locations all around the world on a Sunday morning and you espouse God with your mouth, but you've never actually acknowledged what the atheists acknowledge, that God, I don't21:08I don't know you and I can't call upon you now. May that not be your cry. May you say in your heart, God, for the first time, I want to know you. It's not just about desires. Desires should lead to behavior. It's not just about behavior. Behavior should be undergirded by a deep fundamental belief that Jesus is who he says he is. This is the one who can be a guest in21:38guest in the house of the Lord. And maybe you ask, well, what does that look like practically? The better question would be what does that sound like? Because the psalmist lays out for us really what you should do with your mouth to please and honor the Lord. Look at verse 3. He says, the one who does not slander with his tongue, does not harm his friend or discredit his neighbor.22:07his neighbor. These words all speak about the mouth. to slander is the Old Testament word for being a spy. So to slander someone means that you are spying for the enemy. Now we don't think of it like that, do we? We just think, oh, they're talking behind their back. And if we're honest, sometimes we can couch gossip in spiritual language, therefore the gossip isn't22:37gossip isn't gossip, it's just a prayer request. until we examine our hearts and realize, well that person had no business knowing that. When you slander someone with your mouth, you are an instrument for Satan. You are a spy for the darkness. These people have no room or board in the house of God, the psalmist would say. It also says this, the one who does not23:07does not harm his friend or discredit his neighbor. In Hebrew, that is extremely difficult to translate. So translations are around the board. It's most likely, actually, says that they will not bear reproach for their friend or for their neighbor. Which means this, when you see your friend sinning, you do not let his sin continue. Because even the psalmist realizes this, when you have a brother or sister who's doing wrong, it's a lot easier to go23:36easier on that person. We're more likely to discount or allow our friends or our family to sin than we are someone else. It's the reminder that you and I always have an easier time pointing out someone else's sin. It's harder when sin is close to your door, isn't it? And the psalmist says that's not who we are as God fears. We're not going to point out someone else's sin and ignore our own.24:05our own. We're going to use our mouth for righteousness sake. We're going to speak up when we should be speaking up and not remain silent. James, again the brother of Jesus, says if anyone thinks his religion is worthwhile without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless. and I would add in that thumbs. If anyone doesn't control their thumb24:35their thumb on social media or posting things, if this is how we are, if we're slandering behind the scenes, church, our religion is useless. May it never be said of us that we are two-faced or we speak to people when their back is turned. who can be a guest of the Lord? The one who speaks differently. And he continues then.25:04continues then. Verse 4, the one who despises the one rejected by the Lord but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his word. Again, using the mouth, the one who keeps his word no matter the cost. The one who loves differently for Jesus despises the things that God despises. Church, it is okay to hate abortion because God hates death.25:33hates death. He is the author of life, not death. It is okay. I actually would urge you that we should despise the things that God despises because as we grow in righteousness, two things happen. We love the things that God loves and we hate the things that God hates. and those increase in equal measure. Have you ever wondered why when you mature in faith you26:03faith you feel like even worse of a sinner? Am I the only one like that? I feel like sometimes the more I mature in my faith, the worse I see my sin. You know why that happens? Because that's the Spirit's work. As we see ourselves as God sees us, we see our sin as God sees sin and the darker our sin becomes, the more beautiful Jesus becomes. And the psalmist is saying we should begin to savor that which26:32that which God savors. Experts would tell you the way to refine your palate, the reason some of you don't like escargot or jambalaya or crawfish or boiled okra is because you have unrefined palates. You don't have to eat boiled okra. It just slides down. You don't have to27:02have to taste it. But experts would say the way that you refine your palate is that you take time to eat and you savor every bite. Church, do you know how you grow in righteousness? Spend time with Jesus and savor every mercy that he gives you. And we begin to become people who hate the things that God hates and27:31hates and loves the things that God loves. This person can dwell with God. What else? Look at verse 5. He says, also the person that does not lend, his silver at interest. Now some of you are thinking, oh no, I have a mortgage and it has interest. I have a credit card and it has interest. I have debt and there are interest payments on the debt. Some of you are bankers and you're thinking, I'm going28:01I'm going to have to change careers. This in the ancient time was much more usury than current lending practices. Now I would say this, if you are in the usury business and you are charging exorbitant amounts of interest for those who are poor and needy, that is not a business for a Christian. It's not. We can't take advantage of the disadvantage and expect Jesus to honor our lives. The word28:31The word to lend silver means to lend with a bite. It's like a brother or sister or friend coming to you and eating bread and you say, I'll give it to you in one hand but I'm going to bite the other hand. It's the phrase, never bite the hand that feeds you. When we charge high cost to help those in need, there's a difficult, difficult cost to pay. Which is29:01Which is why the standing policy in our home is that we don't give loans to people. We would rather give with no strings attached and not expect anything back. Because I don't want to be someone who lends with interest. This is not talking about sound commercial practices. These are people who are taking advantage of the needy and God says, my people will not take advantage of the disadvantaged. That's not who we are. Don't29:32Don't bite people when they are in the dirt and in need. But it's interesting, I think that the Bible ties worship and generosity. If I told you to make a list of ten things that we need before we can go into the presence of God, probably lending practices were not in that top ten. But notice what Jesus does. Do you remember when he enters into the temple and he sees these rich30:01these rich men throwing coins into the brazen altar basin, the collection basin that was metal and they're probably throwing it really high so when it comes down it makes a loud noise. And they're giving a lot of money but they're making a show out of what they're giving. And then this poor widow walks by and she gives really the small denomination that the ancient world had to offer a mite. Jesus30:33Jesus sees those two extremes and do you remember what he says about the widow? He said there's much joy in her life because she gave out of her abundance. She gave with all that she had. You see there's a connection to our generosity and our worship. And it's a reminder as Jesus says this poor widow has put in more than all of them if you are waiting until you have enough31:03have enough to give to the Lord you will never be generous. If you're here and you say God I will give when I have this amount when you get that amount you're going to say God I'll be more generous when I have this amount generosity is not the privilege of the rich. Generosity is the privilege of the Christian. And this widow gave more than anyone else not in31:32not in denomination but she gave with her heart. Church there is a direct correlation between your heart and your giving. Oh would we be a generous people. and what began with a question in this psalm now ends with a promise. Look at verse 5. The one who does not lend with a bite or take a bribe against the innocent but the one who does these things will never be32:02be shaken. Will never be shaken. To be shaken is to walk on ground that is unlevel. To never have traction. It's a reminder that I'm walking around but I'm waiting for the ground to tumble underneath me. And I believe that some of you have walked in like this. Some of you have walked in because this week you've lost a brother or a sister or a mom or a child and your world32:32world has been rocked. You're in danger of losing a relationship or a marriage or you've been fighting at home and you're doing your best to hold everything together and you walk in thinking I just need an encouraging word. David says the one who trusts in God will never be shaken. Is this not the model for our worship? I believe33:02I believe that when we enter the presence of Yahweh with questions through the Holy Spirit's work we always leave here with more promises than questions. we always leave here thinking God look at what you've done. God look at what you promise us even though my world falls apart you remind me that my life will not fall apart because Jesus died for me and we can hold on to that and we can33:31can live through that so we end today with where we began Lord who can dwell in your tent who can live on your holy mountain who can do that you can because Jesus died that's the gospel the gospel is men and women coming to God and saying God who can come into your presence and God saying really no one can34:01can that's why Jesus made a way because there's not a blameless person in this audience is there there's not a blameless person watching online and if the measure of the right worshiper is blamelessness moral perfection what hope do we have but Jesus took your place and Jesus died a perfect34:31perfect sinless man and this is what happens when you give your life to Jesus Christ he gives you his moral righteousness and he takes your sin so when God looks at Jesus he sees a guilty sinner and when he looks at you he sees a perfect righteous person that's the gospel who can dwell in the presence of the Lord who can descend into his holy mountain only Jesus church35:00church faith makes the difference if you've given your life to Christ when you hear this question who who you should be able to raise your hand and say God I can I can because Jesus took my place and by faith I received the free gift of salvation if you've never done that come to Jesus today ask35:28ask him to forgive your sins believe upon the name of the Lord and the promise is that you will be saved and if you've never done that you can pray a prayer like this God I know I'm not blameless God I'm guilty but you sent your son Jesus to die for me I believe he lived a sinless life I believe he died35:58died on the cross I believe he rose again and Lord I believe what your word says that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved would you give your life to Christ today would you find what most people in this place have found that if you put your hope and your trust in Jesus church who can go into the presence of the Lord I can who can ascend into his holy mountain because36:27because of Jesus I can what a glorious thought that one day we will go into his presence with boldness because of Jesus Christ thank God for a perfect Savior thank God that what began with a question ends with a promise because there is a perfect risen Messiah for36:57for you and for me that's why we live differently that's why we worship differently church that's why we live differently because of Jesus - Father.← Previous in PsalmsPsalms – When Kings Recognize The King (Psalm 21:1-13)Next in Psalms →Psalms – The Joy of His Presence (Psalm 122)More sermons on Psalms →
