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Please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 15. Psalm 15 as we continue to take up the Psalms of David in our morning worship service. Psalm 15 is the corrective, the answer, the provision to the problem stated in Psalm 14. Psalm 14 describes man in sin.

It describes man dead in trespasses in Adam. And basically, as Psalm 14 brings out, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And as a result of that confession of practical atheism, it goes on to say they are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. And then dropping down to verse three, they have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no, not one. It's a universal problem. It's a comprehensive problem.

So, how does Psalm 15 provide the remedy? It provides the answer. It is through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you've read Psalm 15 and you have concluded that you're doing pretty well, you're not going to like this sermon. But if you've read Psalm 15 and you've concluded that God is gracious in the provision of His dear Son, who is the man of righteousness described herein, then hopefully you will like the exposition. So notice in Psalm 15, beginning in verse one, a Psalm of David.

Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend. In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Our Father, we thank you again for the altogether lovely Christ. We pray that you would give us eyes to see and hearts to receive the truth as it is in Jesus set forth by David in Psalm 15. We rejoice in your loving kindness. We rejoice in the doctrine of justification by faith alone, wherein you pardon all of our sins and you accept us as righteous in your sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. We bless you for that impeccable righteousness we see here in Psalm 15. We see it in the gospel narratives that Christ always did what was pleasing to the Father. And we thank you so very much that you have included us in this redemptive plan.

Again, forgive us for all of our sins, guide us by the Holy Spirit, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, after setting forth the depravity of man in Psalm 14, the psalmist ends in Psalm 14 by saying, oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion when the Lord brings back the captivity of his people. Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad. It's a messianic hope. It's the desire for that champion from God would come and save his people from their sins.

And I'm going to argue that Psalm 15, again, it's not a description of us. It's not a description of David. David's not much in this psalm except for asking the question and then giving the specific answer. David is speaking about his greater son, his Lord, his blessed Messiah and surety, that mediator of the new covenant.

Basically what we have in Psalm 15 is the doctrine of the active obedience of the righteous one. As Christians, we are not taught or nor do we teach or do we think that it's based on what Jesus does plus what we do in order for our acceptance with God. Now, I know that Romanism sounds very close to that. Some brands of Protestantism sound very close to that.

But we hold to the classic doctrine of justification by faith alone. What is justification? Justification is an act of God's free grace wherein He pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. See, we need not only to be forgiven of our sins, but we need a righteousness by which we can enter into the presence of God. So in response to the malady or the problem of Psalm 14, David now turns attention to the provision and the remedy to what Psalm 14 presents. And he starts off again by asking a question in verse 1 and then supplying the answer in verses 2 to 5.

Andrew Bonnard makes the observation with reference to this psalm. In other words, the psalm is not in the first place a prescription on how you ought to live. It is that secondarily. It is that in a tertiary way. But the primary emphasis in Psalm 15 is on a description of our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling all the obligations placed upon him for the salvation of our guilty, vile, helpless souls.

I don't understand what it is in us that we always gravitate toward a prescriptive reading of Psalms like these. Let us bask in the glory of the description of the gospel. Let us rejoice in the altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Let us not come to Psalm 15 first and foremost on how I should conduct myself toward others. Again, that's important. I'm not minimizing that.

But the first emphasis in Psalm 15 is upon the righteous Lord Jesus, who by His work ascends into the presence of the Most High, and by virtue of faith in Him, He brings His elect with Him. So Psalm 1, or Psalm 15 rather, verse 1 asks the question, a question concerning access to God, and then in verses 2 to 5 we have the description of the one who has access to God. So let's look at the question posed in verse 1. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? I think there's two things going on. Verse 1a, I think it's the church militant. Verse 1b, it's the church triumphant.

And you see something of this in Old Covenant Israel. You had a tabernacle, which was a temporary dwelling place, God with men, as they gathered together in the tabernacle. But then you had this permanency seen in the temple. Once David ascends the throne, once David unifies the kingdom, once David seizes and secures political and religious power, he makes Jerusalem the very foundation and focal point with its temple, that permanent place, that becomes the goal of what Old Covenant Israel had been after. So the tabernacle, notice again in verse one, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle?

And as I've tried to point out in times past, the book of Exodus ends with tension. The book of Exodus ends with tension. The tabernacle is built, but Moses can't go in. Why can't Moses go in? Because God's there in his glory. And the idea is that Moses as sinner can't just wander into the very dwelling place of God Most High.

The book ends with tension only to be solved by the remedy of the book of Leviticus. What does Leviticus teach? That sinful man enters into the presence of a holy God through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. In other words, he must go via sacrifice. He must go via priesthood. But if you were there on that day and saw the tabernacle finish and the Shekinah glory of God descend upon it and Moses himself not be able to enter in, you might with David ask this question, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle?

And as you consider the book of Exodus, that's the flow. The book of Exodus is very simple to understand. The first part deals with deliverance. God delivers Israel from Egyptian bondage. The next part deals with demand. God commands Israel how they're supposed to function.

Does that 19 to 24. And then it ends on dwelling. The longest part of the book of Exodus, 25 to 40, emphasizes dwelling. In fact, Exodus 25, eight, God says, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Davis, Ralph Davis says, the God of 3-5, Exodus 3-5, which is the burning bush, and the God of 1921, which is Mount Sinai, is also the God of 25-8. That is, the God of the bush, who will rescue his people from slavery, and the God of the hill, who declares to his people his law, is also the God of the tent, who dwells in the midst of his people. with his tent among their tents. Indeed, the climax of the book of Exodus is not at the sea, chapter 14, nor on the mountain, chapter 19, but in the tent, chapters 25 and following. The pinnacle of Exodus is 25.8.

Let them build for me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. And so the psalmist here begins with that particular question, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? And then he moves on to the more permanent, but for us in a new covenant era, this is the heavenly reality. Who may dwell in your holy hill? The idea of the holy hill of God. Eden was on a mountain. It doesn't say that in Genesis 2 to 14, but it says that. Because the river that flowed from Eden flowed down and watered the garden.

Divine commentary in the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 28 calls it the mountain of God. Good things happen on mountains in redemptive history. We see it in Isaiah the prophet in chapter 2. They will come to what? The mountain of Yahweh. all throughout the Psalms. You see this emphasis on the mountain of Yahweh. Psalm 24 that we sang in worship is pretty much exactly Psalm 15. The same question is posed.

Who can ascend the holy hill of Zion? Who gets into the very presence of God? You see this theme all throughout the Psalms. You see it all throughout the prophets. You see God meeting with people on Sinai. You see Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. You see the Spirit in the book of Revelation take John away to see this mountain of God. You see the church in Hebrews chapter 12 described as Mount Zion. And so the question of the psalmist is very simple. He gets right to the point, sort of like Jesus does with Nicodemus.

How is it that those of us described in Psalm 14 will ever stand in your presence? How will we enter into your tabernacle? How will we dwell with you? How will we be cleansed such that we may go into the Holy of Holies? How is it going to be, Yahweh, that we ever depart from this earth? Guilty, vile, helpless sinners that we are, as Psalm 14 reminds us, how are we going to end up in the presence of the Most High?

These are good questions. These are pertinent questions. These are the best questions. If you're here this morning and you've never asked that question, it's essentially this. How does a guilty sinner get to heaven? How does a guilty sinner get there? You know, we hear about heaven. We like to delude ourselves that we're necessarily going to go to heaven, but we don't stop and ask the question, what is the path? What is the means? How is it that I can ascend?

How is it that I can stand in the presence of a thrice holy God? I think the very language here in verse one suggests God's holiness. His absolute righteousness, His glory, His majesty. The question, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?

That's not of some equal. That's not of somebody on the same playing field. We don't have that kind of earnestness even if we were invited into the Prime Minister's office. Even if we were invited into the President's office, there'd be nothing in us to say, well, who can do that? It's such holy ground. It's such godly ground. Who can enter into such a place? No, we wouldn't dream of it.

We dream of it when it comes to God, whose eye is too pure to look upon any evil with any approval whatsoever, the God who rained hell out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain for their gross sexual sin, the God who killed the men at Beth Shemesh because they did what they were forbidden to do, looking into the Ark of the Covenant, the God who killed Nadab and Abihu, rather, for offering up strange fire before the Lord.

You see, when you understand who this God is, you say with the prophet Isaiah, He said, woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips. It was atonement that brought Isaiah nigh. It was the satisfaction of divine wrath that brought Isaiah nigh. It wasn't Isaiah. It wasn't, oh yeah, this God's holy, I gotta fix myself a bit. I gotta get it together so that I can enter into his presence.

You see, this question makes sense when you understand who God is. This question also makes sense when you understand who you are. If you get just a glimpse of what the psalmist is saying in Psalm 14 and you see how that applies to you, hopefully it will knock you down from the perch of thinking that Psalm 15 is somehow a description of you. But if you're unconverted, you ought to see that the problem that Psalm 14 presents is a bad one.

You're not just a little off. You don't need just a little bit of reform. You don't need just a little bit of help. You need a champion who fulfills perfectly, verses 2 to 5, and who in his grace and mercy and loving kindness grabs you and takes you by the hand and brings you with him. That's what you need. You're not getting there on your own. You're not getting there by a bit of behavioral modification. You're not going to get there by changing your Spotify playlist so that it's better. You're not getting there.

Save faith in Jesus, the man described in Psalm 15. So the question is most pertinent, underscoring the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and just the legitimacy of the question. I ask you again, have you ever wondered? Have you ever thought, kids, you've heard it hopefully lots of times in your families, you've heard it hopefully lots of times here, you've got to think about that. How am I, sinner that I am, going to enter into the presence of a God who's absolutely holy, who's pure? who prophet Isaiah said, woe is me for I'm undone.

I'm coming apart at the seams when I'm in the presence of the most high. Or John the seer on the island of Patmos in the book of Revelation. What happens when he sees the glorified Christ? I fell at his feet as a dead man. Why? Because he's holy and I'm not. Have you come to grips with that question? How will I ever dwell in the holy hill of the God of absolute majesty and glory and sovereignty? If you've not thought about that question, I invite you to think about it. And even more, I really want you to hear the answer. Listen to an older brother from the 1800s, C.H. Spurgeon.

He said, spiritually, we have here a description of the man who is a child at home in the church of God on earth and who will dwell in the house of the Lord forever above. He is primarily Jesus, the perfect man. And in him, all who through grace are conformed to his image. That's beautiful. He's right. And Spurgeon doesn't always get Jesus out of the Psalms. I'll give him mad props on that one. He's bang on right there. But again, we always gotta get us in there too. I'm not gonna keep us out.

Descriptively, or prescriptively, be this. You confess saving faith in Jesus Christ, stop backbiting your neighbor. You confess faith in Jesus Christ, stop cheating people in business. You confess saving faith in Jesus Christ, swear to your own hurt and don't stop. There's prescription, yes.

But let's look at the description of our blessed Savior. Notice the description of the one who has access to God. Again, the psalm is not describing what we all ought to be shooting for, but it actually describes the man Who does it? Notice again verse 5 at the end. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Can you honestly, my dear Christian brother and sister, blood-bought child of God that you are, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, come to this psalm and say, yep, that is an accurate description of me. Again, if you can, you're a better man or woman than I am. I praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ as I read Psalm 15. The demand of God's law, by the way, is not our best shot. Not the old college try. Not 85% obedience. No, personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience.

Again, if you're still reading this Psalm, say, yep, that's me. I hope to obliterate that thought from your vain head, as the Puritans might say. Just messing. Listen to Pierce. Jesus is who he's speaking about. His life was in every act, in every instance, and throughout every part and particular of it, one grand exemplification of all contained, of all commanded, of all forbidden in the law of God. Pierce is right. Brethren, if this was an apt description of you and I, Then why Jesus?

Doesn't Paul ask the question in Galatians 2.21, if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. If this is us, then whence the cross? Seems pretty barbaric and vicious, unkind, untoward. If we've got it in us to ascend the holy hill of God, Unaided by divine provision?

So notice he goes on to describe. I would suggest, if we had to break it down, the righteousness of the man in 2 to 5a, and then secondly, the reception of the man in 5b. What he is and does, 2 to 5a, and how he's received, 5b. But in terms of the righteousness of the man, again, if we wanna break it down, we see the purity of his works, verse two, the purity of his words, verse three, the purity of his company, verse 4a, and the purity of his commitments in verses 4b to 5a. So as we move now through this portion of the psalm, I want to first just, you know, look at us, but then focus on him.

I call this the inability of man and the impeccability of the man. But in terms of his works, look at verse 2. He who walks uprightly. We know that sort of language from the New Testament in our studies in the epistles. You see it in Paul, in Ephesians. You see it in Philippians. You see this walk.

Old King James renders it as conversation, the orientation of one's life. the ins and the outs, the ebbs and the flows, what defines him, what characterizes him, what is his nature, as we say with reference to the man. He walks uprightly and he works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. Again, if we look back for just a moment at Psalm 14 and consider us, we say in our hearts there is no God. From that confession of atheism, a practical version, come abominable works, corruption through and through, evil, viciousness, vileness, mutiny against God and rage against men. Did you hear how Jesus described it there in John 3?

The darkness doesn't want to come to the light. The darkness hates the light. What do you think he's talking about there? He's talking about the people that Nicodemus represented vis-a-vis the Sanhedrin. The darkness don't want to come to Jesus, the light, because the darkness is shown by that light.

So, for a moment, just look at the text and ask the question, based on what we're described as in Psalm 14, is this us? He who walks uprightly? He works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart? The conduct of the Lord Jesus. Go back to Psalm 1. Psalm 1, 1 to 3, blessed is the man. This is Jesus. who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but is delighted in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. You've got the Lord Jesus.

Hebrews 7.26 describes him as holy, harmless, and undefiled, separate from sinners.

Again, brethren, we may try hard to walk uprightly, and I hope we are seeking to work righteousness, and I hope we're speaking the truth in that innermost part of our heart, but man, are we 100% successful on that? The demand of the text is who can enter into the presence of this God. The answer of the text is the man who does these things. There's only one man who's done those things, and it's our Lord Jesus.

The works of the Lord Jesus Christ, how does he characterize it in John's Gospel, for instance? I always do that which is pleasing to my Father. My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me. I always do what is pleasing the Father. That's characteristic of his works. Again, brethren, I'm not suggesting we're the foul fiends of hell, and it never dawns on us that we should actually do something right once in a while, but is your life characterized by that? Is that your orientation? Is that your conversation? Is that your walk? Is that a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, 365-day commitment?

Because if it's not, apart from Christ, you're going to hell because that is the demand. Perpetual, exact, entire obedience. Not partial, not the old college try, not I'm better than them. Don't we do that? Well, I'm not as bad as that guy. Oh, well, you know, heaven should open up for you then. I'm not as bad as Charles Manson. Great, you know, the king of glory. He didn't need to go before you. The heavenly gates are just open because you're not as bad as Charles Manson.

Pretty sick twisted thinking, isn't it? It's just bizarre, but that's what sinners do who are dark and don't want to come to the light because they don't want it exposed. Expose that guy. He's much darker than I am. Notice as well the purity of his words. Verse 3, he who does not backbite with his tongue.

Again, I hope that we're all seeking to not backbite with our tongues. But I don't live in the Pollyannish world of make-believe fairies and pixie dolls. I just don't. I don't, sorry. We do this with our spouses. We do this with our parents. We do this with our children. We do this with brethren. We do this in prayer meetings, because we're so pious, after all.

He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend. The NIV has it, casts no slur on others. The NASB has, nor bring shame on his friends. Even as believers in Christ, having received the imputed righteousness of Jesus. Dare I say it brethren, and if you get offended, sometimes we got some big mouths. big, sinful, yapping mouths.

What does James tell us? That by design, God wants you to listen twice as much as you talk. Notice you don't have two tongues and one ear? You have two ears and one tongue. It is perfectly acceptable at times, dare I say the majority of time, to keep your mouth shut and most people will conclude that you're wise. Your brain could be the functional equivalent of a monkey banging tambourines. But if you're not saying anything, that man's wise. Again, you're thinking about the monkey banging tambourines, but you're being seen as wise.

Brethren, the demand of the text, or rather, the text itself is not saying, this is what you need to shoot for, brethren, in order to get there. This is saying this is what was achieved by Him to get there and that everyone who believes on Him gets there by virtue of Him forgiving you and giving you the righteousness that He accomplished in 2 to 5a. The purity of His words. He didn't backbite others. He did no evil to his neighbor. He did not take up a reproach against his friend.

Can you imagine that? I mean, look at 1 Peter 2, where the apostle Peter applies the prophet Isaiah to our Lord. And in 1 Peter 2, he says this specifically about Jesus. Verse 21, for to you, or rather for to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.

That's Isaiah 53.9.

You've heard it before if you've been here for any amount of time, but I dare say the longer we know each other, the worse we appear to one another. If I asked you a question right now, who do you sin the most against? Married people. You'd probably say my marriage partner, my spouse.

I don't know why that is. I don't understand it, other than Psalm 14. I guess when we're comfortable with each other, we just feel like, sure, I can sin all I want now. So what happens? You say, hey, I do, and I'm just using the marriage relationship, could be a business relationship, could be a friendship. The more you get to know each other, what do you soon realize?

They're not perfect. They're not. Seem like it on the honeymoon, but man, you know, this 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years later, I love them, I love their bones, I am devoted to them, I will die for them, I will kill for them, I will do anything in my power to make them happy and to sustain their life. But this much I do know, they're not perfect.

If you doubt that, come and hang out with me for a day. One day, drive with me, somebody wanted to drive with me in the car. You do not. That would not be under edification. You'd say, this guy's unhinged, and he's weird, because I like to make up songs and sing weird songs. That's just odd to me, but I see it, and I guess just knowing it gives me a little bit of comfort. The longer we know each other, the more we see their blemishes, their faults, their sins, and their problems.

Peter was with Jesus three years. Three years, and he's able to say, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. Whomself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

That is truly amazing. Three years with the Savior and he's able to say he committed no sin. You cannot say that about any other human. You cannot say that about anybody else. You may know holy people, you yourself may be extra holy, but nobody's able to say he's never committed a sin. You could have the word who became flesh and dwelt among us.

David ain't describing David, and David ain't describing us. David is describing Jesus. Notice the purity of his company in verse 4a. In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. Again, we sometimes mess that up, don't we? We don't despise the vile, and we treat with contempt the righteous. We're a fickle lot, even those of us in a state of grace. We're a fickle people. We should be a lot more kind and a lot more loving and a lot more blessed to those who name the name of the Lord than to the God-haters. And yet, at times, we see an inversion. We treat the God-haters with better treatment than we do the God-lovers.

So in whose eyes a vile person is despised, don't let that set you against Jesus or offer him. What do you mean he despises people? Yeah, he hates the workers of iniquity. We've already seen that in Psalm 5. It would be contrary to God's holy nature if he didn't hate wickedness. It'd be contrary to who God is for him to approve of the wretched, the vile, the wicked. The Lord Jesus Christ avoided the wicked, Psalm 1. Again, He doesn't walk, He doesn't sit, He doesn't stand with them. And His condemnation of the wicked, you see it all throughout the Psalms.

I think Psalms 1 and 2 set the stage for all of them. It introduces to us the holy, harmless, unundefiled man, Psalm 1, who is the Son of God by nature, Psalm 2. Psalm 8 gives us that blessed reality that Jesus is that last Adam, that true man, that true humanity. Psalm 15 is another high point in terms of this first section of this altar.

The rest of it is pretty well punctuated with the mind and ministry of Christ. The mind of Christ during His earthly ministry, and when He saw the wicked around Him, He didn't say, well, you know, that's just the way things go. He said, God, smash them. God, destroy them. God, cut them off in their wickedness and vileness. Why? Because Jesus is righteous, and righteousness doesn't have truck with unrighteousness. We should expect this from our blessed Savior. But it's not only the vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord.

I love Psalm 119.63. I am a companion of all who fear you and of those who keep your precepts. Or Jesus in the upper room.

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all things that I heard from my father I have made known to you. Matthew 28, 10, after the resurrection, what does he say? He says, do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. That's Matthew. Mark tells us, go tell my brethren, and Peter. Why do you think that's in Mark? Because Mark and Peter were buddies. And Mark either recorded what Peter preached, or listened to Peter tell him what to write. Remember what Peter did during that Passion Week? Peter denied the Savior. Peter denied his master. Peter denied his Lord.

So in the Markan version, Peter makes sure that Mark includes Anne Peter. Go tell my disciples, Anne Peter, he hasn't been de-discipled. He hasn't been cut off. He hasn't been removed. He hasn't lost it. What he did was vile, but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be fair. Go tell my brethren and Peter." It's beautiful.

Hebrews 2.11, for both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason he, Jesus, is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying. And then the apostle there in Hebrews 2 turns to Psalm 22 as the record of Jesus saying to his brethren. Jesus, he's the subject, the author, the topic, the singer, the composer, the very, the warp and woof of the Psalms is Jesus. And then notice finally the purity of his commitments in 4b to 5a.

Look at that. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. Again, admirable traits. One in all of you that do that. Bless God Almighty. But I dare say the swearing to our hurt pales in significance to the swearing of his own hurt. He knew what the covenant of redemption entailed. He knew what it meant for the father to give him the elect. He knew what it was to go on that mission, to assume our human nature, to dwell among us, to live, to obey, to suffer, to die. He knew that. He swore to his own hurt and never reneged. He knew exactly what lay in wait for him beyond Gethsemane.

And even then, he says, Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Again, a mark of true humanity. True humanity would pray that prayer. We'd expect true humanity to pray that prayer, knowing what's in the cup, the wrath and fury and judgment of God. We would expect him to say, take it from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

He knew exactly what lay behind Gethsemane. He knew exactly what was in Golgotha. He knew exactly, not just the fury of men, creature, wretched, vile, Psalm 14 men, spitting on him, mocking him, scourging him, forcing him on a cross, and subjecting him to gross torture. But he understood what lay between him and the Father.

That's what evokes the cry on the cross, why hast thou forsaken me? It's not why are these wretched Psalm 14 people doing what they're doing, of course he knows that. Why hast thou forsaken me? Christ swore to his own hurt, knowing very well what that entailed.

You remember that covenant ceremony God makes with Abraham? God tells Abraham, you're gonna have a lot of seed, you're gonna have a lot of land. In Genesis 15, what does Abraham say? I want proof, God. Show me proof. We read that, and we say, Abraham, you presumptuous wretch, how dare you ask God? What's God do?

Okay, Abraham, go get some animals, cut the animals in half, put some of the, you know, one half of the animals on that side, one half of the animals on that side. That was ancient Near Eastern covenant. The idea of covenanting is to cut a covenant, and some suggest it's that sacrificial rite involved. You cut the animals, the idea being you put the animals on either side, the covenanters walk between the animals with the message being sent one to another and before God, that if we renege on that covenant, that whatever happened to these animals, may it happen to me. Isn't that exactly what Jesus does? Jesus takes our place, Jesus walks betwixt the animals because we're covenant breakers and we should be cut apart like those animals. Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes that for us.

He swore to his own hurt. Again, there are many instances in the lives of God's people where they make agreements or they enter into covenants and they figure it out that, you know what, this isn't gonna be advantageous for me or beneficial for me, but I'm gonna see it through because of my word. Joshua does that with the Gibeonites. They didn't seek counsel from the Lord. Joshua, you shouldn't have done that.

But he honored the covenant. He honored the agreement. He maintained fidelity. The greater than Joshua, the true Joshua, according to Psalm 15, 4b says, he swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put his money at usury. In other words, he doesn't trample on the downtrodden and poor.

That was the Sanhedrin. That wasn't Jesus. They devour widows. They go in after a husband dies, as ecclesiastical officials, and they tell the widow, well, you just give that money to us and we'll make sure it grows and you're well looked after. No, they trample the downtrodden and the poor. Jesus didn't. Jesus healed. Jesus was good. Jesus was kind. Jesus didn't try to negotiate in an easier way.

Notice at the end of 5B, He doesn't take a bribe against the innocent. but Judas took a bribe against the innocence of Christ, again, you may not ever have that problem. You may not be the sort of person that puts out your money at usury, or you may never have the opportunity to take a bribe against the innocent.

So yeah, good, we're doing good. But this is a description of the one who does these things by nature. These aren't one-offs. You and I might one-off an actual, decent thing in a given day. He doesn't one-off anything. He's characterized by it. This is normative. This is the orientation. That's his righteousness. Note the reception according to 5b.

He who does these things shall never be moved. The covenantal faithfulness of the man. Again, he who does these things. It's only our Lord Jesus Christ who did these things. And again, the beauty of the gospel is wonderful. The gospel isn't me sitting here now saying, this is what is expected of you.

We're gonna close in prayer. Now you better go get busy. You got a lot to do there, two to five A. You got a lot to work out. You got a lot of issues to correct. That wouldn't be gospel, would it? That's not good news. That's prescription, that's law. That's go and try harder and hopefully you'll be accepted by this holy God. The gospel is that Jesus did that. Jesus accomplished that.

Jesus always did what was pleasing to the Father. Jesus never spoke an ill word. Jesus never engaged in a lustful thought. Jesus never looked at internet porn. Jesus never screamed at his wife or screamed at his husband. You get it. Jesus never faltered.

Dare I say it? I don't want to say always because I don't want to hurt you, but most of the time we come up way short in this matter of law. The glory of the gospel, the glory of Jesus, the blessedness of our God is seen in 5B. He who does these things, that's Christ, that's the altogether lovely, that's the chief among 10,000, and that's the one who has big, long, strong arms, and I'm speaking metaphorically, to gather up his elect and bring them into the holy hill of God with him.

The doctrine of justification. He pardons all of our sins. He accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed, given, handed to us, received by faith alone. The faith that God Himself gives us. We need a hand to receive the blessings. We don't have that hand. God gives us that hand, and so we receive the blessings.

So the covenantal faithfulness of the man and the eternal stability of this man, the man who does 2-5a, shall never be moved. This is something desirable in the book of the Psalms. In Psalm 10, the wicked deludes himself that he'll never be moved. In the Psalms, the righteous frets, fears, is concerned about non-stability, immovability. a transitory-ness.

You see, covenant blessing brings covenant blessing. And when Christ performs what Yahweh the Father gives Him, Christ receives all of that benefit. And then Christ, in His mercy, gives it to the likes of us. So that stability in the presence of God, dwelling in the holy hill of God is our blessed reality. That's our future. That's our hope. Psalm 15 is about the righteous man who does what God commands. The psalm and the work of our Lord.

You go back to the Old Testament, you ask the question, how is Jesus described? There's a lot of ways Jesus is described. Isn't that a beautiful study? It's just wonderful, right? We think about it at Christmas time, we get Isaiah 9, 6, and 7. You know, that son born, the government's going to be upon his shoulders. That's a beautiful concept, a beautiful thought. We get Micah 5, same time frame.

Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. He's gonna be born in Bethlehem, Ephrathah. His origin, his goings forth are from everlasting, but he's gonna be born in Bethlehem. How can that possibly be true except for the hypostatic union? You get all these bits and pieces, these descriptions of Jesus.

You get Psalm 110.1. The Lord, Yahweh, said to my Lord, Adonai, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

We get him as son, only begotten son in Psalm 2. You know how Jeremiah describes him? Jeremiah describes him in a way that I think helps us appreciate the contours and the beauty and the blessing of this psalm. In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is his name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness. Jeremiah 23, 6. That's our Jesus. Isn't that what Paul says? He's the wisdom of God.

That is righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31. See, the beauty of gospel, the beauty of justification is the beauty of imputation. God takes our sin, heaps it upon the Savior, and punishes him in our stead, and then takes the righteousness of the Savior and heaps it upon us. It's imputed. It's received by faith alone. Paul deals with this at length in Romans 5. Paul deals with this in 1 Corinthians 1. Paul deals with this in Philippians chapter 3. I'm not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that righteousness which is from God through faith.

The beauty of our religion is not try harder and maybe you'll make it into that holy hill. The beauty of our religion is that Jesus accomplished it. Jesus fulfilled, Jesus did it all, Jesus paid it all. So you guilty sinner look to Jesus in faith and you will receive it all because of God's mercy, God's kindness, God's goodness. And I would say, do what Jesus did. Your works, your words, your commitments, my commitments, my works, my words, we should look like this. We aren't going to look at you perfectly, but if we're in Jesus and we confess the true religion, then you know what? We actually, yeah, I know, it's weird, but we actually have to follow the master. But we want to, right? Who reads this as a believer and says, no, I don't want to do that. I love swearing to my own hurt and then breaking my commitment. I love vile people. I hate those who fear them. None of us do that.

If we're actually Jesus people, we read this description in 2 to 5a and say, Jesus, help me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Guide me by your grace and for your glory. Put wisdom in my heart such that I do that. And then finally, in terms of the placement in the Psalter.

I mentioned Romans 1 a lot. Romans 1 to 3 last week when we looked at Psalm 14. Why? Because Paul does. When he's arguing for the doctrine of total depravity, he goes to various places in the Old Testament and Psalm 14 is a biggie. But it's not just the appeal to Psalm 14 in Romans 3 to make the case of total depravity. But Paul structurally starts Romans the way we see Psalm 14.

Paul starts with, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And it's based on that profession, based on that practical atheism, that all of the unrighteousness and all of the wickedness and all of the lawlessness flows. That's Romans one and two into three, all the way up to verse 20. And then what happens? 321 and following, Paul says, but now, now is the provision of God vis-a-vis his righteousness being witnessed by the law and the prophets, but the righteousness that he demands, he provides in and through his son. That's exactly how Psalm 14 and 15 worked. Here's the problem, Psalm 14. Here's the provision and the answer, Psalm 15. Sinner of Psalm 14, look to the Savior of Psalm 15.

When you look by grace, you're forgiven of all your sins. And the righteousness that he does, is imputed. It's credited to your account so that one day you'll enter in to the holy hill of God Almighty and you'll never be shaken, you'll never be stripped, you'll never be removed, and you'll never be cast out. Praise God for his glorious gospel.

Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the movement that we find here in Psalms 14 and 15. We thank you that the resurrection hope is set forth in Psalm 16 and the Psalm of the Cross coming in Psalm 22. Certainly all of these things teach us and tell us and instruct us about the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. May you draw out from us that worship and praise and adoration to such a gracious and glorious God who has worked such to bring us out of darkness into marvelous light. And we ask for your blessing upon this gospel as it's preached all over the earth today. May it run swiftly and be glorified. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.