Who has a Relationship with God? Psalms 15-17

 Psalms 15 (ESV)

1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?

Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right

and speaks truth in his heart;

3 who does not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,

but who honors those who fear the LORD;

who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

5 who does not put out his money at interest

and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

Who has a Relationship with God?

A major issue for the church today and their failure to connect with the world around is not our style of worship.  It is not the friendliness of our actions.  It is not comfort of our buildings.  It is not even the hypocrisy of our members that drive people away (although all these things ought not be roadblocks).   The major issue for the church today in our connectivity with the world soured us, is that the world around us does not think it needs God because it is full of sin.  In the above psalm, King David asks a very, very important question:  Who shall sojourn in your tent?  Who shall dwell on your holy hill?   Now, David could be speaking of the earthly Tabernacle.  Remember, the Temple was not built at this point.  But, he could also, as the writer of Hebrews tells us, be speaking of the tent of heaven:

Hebrews 8:1-2 (ESV)

Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant

1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

David is more likely thinking of dwelling with God, in a personal relationship.   Who is able to dwell with God? Only those who are pure.  Note the various ways David describes this pure life:

1.  Walking blameless.

2. Speaking truth in your heart. 

3. No slander with the heart. 

4. No attacking and being vengeful to your neighbor.

5. Despising those who reject God and honoring those who worship God. 

6. Someone who keeps their vows to God, no matter the cost to self. 

7.  Walks in integrity in regard to money and business with others. 

This type of person shall not be moved.   Well, that is the issue with the church.  We not only do these things, we don’t paint that type of picture to their world as to what is wrong with them and why they need a Savior; a Mediator.   People won’t come to Christ unless they feel as though they need a mediator.  When Christ saves us, He purifies our heart so that the above list can be true in our lives.  It is not true in our lives everyday.  We will still sin, but faith in Christ empowers us to live this way and removes the penalty from us when we can’t.