Scripture

O Yahweh, who may reside in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?

~Psalm 15:1, LSB

Quote

Jesus did more than come to the Temple: Jesus is the Temple.

~Dana Ortlund

I always get a boost when I find someone who agrees with me. The Jews had a tendency to worship the shadow and ignore the substance. Salvation was never about the Temple Solomon built. It was a house of stone, inlayed with cedar and gold. The Jews came to trust the Temple of Solomon for their salvation, but God had told them all along that He would provide the Temple and the Temple was Jesus Himself. Psalm 15 is Messianic; it is about Jesus occupying the high place as our anointed King and Priest. It is not about you and I living a blameless life–we can’t. Not matter how much effort we put into it, we are doomed to fail. I am a list maker and there is a list here to be fulfilled. Eugene Peterson’s list looks like this: Walk straight, act right, tell the truth, don’t hurt your friend, don’t blame your neighbor; despise the despicable, keep your word even when it costs you, and never take a bribe. The NLT list looks like this: Lead a blameless life, do what is right, speak the truth from a sincere heart, refuse to gossip, don’t harm your neighbors, don’t speak evil of your friends, despise flagrant sinners, honor the faithful followers of the Lord, keep your promises even when it hurts, lend money without charging interest, and do not take a bribe.

Should we try to put these moral principles into practice? Certainly, but we must understand our need for grace for no man can live a blameless life other than Christ Himself. David said earlier in Psalm 2, The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against His Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they cry, and free ourselves from slavery to God.” But the One who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them...For the Lord declares, I have placed My chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on My holy mountain. So to answer the question posed in Psalm 15, Who may reside in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain? The answer is Jesus. He is the only rightful King. By the way, the Sovereign God of the universe has put HIM there, in the Tent, on the Holy Mountain, and no one is going to remove Him. Every tin-pan dictator on earth would like to replace HIM but they can’t: God put Him there and He cannot be moved. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

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