6.17.18

Summer in the Psalms:  Psalm 15
“Supernatural Power”


Today is Father’s Day – A Father’s Day has been celebrated somewhere around the world since the Middle Ages and found it’s way to America and from the early 1900’s many attempts were made to make it a National Holiday.  In 1966 Lyndon B Johnson made a Presidential Proclamation honoring Fathers and establishing the date to do so as the third Sunday of June.  President Nixon signed the proclamation into law six years later – 1972.


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The Psalm we will contemplate today could easily be termed: “A Father’s Standard!”
Psalm 15 - Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?  Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?  2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.  4 Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.  5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.  Such people will stand firm forever.

What qualifications for worshipping and being in the presence of God!  How are these things even possible?
As a father, I stand before you today, having fallen short in more ways than I would care to admit.  This standard set forth by David in Psalm 15 seems impossible and I want to illustrate the incredible power of God to empower one to meet this standard.  The first step is to acknowledge our sinfulness and absolute inability to atone for it. 

From the beginning of time, mankind has proven imperfection as the inevitable standard of life.

Adam & Eve had literally a perfect life.  One mistake, one misjudgment, one slip and perfection was gone forever – not just for them, but all of mankind.

Abraham, the man whom God picked to be the Father of the nation of Israel tried to “help” God fulfill His promise by having a child by another woman, also struggled with “half-truths (lies).” When concerned about his own safety he lied about his drop-dead gorgeous wife and said she was his sister.

Isaac, like his father, afraid for his life because off his drop-dead gorgeous wife, also lied and said she was his sister.

Moses, both a coward and a murderer was chosen by God to be the instrument of deliverance for the enslaved Israelites, also struggled with his temper.

Samson, the strongest man that ever lived, was exceptionally stubborn and arrogant, not to mention full of lust and sinfulness.   

Jacob, was a pathological deceiver and con artist.  His victims?  His brother and his father-in-law!

Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest man that ever lived, even though he was clearly warned by God who not to marry, was simply addicted to pleasure and amassed over 1000 potential partners for intimacy.

The Prophets, were mouthpieces for God, but struggled with self-pity, impurity, stubbornness and unfaithful spouses.

Peter, willful and stubborn, denied he even knew Christ after hanging out with Jesus for 3 years!

David, a man after God’s own heart, committed both adultery and murder during His Kingship. 

And after those incredible missteps, he has the gall to write the words found in our Psalm for today?  How is this possible?
Human beings are simply going to fall short of God’s standard and they will break His laws and they will sin.

Moses, while on the mountain in the presence of God was given two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant between God and man written by the very finger of God Himself.  Even during this incredible exchange between God and Moses, the people of Israel became impatient and created idols and began to worship them.  God told him about this travesty and told him to return quickly.  When he arrived back among the people from his time in the presence of God, he found the people of Israel, completely sidetracked by their impatience and worshiping idols. 

Moses response?  He threw the tablets of stone smashing them into powder.  God’s laws had already been broken even before the received them!  What a powerful illustration of man’s sinful nature.

Moses returns to the mountain carrying some new tablets.  God once again wrote the terms of the covenant on these stone tablets – the ten commandments.  When Moses returned, his face was radiant because He had been in God’s presence.  The new stones where place in an ark of wood, made to God’s own specifications.   Moses was given specific instructions for building the ark and for building the tabernacle in which it was to be kept.

John 1:14 tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt, lived – literally tabernacle among us…  Every specification given in the Old Testament from the sacrifices necessary to atone for man’s sin to the construction of the temple where the Ark of the Covenant was housed, pointed us to Jesus Christ who was to become the ultimate (one and done) sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.

Psalm 15 - Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?  Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?  2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. 3 Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.  4 Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.  5 Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.  Such people will stand firm forever.

Those who lead blameless lives?  Didn’t we just read a “who’s who” list of Biblical figures who couldn’t get the blameless thing right?  Doesn’t “blamelessness” go out the window with one mistake?  How can we even enter the presence of God?

There is only one way.  When we worship the Lord, we come through the Lord Jesus Christ!  It is the power of God applied to our lives that allows us to accomplish the list given by former adulterer and murder, King David.  It is the new creation we have become that allows us to stand firm forever in continuous worship of God.  We will fail.  We will make mistakes.  But that does not disqualify us from our Sonship nor from our worthiness to worship God and stand in His holy place.

Adam & Eve the sinners with a poor sense of judgement?  Well, they became parents and one of their sons killed the other.  Imagine their grief – the land of regrets??? If only we wouldn’t have eaten the apple!  But they had another son, Seth and when he grew up he had a son named Enosh and upon that birth, man began to worship the Lord by name.

Abraham, the man who tried to help God fulfill His promise to him by circumventing God’s process, did indeed become the father of the nation of Israel and was a faithful, godly and humble man.

Isaac, the man who, like his father, lied about his wife being his sister, was submissive to God, spent time in quiet meditation, trusted in God, demonstrated great devotion to God as well as became a faithful worshipper of God.

Moses, the coward and murderer, spent time with God, received the ten commandments and led His people through incredible hardships.

Samson, the strong man who consistently exercised poor judgement with his female relationships was used by God to fulfill His purposes.

Jacob, the liar and con-artist, sought God and wrestled God.  When he finally began to trust God fully, God changed his name to Israel – God’s covenant name for His people.  The name Jacob represents independence from God and the name Israel represents dependence on God.

Solomon, wealthy, wise, but lustful Solomon left us with wisdom given to him by God, written down forever for our good in a collection we know as The Proverbs.

The Prophets, temperamental and often exhibiting a “woe is me” attitude, spoke truths about God, for God and about the life and times of one “Son of God” Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Peter, the denier, became one of the greatest leaders in the early church, preaching effective gospel messages after which many chose to become Christ followers – gave His life for the sake of the message of Jesus Christ.

David, murderer, adulterer and moper – left us the incredible book of Psalms, complete with our text for today.  Forgiven by God and used by God.

You my friends can worship in the Holy Place and stand in the presence of God because you have been made new.  As we’ve seen in the lives of Biblical figures, mistakes and sins do not disqualify you.  Instead it qualifies you to be the recipient of God’s Grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Today, let us stand on the promise of God that He will make all things new.

Revelation 21:1-7 (NLT) – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them] 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”  5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.”

​So, Child of God – come and worship Christ the Lord!
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