“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?” (Psalm 15:1)

From those two questions, the psalmist, King David, launched into four verses that read as answering qualifications:

“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 15:2-5)

Uh-oh. These four verses also read as answering condemnations for those who meant to be with God—including me. Because I do not do those things—not all the time, and certainly not perfectly.

My walk is not blameless. I don’t do what is righteous. I don’t speak the truth from my heart. Slander is often on my tongue. I wrong my neighbor and cast slurs on those I don’t agree with. I don’t despise those who are vile, and I don’t show honor to those who fear the LORD.

I often break my promises and don’t keep my oaths—especially when keeping them would be painful. I often change my mind instead of being steadfast and resolute. I don’t lend my time, or my talents, or my money to others without expecting something in return.

As I read through Psalm 15, it becomes painfully clear to me that, sinful as I am, I cannot dwell in the LORD’s sacred tent. I cannot live on his holy mountain.

David knew about himself, too. More importantly, God knew that—about David, and about you and me.

When we get down to the heart of the matter, our sin separates us from God.

His law makes it absolutely clear that we have not kept his ways, holy and blameless. We’ve fallen short of his glory time and time again. We have not loved the LORD our God with all our hearts and minds, and we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.

But Jesus did.

Dear Christian, Jesus’ perfect life, innocent death, and triumphant resurrection was all for us. Jesus did everything perfectly in our place so that we will never be shaken. We may dwell in the LORD’s sacred tent and live on his holy mountain all because of Jesus.

How do we show our thanks for God’s undeserved grace and love poured out on us?

As Christians, we listen to his Word. And as we spend time in our gracious, loving God’s Word, our faith in Jesus is strengthened, and we grow closer to him. That has a profound effect on our lives!

We strive to walk blamelessly and do what is righteous; to speak the truth at all times and utter no slander; to do no harm to our neighbor but to love them as ourselves; to despise those who are vile and honor those who fear the LORD; to keep our oaths and promises, even when it hurts, and not to change our minds; to lend what we have freely and expect nothing in return; to be upright and filled with integrity.

Will we do those things all the time? Of course not. We’re sinful. We struggle against our sinful nature and inclinations every day.

But Jesus did all of those things perfectly for us! There’s nothing left for us to do. We are holy and blameless in God’s sight. God’s love and forgiveness—heaven itself—are already ours. Not because we’ve earned or deserved it, but all because of Jesus.

Now we get to live for him in all we do. Freely and fully forgiven. Dearly loved children of God.

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