Holy Bible

Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Psalm 15 An ideal worshipper A. Maclaren, D. D. The ideal worshipper of Jehovah is painted in this Psalm in a few broad outlines. The tone of the Psalm accords with the circumstances of the time when David brought the ark to Jerusalem. The two main points are: the conception of the guests of Jehovah, and the statement of the ethical qualifications of these. The Psalmist consults the Master of the House as to the terms on which He extends hospitality, which terms it is His right to prescribe. The character of the God determines the character of the worshipper. The roots of ethics are in religion. The Old Testament ideal of the righteous man flows from its revelation of the righteous God. Not men's own fancies, but insight gained by communion with God, and docile inquiry of Him will reliably tell what manner of men they are who can abide in His light. Ver. 2 sums up the qualifications of Jehovah's guest in one comprehensive demand, that he should walk uprightly, and then analyses that requirement into the two of righteous deeds and truthful speech. True, the ideal here is not the full Christian one. It is too merely negative for that, and too entirely concerned with acts. Therein it reproduces the limitation of the earliest revelation.... Usury and bribery were common sins, as they still are in communities on the same industrial and judicial level as that mirrored in the Psalm. The Psalmist, in the last verse, clearly recognises that such a character as he has outlined not only dwells in Jehovah's tent, but will stand unmoved though all the world should rook. Righteousness is the one stable thing in the universe. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) The good citizen F. D. Maurice, M. A. The qualities which are required of one, not who visits the tabernacle merely, but who dwells in it, — not who ascends the hill only, but rests on it, — are those of an ordinary citizen, those without which a man cannot fulfil any of his common duties in the world. Nay, the qualities are chiefly negative. It is not said that he must be brave, magnanimous, ready to sacrifice himself. He is not to be corrupt in his life, not to take reward against the innocent, not to lie. One of the conditions reads as if it were drawn merely from the civil code of the nation. We have talked as if people might be very good in all relations with their neighbours, and yet not be servants of God. They must be something over and above true citizens for this. But the Old Testament books never teach this. They say boldly, "You are not honest and straightforward in your dealings, and so you think God is the same with you. You do not trust Him. You do not confess your sins to Him, nor draw nigh to His holy hill." And has the New Testament altered this? Does it teach another lesson? No doubt there is this, that it teaches more perfectly how we may rise up out of our old evil habits; how God has revealed His righteousness in Christ for the remission of sins. But He has revealed His righteousness, and no unrighteousness call have fellowship with Him. Christ is our help to this righteousness, that we may share His nature. Now, do we agree to this? Then let us rejoice and sing; for Christ has ascended on high, that we might be delivered from our old evil life, and that we might possess a righteous life in Him. But if this is not what we want, if we want a religion that will make us easy and comfortable in the frauds which belong to our different crafts and professions, — if the shopkeeper lifts up his voice loudly in the denunciation of Popery or some unpopular opinion, that he may more securely and with less sense of self-reproach adulterate his goods, and use the false weight and the deceitful balance, which are abominable, — then we ought to be told, one and all of us, that the hill of Sinai, with all its thunders, is not more terrible than the Zion on which God dwells; that the New Testament is not more but less tolerant of such practices than the Old, and that God will appear as a swift witness against our crimes and falsehoods. And this not because we are wanting in some transcendent qualities which men have dreamed of as befitting a Church, but because we have those qualities which are the death of nations. But many look upon the nation and the Church as scarcely compatible, indeed, as mostly the opposites of each other. No doubt that with the theory of some in regard to the Church they are opposites. But a nation is pledged, to maintain a wholesome, practical, manly morality, entirely opposed to that morality of "touch not, taste not, handle not" which a Church such as I have described must by its nature favour, and has always favoured in fact, — a morality consistent with the grossest deviations from common truth and honesty. And I solemnly conjure Protestant assertors of individual holiness to see well to it that by their teaching they are not hindering the great protest against idolatry which is involved in the very existence of a nation; whether they are not substituting certain capricious and artificial maxims for the homely morality of the Bible, and whether thus they may not be preparing their sons for that very system which they most dread. But, on the other hand, I would maintain that a holy Catholic Church, in its truest, widest, deepest sense, does lie beneath the holy and righteous nation; that they are not contraries, but that one is the vestibule to the other; that each is the support of the other; that this Church is no imaginary utopian society, no artificial society, but a real society constituted in Christ our ascended Lord. Thus the ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Father, that He might fill all things, is the meeting point between these two Divine principles, these two human societies. In it we find the consummation of all the expectations and hopes of the old world, that in it we might find the beginning of all that is purest and holiest in the new. ( F. D. Maurice, M. A. ) Who shall abide with God R. Horsfall. ? — Religious people are concerned to know, for their own comfort, whom God will receive at last into His own tabernacle above. I. ABIDING IN GOD'S TABERNACLE. Or, dwelling upon His holy hill. We understand these expressions as meaning God's residence in heaven. Who, then, shall dwell with God in glory everlasting? Let us take heed to our ways, and walk with care and endeavour, by God's grace, to make our calling and selection sure, that so an entrance may be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. II. IN ANSWER TO THIS EARNEST INQUIRY. Those who walk uprightly, and work righteousness, and speak the truth in their hearts. An heir of heaven walks with God as reconciled to Him, and walks uprightly, i.e. sincerely and honestly. If we work righteousness we must have a principle of righteousness implanted in us by the saving grace of God. The expression, "speaking the truth in the heart," is strikingly singular. It shows that people may speak the truth, and yet the heart not love it; but all Christian believers are inwardly what they appear outwardly. ( R. Horsfall. ) The Church militant R. Turnbull. This is a question by David propounded. Consider — 1. Who demandeth, David, the man of God, seeing the wonderful hypocrisy of men in frequenting the holy assemblies, and making a pretence of religion, being stirred up with singular love to true religion, inflamed with a fervent zeal to God's glory, burning with earnest desire to know the true saints from dissembling hypocrites, and demanded this question — "Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle, who shall rest in Thy holy hill? 2. Of whom he demandeth. He flieth unto God, because it passeth the knowledge of men, who only look into the things apparent and outward. The Lord alone can sunder the wheat from the chaff, the tares from the wheat, the grain from the cockle and darnel. It is the Lord who is Father of all the whole family, which is named either on heaven or on earth, which is His Church; it is the Lord that is the chief Governor and Ruler of His house, which are His subjects; it is God alone who keepeth the Book of Life in the closet of His own heart, wherein He hath registered all His saints. It is the Lord, and not men, which pitched the tabernacle and testimony of His presence. It is the Lord whose property and prerogative it is by right to know the heart. It is the Lord whose eyes are upon all His creatures. 3. What is demanded. By "tabernacle" here some understand the Church militant. By the "hill of God" they understand the Church triumphant. The question then is," Who shall I make some reckoning of, to be Thy Church visible and militant?"The Church of God militant here on earth is compared to the tabernacle, and to the holy hill of God. 1. To the tabernacle. This Moses reared. As the tabernacle was pitched here and there, and removed from place to place, so the Church militant hath no certain rest in any appointed place, but is now in this place, now in that, at the appointment of the Lord. As in the time of the ark and tabernacle, God there showeth Himself and His glory unto the people, so doth the Lord reveal Himself in the Church and Assembly of His saints, there declaring His glory. As the Lord promised by Moses to dwell in the tabernacle, and there to walk and be conversant with Israel His people, so does Almighty God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son, our Saviour, dwell in the Church which is His immaterial tabernacle. The Church and Assembly of God's saints is called the House of God, because He dwelleth therein. The Church militant is also compared unto a hill or mountain. 1. For the allusion that it hath unto Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, being Mount Moriah, where Abraham would have sacrificed his son Isaac. This hill was a type of the true Church, among whom God dwelleth forever. 2. The Church may be called a hill or mountain, for the height, altitude, and lifting up thereof. 3. And for the open sight thereof. 4. In regard of the strength and stayedness, the Church may be called a mountain, for the hilly and high places are most strong and most impregnable. The Church is called a "holy hill," because God hath sanctified it and made it holy for Himself, because in the Church the Lord giveth manifold testimonies and signs of His holiness, and because the Lord taketh the defence of His Church into His own hands.Doctrines . — 1. See how great the hypocrisy of man oftentimes is in the pretence of godliness. 2. The prophet flieth unto God in the discerning of the true saints from hypocrites. However apparent things may be known unto men, hidden things belong only unto the Lord. 3. Learn not to play the hypocrite. 4. When we lack wisdom we should flee unto God for instruction. 5. Learn the state and condition of the militant Church. It is but as a tabernacle. 6. In this world the saints must not look for any rest, continuance, or certain abode. 7. We must not forsake the Church of God because of afflictions and troubles. 8. Who shall rest in the holy hill of God? The Church militant rejoices in the hope of happiness to come. 9. There is no true and sound rest save in the holy hill of God. ( R. Turnbull. ) Earth as seen from the holy hill of communion with God G. Downame. Unto this mountain, if we should ascend but in thought, as Scipio once did in his dream, and from thence should behold the earth, we should easily contemn this inferior world with the desires thereof. For the whole globe of the earth, together with the water, which seemeth now so great unto us, if we could see it from the highest heavens, would appear unto us like a mote in the sun. But if withal we felt the unspeakable joys of heaven, and from thence should cast down our eyes unto this valley of tears, there to behold the vanity of vanities, as Solomon saith, it cannot be expressed with how fervent a desire we should be inflamed to have our habitation in heaven. Peter, when as he was present in the transfiguration of Christ in the Mount Tabor, and had a taste of the heavenly glory, he was straightway ravished therewith, and desired greatly to remain there. "Lord," saith he, "it is good being here, let us make three tabernacles," etc. ( G. Downame. ) Dwelling on the holy hill G. Downame. Our abode in the mountain of God is expressed in the word "dwelling," whereby two things are signified, perpetuity and rest. Perpetuity, for there the children of God remain not as pilgrims for a time, but as citizens and heirs forever. Whereupon the kingdom of heaven is also called an heavenly inheritance, wherein are everlasting habitations, and an inheritance immortal and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. Again, the word "dwelling" importeth rest. For there the children of God do not wander as pilgrims, neither are subject to any molestations, but do wholly rest from their labours. And for that cause the kingdom of heaven is called the rest of God, and as it were an eternal Sabbath. In respect whereof the land of Canaan was a type of our heavenly country. ( G. Downame. ) The soul of man turned towards heaven A. T. Pierson, D. D. Man is a mirror, and it is an all-important matter which way the mirror is turned. If downwards, it can reflect only earthly things, — the mire, the dirt, the filth of the earth; if turned upward, it may reflect the heavens, with all its glory of sun, moon, and stars. The mirror turned downward is the carnal mind, the mirror turned upward is the spiritual mind. Sometimes in an instant of time the inversion is accomplished, and he who before was of the earth earthy, comes to discern and reflect the things of God and heaven. ( A. T. Pierson, D. D. ) A question and an answer W. Boyd Carpenter, D. D. Question: Who is the man who would be able to ascend unto that hill of God where the highest visions of the Almighty may be perceived? The answer is: The man whose life is blameless. All that follows is a description of the moral qualifications of such a man. What is striking in the Psalm is the moral principle which seems to underlie it. There are laws in the spiritual kingdom, and the Psalmist gets a glimpse of these spiritual laws, and he makes them the subject of his poem. The law here is this, that the condition of power in life, and the condition of the vision of the Almighty, is to be found in the ethical or moral considerations. It is the man whose life is blameless, the man whose character will bear investigation, the man whose whole being and nature are animated by a strict regard of what is morally right and true, that comes by degrees to this possession of strong invincible character, and that capacity for seeing the highest things of God. There is no idea here that the Psalmist can purchase the vision of God by the payment of so much good done. To do that would have been to vitiate the whole moral basis of the idea; for if a man seeks heaven for profit he is not, of course, a heavenly-minded person. Morality and spirituality must be genuine and sincere if they are to be moral or spiritual things at all. What the Psalmist does set forth is this, that the conditions of this insight and power of life lie, not so much in the possession of intellectual force as in the possession of moral capacities. There is a constant tendency to confuse religion with theology. Theology is only the scientific expression of the ideas which are incorporated in religion. Religion itself is quite different. A man may be religious who has very small theological opinions. Our power of seeing Divine things does not depend so much upon our moral integrity as upon our spiritual devotion. Religion is a moral sympathy between the soul of the creature and the spirit of the Creator. It is the moral sympathy between you and me in this world and the great God who put us into this world. That is what is said in the Gospel of St. John, "If any man will do His will," — if a man has a moral desire to follow out the Divine ideal in his life, if his soul is in sympathy with the Divine moral earnestness, then he shall be able to understand; he will gain a perception of the meaning of God's action, and the vision of God which would otherwise be denied him. Observe the wonderful way in which the same thought underlies the great creation of the Italian poet. This Psalm is a sort of "Divine Comedy" in miniature, for it exactly expresses the thought which Dante had in his mind. What are the conditions, according to Dante, in which a man can enter into the vision of the great paradise over his head? He must have understood evil, and seen it in all its hideousness, and must have overcome and climbed that steep of purgatory, disciplining by degrees the moral defects in him, until at last, when he climbs to the summit of the mount of purgatory, he is the immovable man, the man who is crowned with crown and mitre, as god over himself. And only when that is achieved, when that moral sincerity is at last made a real thing in him, is he capable of ascending under the guidance of Divine truth into the lofty regions of paradise. This is exactly the same thought. What an enormous source of joy that ought to be to the human heart. Let us remember that we have within us a Divine Spirit that is constantly prompting us to higher things. ( W. Boyd Carpenter, D. D. ) Practical Christianity Dean Farrar. Religion is not a far-off, but a pressing and everyday affair. The very humblest of mankind may be the greatest saint of God. It is only small and ignorant natures which shrink from lowly tasks. Nothing can be ignoble which a noble purpose glorifies. In this Psalm you have the things necessary for the man who may claim the high blessing of God. What are they. Strange to say, they are precisely those things that we should demand of the ordinary English gentleman, of the ordinary English tradesman, of the ordinary English working man. Mere morality, you may say, and for the most part, negative morality. David does not say he was to be brave, magnanimous, self-sacrificing. He only says that he must not be a liar or a slanderer, or one who wrongs others, or takes rewards against the innocent. You may be tempted to say, surely David puts the scale too low! Had, then, David a less overwhelming sense than we have of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity? If you think in that way to get over the difficulty you are mistaken. But is it really so small a thing to keep innocency and do the thing which is right? The New Testament speaks, over and over again, identically the same language. David's truth, and the truth of Christ Himself, is, that those who desire to be one with God, everyone who nameth the name of Christ, must, as the first essential, depart from iniquity. You cannot escape these conclusions by saying, "Yes, Christ spake these things before, and not after, His great work was finished, and would have preached otherwise if He had preached after His resurrection." If you make that answer you subject yourselves to the overwhelming refutation of Scripture. See the Epistle of James, the Lord's brother. See also the loftiest and most spiritual of St. Paul's Epistles, that to the Ephesians. If you would rest in God's holy hill this is quite certain, you must keep innocency, and do the things that are right. ( Dean Farrar. ) The citizen of Zion described T. Boston, D. D. The Psalm consists of a question and an answer. David asks the question. He was a good mall, concerned for his own soul. He asks it of the Lord, for He is the infallible Teacher and Law-giver. He asks it in Old Testament terms, speaking of the tabernacle and the holy hill of Mount Zion. The doctrine arising from the words is this — It challengeth everyone's most serious consideration what sort of persons, sojourning with God here, shall be inhabitants of heaven hereafter. Therefore let us — I. SHOW WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THIS CONSIDERATION. 1. That all shall not be inhabitants of heaven; some will perish. For all the sons of men will not be saints in heaven. There will be a great company on Christ's left hand at the great day, doomed to everlasting fire ( Matthew 25:41 ). And many of those who are now about the tabernacle will be a-missing in heaven ( Matthew 7:21-23 ). To see those who had not the tabernacle of God among them fall short of heaven is not strange; but many who in external privileges have been exalted to heaven will be brought down to hell ( Psalm 125 , ult.). 2. They are persons of a distinguished character now who shall be inhabitants of heaven hereafter. Not of the common gang of the world, nor of professors either. Many professors are foolish virgins, that will get heaven's door cast in their face ( Matthew 25:2-4 ). 3. In this world they sojourn with God in His tabernacle who shall be the inhabitants of heaven hereafter. The world is no more their home. They are in a peculiar manner consecrated to God and His service ( Romans 12:1 ). All Israel had access to the outer courts of the tabernacle, but the priests only to the tabernacle itself. They are admitted to communion with God in ordinances. And they will enter heaven because they are born from above. II. THE REASONS WHEREFORE WE SHOULD THUS SERIOUSLY CONSIDER WHO SHALL BE THE INHABITANTS OF HEAVEN. 1. Because there is a heaven and a hell, and all must land in one or the other. 2. And the laws of heaven admit only such as are qualified for it. 3. None who are capable of such considerations will ever see heaven without it. The work of grace begins here ( Lamentations 3:40 ). 4. If we miss heaven we are ruined eternally. III. APPLICATION OF THE SUBJECT. 1. Consider of it fixedly and solemnly. 2. With application to yourselves. 3. And practically that you may set yourselves to strive for heaven. 4. Divinely, as in the sight of heaven. For remember, heaven is not plenished but with chosen people ( 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18 ). Hell receives all comers, but not so heaven. None can come there but sealed ones, such as God has marked for Himself ( 2 Timothy 2:19 ). And separated ones from the sinful world ( 1 Corinthians 6:11 ; Matthew 25:32 ). As your life is here, so will it be there. ( T. Boston, D. D. ) He that walketh uprightly. Psalm 15:2 The model church member J. O. Keen, D. D. The visible Zion was typical of the Invisible Church. In the "holy hill" God dwelt in symbol, in the Universal Church He dwells in viewless spiritual realness. Spiritual citizenship is the common privilege and honour of all who in moral character are abreast of the standard fixed in this Psalm. Who is a Christian, or a worthy member of Christ's Church, is here perfectly outlined by the infallible pert of inspiration. I. WHAT HE IS, IN WORD, DEED, LIFE. He only abides in God's tabernacle who abides in God, and God in him. 1. His walk is in uprightness. This implies spiritual life, exercise, health, progress. 2. His work is in righteousness. This implies activity, beneficent activity, the holiest activity; righteous in its motive, method, and results. 3. His words in truth and love: this implies conversation and testimony. Invisible truth shrines itself in holy words, holy works, a holy walk. Being upright, the Christian cannot be crooked; being righteous, he cannot be a hypocrite; being truthful in his heart, he cannot be false in his conversation and deportment. II. WHAT HE IS NOT (vers. 8, 5). 1. No backbiter. 2. No evildoer. 3. No receiver of slander. Were there no ears to receive scandal there would soon be no tongues to speak it. The receiver of such pernicious goods is as vile as the trader in them. 4. No usurer. 5. No patron of bribery. He daily endeavours to maintain a pure hand, a pure purse, a pure ear, a pure heart, and a pure tongue. He will contemn evil wherever found; honour holiness however manifest; swerve not from his word when given, though to personal injury, and be permanently steadfast in his work of faith and life of love. ( J. O. Keen, D. D. ) Life a walk G. Downame. Now, if we be travellers or wayfaring men we are to be careful of three things. 1. That we go in the right way; for if we go out of our way, the farther we go the farther we shall be from our journey's end. This way is the true religion of Christ, which in the Scriptures is called the way, the way of life, the way of peace. 2. The next thing whereof we must be careful is, that being set in the right way we go forward therein, proceeding from faith to faith, and from a less measure of grace unto a greater. For neither must we stand still ill this way, neither must we go back; for if we do so, how shall we come to our journey's end? We must take heed therefore lest we be non-proficients, and let us fear lest when we cease to be better we begin to be worse. 3. The third thing is, that we be upright in the way, neither treading awry by secret dissembling, nor halting downright betwixt God and Mammon. ( G. Downame. ) The God-approved man J. J. Stewart Perowne, B. D. The man with whom God will hold communion is described. I. AS TO WHAT HE IS. 1. He is a man of whole heart and life; who does the will of God, and speaks the truth because he loves it: it dwells in his heart, and he speaks it there first, before he speaks it with his tongue. Luther says, "It is a beautiful order. First, the person must be acceptable by cleanness (alluding to the Vulgate translation, — qui ingreditur sine macula), then the work by righteousness; then the word by truth. So God has regard to Abel (himself) first, and then to his gifts." 2. He is not one who injures others, either by word or by dead or by listening and propagating slander. This is the meaning of the last clause. It may be rendered either: "hath not received ( i.e. from others) a reproach," etc., or, "hath not taken up," i.e. has not stooped so as to pick up dirt out of the dunghill, that he may cast it at his neighbour; or, "hath not lifted up," i.e. so as to place it like a burden upon his neighbour. II. AS TO WHAT HE IS NOT. 1. He is one who turns away from the evil and honours the good, who regards as inviolable the sanctity of an oath (not a casuist who sets himself a pretext for breaking his word when it is inconvenient to keep it). 2. He is not one who loves usury or takes bribes. The taking of usury is strictly forbidden in the law, and denounced by the prophets. Kimchi s casuistic distinction, that it is lawful for the Jew to take usury of strangers, but not of his own people, is very significant; and, like too many Christian as well as Jewish interpretations of Scripture, framed to support a convenient and profitable practice. Thus in heart, in tongue, in actions, in conduct, as a member of society, he is alike free from reproach. Such is the figure of stainless honour drawn by the pen of a Jewish poet. Christian chivalry has not dreamed of a brighter. We have need often and seriously to ponder it. For it shows us that faith in God, and spotless integrity, may not be sundered; that religion does not veil or excuse petty dishonesties; that love to God is only then worthy the name when it is the life and bond of every social virtue. Each line is, as it were, a touchstone to which we should bring ourselves. To speak truth in the heart — to take up no reproach against a neighbour — would not the Christian man be perfect (teleios) of whom this could be said? And that other trait in this Divine character, "who honoureth them that fear the Lord," — is there a surer test of our spiritual condition than this, that we love and honour men because they love Christ? ( J. J. Stewart Perowne, B. D. ) Uprightness of character J. H. Jowett, M. A. "He that walketh uprightly." Let us mark the strong, masculine beginning of this description of the man who is privileged to be familiar with the Lord. He is "upright"! He is characterised by backbone. There is nothing crooked, wriggling, or soft about his temperament. There is a certain straightness and rigidity which, in all his relationships, is never absent. And mark where this fine masculinity begins. He "walketh" uprightly! The word is descriptive of the movements or motions of life. Now our motions are determined by our motives. Our motives are our motors. To understand, therefore, the inner content of the Psalmist's words, we must get away into the inward parts, into the secret places of the life. Our motives must be strong and upright. There must be nothing limp and compromising about them. "Strength and beauty" must be in our sanctuary. ( J. H. Jowett, M. A. ) The citizen of Zion an upright walker T. Boston, D. D. I. UNFOLD THIS CHARACTER OF WALKING UPRIGHTLY. 1. It is union in the frame and disposition of his heart ( Psalm 125:4 ). There cannot be uprightness of life without uprightness of heart. If the cripple is made to go straight his legs must have a new set ( Psalm 78:37 ). 2. He walks entirely in the interests of religion ( Genesis 17:1 ). 3. He walks uniformly, his religion is of a piece ( Colossians 4:12 ). As John the Baptist ( Luke 7:24 ). 4. He walks in the way of all known duty, as thus told in Luke 1:6 . And as David ( Acts 13:22 ). Hence he will be free from gross pollution of the outward man ( Psalm 119:1 ). The upright want not their spots, sins of daily infirmity, —but they will not wallow in the mire, Nor will he allow himself in any known sin, seen or unseen of man, 5. He walks as under the eye of God ( Psalm 16:8 ). 6. And singly ( 2 Corinthians 1:12 ). As opposed to the "double-minded man." And to the deceitful ( Colossians 3:22 ). And the selfish ( Ephesians 6:5 ). 7. And he walks constantly in uprightness ( John 8:31 ). He perseveres in the Lord's ways. II. THOSE WHO SO WALK SHALL DWELL IN HEAVEN. For — 1. Heaven is the land of uprightness ( Psalm 143:10 , 140., ult.). 2. The new birth which is from heaven makes them meet for heaven. 3. An upright walk is the saint's walk, in which they make forward to the kingdom ( 1 Kings 3:6 ). The contrary way is the way of the wicked ( Proverbs 2:15 ). 4. The Lord hath in His Word determined this ( Proverbs 28:18 ). III. APPLICATION. This truth shows that there are few of this generation that will dwell in heaven if they turn not over a new leaf. For men do cling to some beloved lust or other, so that neither the word, nor conscience, nor providence can make them part with it. And they care far more for the eye of man than for the eye of God; and are impatient of reproof: Contrary to Psalm 141:5 . And they labour not to approve themselves to God in their dealings; but are altogether selfish, considering nothing but their own profit. ( T. Boston, D. D. ) The marks of the saints G. Downame. "Thamim" therefore we may rightly interpret upright, that is, void of dissimulation; and it may be two ways considered:(1) as referred to God, and so it signifieth sincere, or void of hypocrisy;(2) as referred towards men, and so it signifieth simple or void of guile. So that he in this place is said to be upright who is void of hypocrisy towards God, and free from guile towards men. And first we are to speak of uprightness in respect of God, in handling whereof I purpose to observe this order. First, to show what it is. Secondly, that it is, as here it is made, a note proper to the children of God. And thirdly, because we are not to be idle hearers of this discourse, we are to try and examine ourselves whether this note agreeth unto us or not. And fourthly, if we do find our defectiveness therein, either in whole or in part, we are by certain forcible arguments to be stirred up to embrace it. And lastly, we are to show the means whereby to obtain it. ( G. Downame. ) What uprightness is G. Downame. I. TOWARDS GOD. 1. For first, to be upright, it is to walk with God, or before God (as the Lord saith to Abraham, walk before Me and be upright, Genesis 17:1 ), that is, so to lead our lives as in the sight and presence of God, who seeth the hearts and searcheth the reins of men. 2. Again, to be upright is to walk with a right foot, neither covertly treading awry with Peter ( Galatians 2 ), nor openly halting with the Israelites ( 1 Kings 18:21 ). 3. It is also to be void of hypocrisy and doubling, not to have an heart and an heart, or to be double minded, but to be single hearted. 4. Lastly, this virtue of uprightness is commended unto us under other names, namely, sincerity and truth, sincerity being opposed to mixture, and truth to falsehood, both which hypocrisy is. II. NOW THAT UPRIGHTNESS IS A PROPER NOTE TO THE CITIZENS OF HEAVEN, it may easily appear by the reciprocal conversion which is betwixt them. For if all the citizens of heaven be upright, and all that be tip. right are citizens of heaven, then is it manifest that uprigh

Benson Commentary Psalm 15:1 A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Psalm 15:1 . Lord, who shall, &c. — The psalmist proposes this question to God, that the answer, coming from the Supreme Lord of earth and heaven, the Lawgiver and Judge of men and angels, might have the greater authority and influence on men’s consciences. Who shall abide — Hebrew ?? ???? , mi jagur, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? — In thy church here, and be a true member thereof, and an acceptable worshipper of thee therein? Who shall dwell — Hebrew, ????? , jishchon, shall reside, and have his constant and perpetual mansion, in thy holy hill of Zion, often put for heaven, where is the true tabernacle not made with hands, Hebrews 8:2 ; Hebrews 9:11 ; Revelation 21:3 . Who shall be permitted and enabled so to worship thee in thy church on earth, and enjoy and improve the privileges thereof, as to dwell with thee in heaven for ever hereafter? The reader will easily observe, that the psalmist alludes to the hill of Zion, to the tabernacle of God which was thereon, and to the character of the priest who should officiate in that tabernacle. And he will remember that “all these were figures of a celestial Jerusalem, a spiritual Zion, a true tabernacle, and an eternal priest. To the great originals, therefore, we must transfer our ideas, and consider the inquiry as made after Him who should fix his resting-place on the heavenly mount, and exercise his unchangeable priesthood in the temple not made with hands. And since the disciples of this new and great high-priest become righteous in him, and are by the Spirit conformed to his image, the character which essentially and inherently belongs only to him will derivatively belong to them also, who must follow his steps below, if they would reign with him above.” — Horne. Psalm 15:2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. Psalm 15:2 . He that walketh uprightly — Without guile, or hypocrisy, loving and serving God, and loving his neighbour, not in word only, but in truth, and this constantly, and in the whole course of his life, as the word walking implies. And worketh righteousness — Maketh it his business to do justly, to give to every one his due, first to God, and then to men. And speaketh the truth in his heart — His words and professions to God and men agree with, and proceed from, the thoughts and purposes of his heart. Psalm 15:3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. Psalm 15:3 . He backbites not with his tongue — Doth not use his tongue to calumniate, or detract from the reputation of any one; speaks evil of no man, nor makes the faults of others the subject of his conversation, much less of his sport or ridicule, nor speaks of them with pleasure, nor at all but for edification. Nor doeth evil — Any hurt or injury, willingly or designedly, to his neighbour — That is, any man; doth nothing to offend or grieve his spirit, to prejudice the health or ease of his body, to injure him in his estate or secular concerns, in his family or relations; but makes conscience of doing as he would be done by. Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour — Namely, into his lips or mouth: doth not raise it, or spread and propagate it, or even believe it, without sufficient reason. Psalm 15:4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. Psalm 15:4 . In whose eyes — In whose judgment and estimation; a vile person — An ungodly or wicked man, (as appears from the next clause, in which he that feareth God is opposed to him,) is contemned — Or, thought meanly of, notwithstanding his wealth, or honour, or greatness, or even his learning and knowledge: who does not admire the person of such a one, or envy his condition, or court him with flatteries, or value his company and conversation, or approve of, or comply with, his course of life; but judges him a miserable man, and a great object of pity; abhors his practices, and labours to make such ways contemptible to all men, as far as lies in his power. It must be observed, however, that this contemning or thinking meanly of ungodly men, does not imply a contempt of just authority, which, if it be lodged even in a wicked man’s hand, claims not only obedience, but also honour and reverence, as is manifest from the precepts and examples of Christ and his apostles. But he honoureth them that fear the Lord — He highly esteems and cordially loves them, and shows them great respect and kindness, even though they be mean and obscure as to their worldly condition, and though they may differ from him in some opinions or practices of lesser moment. That sweareth to his own hurt — Promises and engages upon oath to do something which may be beneficial to his neighbour, but apparently will be to his own damage. As if a man solemnly swear that he will sell his neighbour such an estate at a price below the full worth; or that he will give a poor man such a sum of money, to give which afterward he finds inconvenient to him. And changeth not — His purpose, but continues firm, and resolved to perform his promise. Psalm 15:5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. Psalm 15:5 . He that putteth not out his money to usury — In such a manner as is contrary to God’s law, of which see on Exodus 22:25 ; Leviticus 25:36-37 . Or taketh reward — Or bribe, from him who hath a bad cause; that he may condemn the innocent or acquit the guilty: both which things God abhors. He that doeth these things — Here enumerated, in consequence of first having faith working by love, in consequence of the justification of his person and the renovation of his nature; he that, being made a tree of righteousness, thus glorifies God by bearing the fruit of righteousness, and being created anew, in Christ Jesus, unto good works, thus steadily and perseveringly walks in them; he shall never be moved — But shall abide with God, in his favour and family here, and shall dwell with him for ever hereafter. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 15:1 A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Psalm 15:1-5 THE ideal worshipper of Jehovah is painted in this psalm in a few broad outlines. Zion is holy because God’s "tent" is there. This is the only hint of date given by the psalm; and all that can be said is that if that consecration of Thy hill was recent, the poet would naturally ponder all the more deeply the question of who were fit to dwell in the new solemnities of the abode of Jehovah. The tone of the psalm, then, accords with the circumstances of the time when David brought the ark to Jerusalem; but more than this cannot be affirmed. Much more important are its two maim points: the conception of the guests of Jehovah and the statement of the ethical qualifications of these. As to structure, the psalm is simple. It has first, the general question and answer in two verses of two clauses each ( Psalm 15:1-2 ). Then the general description of the guest of God is expanded in three verses of three clauses each, the last of which closes with an assurance of stability, which varies and heightens the idea of dwelling in the tent of Jehovah. It is no mere poetic apostrophe with which the psalmist’s question is prefaced. He does thereby consult the Master of the house as to the terms on which He extends hospitality, which terms it is His right to prescribe. He brings to his own view and to his readers all that lies in the name of Jehovah, the covenant name, and all that is meant by "holiness," and thence draws the answer to his question, which is none the less Jehovah’s answer because it springs in the psalmist’s heart and is spoken by his lips. The character of the God determines the character of the worshipper. The roots of ethics are in religion. The Old Testament ideal of the righteous man flows from its revelation of the righteous God. Not men’s own fancies, but insight gained by communion with God and docile inquiry of Him, will reliably tell what manner of men they are who can abide in His light. The thought, expressed so forcibly in the question of the psalm, that men may be God’s guests, is a very deep and tender one, common to a considerable number of psalms. { Psalm 15:5 , Psalm 27:4 ; Psalm 84:5 , etc.} The word translated "abide" in the A.V and "sojourn" in the R.V originally implied a transient residence as a stranger, but when applied to men’s relations to God, it does not always preserve the idea of transiency (see, for instance, Psalm 61:4 : "I will dwell in Thy tent forever"); and the idea of protection is the most prominent. The stranger who took refuge in the tent of the wild Beduin was safe, much more the happy man who crept under the folds of the tent of Jehovah. If the holy hill of Zion were not immediately mentioned, one might be tempted to think that the tent here was only used as a metaphor; but the juxtaposition of the two things seems to set the allusion to the dwelling place of the Ark on its hill beyond question. In the gracious hospitality of the antique world, a guest was sheltered from all harm; his person was inviolable, his wants all met. So the guest of Jehovah is safe, can claim asylum from every foe and a share in all the bountiful provision of His abode. Taken accurately, the two verbs in Psalm 15:1 differ in that the first implies transient and the second permanent abode, but that difference is not in the psalmist’s mind, and the two phrases mean the same thing, with only the difference that the former brings out his conception of the rights of the guest. Clearly, then, the psalmist’s question by no means refers only to an outward approach to an outward tabernacle; but we see here the symbol in the very act of melting into the deep spiritual reality signified. The singer has been educated by the husks of ritual to pass beyond these, and has learned that there is a better dwelling place for Jehovah and therefore for himself, than that pitched on Zion and frequented by impure and pure alike. Psalm 15:2 sums the qualifications of Jehovah’s guest in one comprehensive demand, that he should walk uprightly, and then analyses that requirement into the two of righteous deeds and truthful speech. The verbs are in the participial form, which emphasises the notion of habitual action. The general answer is expanded in the three following verses, which each contain three clauses, and take up the two points of Psalm 15:2 in inverted order, although perhaps not with absolute accuracy of arrangement. The participial construction is in them changed for finite verbs. Psalm 15:2 sketches the figure in outline, and the rest of the psalm adds clause on clause of description as if the man stood before the psalmist’s vision. Habits are described as acts. The first outstanding characteristic of this ideal is that it deals entirely with duties to men, and the second is that it is almost wholly negative. Moral qualities of the most obvious kind and such as can be tested in daily life and are cultivated by rigid abstinence from prevailing evils and not any recondite and impalpable refinements of conduct, still less any peculiar emotions of souls raised high above the dusty levels of common life are the qualifications for dwelling, a guarded guest, in that great pavilion. Such a stress laid on homely duties, which the universal conscience recognises, is characteristic of the ethics of the Old Testament as a whole and of the Psalter in particular, and is exemplified in the lives of its saints and heroes. They "come eating and drinking," sharing in domestic joys and civic duties; and however high their aspirations and vows may soar, they have always their feet firmly planted on the ground and, laying the smallest duties on themselves, "tread life’s common road in cheerful godliness." The Christian answer to the psalmist’s question goes deeper than his, but is fatally incomplete unless it include his and lay the same stress on duties to men which all acknowledge, as that does. Lofty emotions, raptures of communion, aspirations which bring their own fulfilment, and all the experiences of the devout soul, which are sometimes apt to be divorced from plain morality, need the ballast of the psalmist’s homely answer to the great question. There is something in a religion of emotion not wholly favourable to the practice of ordinary duties; and many men, good after a fashion, seem to have their spiritual nature divided into watertight and uncommunicating compartments, in one of which they keep their religion, and in the other their morality. The stringent assertion that these two are inseparable was the great peculiarity of Judaism as compared with the old world religions, from which, as from the heathenism of today, the conception that religion had anything to do with conduct was absent. But it is not only heathenism that needs the reminder. True, the ideal drawn here is not the full Christian one. It is too merely negative for that, and too entirely concerned with acts. Therein it reproduces the limitations of the earlier revelation. It scarcely touches at all the deeper forms of "love to our neighbour"; and above all, it has no answer to the question which instinctively rises in the heart when the psalm has answered its own question. How can I attain to these qualifications? is a second interrogation, raised by the response to the first, and for its answer we have to turn to Jesus. The Psalm, like the law which inspired it, is mainly negative, deals mainly with acts, and has no light to show how its requirements may be won. But it yet stands as an unantiquated statement of what a man must be who dwells in the secret place of the Most High. How he may become such a one we must learn from Him who both teaches us the way, and gives us the power, to become such as God will shelter in the safe recesses of His pavilion. The details of the qualifications as described in the psalm are simple and homely. They relate first to right speech, which holds so prominent a place in the ethics of the Psalter. The triplets of Psalm 15:3 probably all refer to sins of the tongue. The good man has no slander on his tongue: he does not harm his companion (by word) nor heap reproach on his neighbour. These things are the staple of much common talk. What a quantity of brilliant wit and polished sarcasm would perish if this rule were observed! How dull many sparkling circles would become, and how many columns of newspapers and pages of books would be obliterated, if the censor’s pencil struck out all that infringed it! Psalm 15:4 adds as characteristic of a righteous man that in his estimate of character he gives each his own, and judges men by no other standard than their moral worth. The reprobate may be a millionaire or a prince, but his due is contempt; the devout man may be a pauper or one of narrow culture, but his due is respect, and he gets it. "A terrible sagacity informs" the good man’s heart; and he who is, in his own in most desires, walking uprightly will not be seduced into adulation of a popular idol who is a bad man, nor turned from reverence for lowly goodness. The world will be a paradise when the churl is no more called bountiful. Apparently the utterance of these estimates is in the psalmist’s mind, and he is still thinking of speech. Neither calumny ( Psalm 15:3 ) nor the equally ignoble flattery of evil-doers ( Psalm 15:4 ) pollutes the lips of his ideal good man. If this reference to spoken estimates is allowed, the last clause of Psalm 15:4 completes the references to the right use of speech. The obligation of speaking "truth with his heart" is pursued into a third region: that Of vows or promises. These must be conceived as not religious vows, but, in accordance with the reference of the whole psalm to duties to neighbours, as oaths made to men. They must be kept, whatever consequences may ensue. The law prohibited the substitution of another animal sacrifice for that which had been vowed; { Leviticus 27:10 } and the psalm uses the same word for "changeth," with evident allusion to the prohibition, which must therefore have been known to the psalmist. Usury and bribery were common sins, as they still are in communities on the same industrial and judicial level as that mirrored in the psalm. Capitalists who "bite" the poor (for that is the literal meaning of the words for usurious taking of interest) and judges who condemn the innocent for gain are the blood suckers of such societies. The avoidance of such gross sin is a most elementary illustration of walking uprightly, and could only have been chosen to stand in lieu of all other neighbourly virtues in an age when these sins were deplorably common. This draft of a God-pleasing character is by no means complete even from the Old Testament ethical point of view. There are two variations of it, which add important elements: that in Psalm 24:1-10 , which seems to have been occasioned by the same circumstances; and the noble, adaptation in Isaiah 33:13-16 , which is probably moulded on a reminiscence of both psalms. Add to these Micah’s answer to the question what God requires of man, { Micah 6:8 } and we have an interesting series exhibiting the effects of the Law on the moral judgments of devout men in Israel. The psalmist’s last word goes beyond his question in the clear recognition that such a character as he has outlined not only, dwells in Jehovah’s tent, but will stand unmoved, though all the world should rock. He does not see how far onward that "forever" may stretch, but of this he is sure: that righteousness is the one stable thing in the universe, and there may have shone before him the hope that it was possible to travel on beyond the horizon that bounds this life. "I shall be a guest in Jehovah’s tent forever," says the other psalm already quoted: "He shall never be moved," says this one. Both find their fulfilment in the great words of the Apostle who taught a completer ideal of love to men, because he had dwelt close by the perfect revelation of God’s love: "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.