In the following article you will find a brief commentary on Psalm 15 that goes along with our Riverside Church Two Year Bible Reading Plan (Volume 1 & Volume 2). This plan will allow you to read the New Testament and Psalms once every year and the Old Testament once every two years.
Dwelling with God
Psalms like this one present a problem for most of us. If the conduct required here is a description of what I must do to successfully come before God, then I think I may be in trouble. Can I say that my walk is blameless and that I always speak the truth in my heart?
There are two thoughts to help us in light of the New Testament. First, we can thank God that Christ is indeed blameless and that we are in Christ. We can confidently come before God because of what God has done for us in Christ. This is not, as it might seem, a violation of the OT passage. The author, David, was speaking in faith based on an OT understanding of covenant. He was keeping God’s covenant in faith and was counted as righteous before God. We now have even more confidence based on a better covenant.
Secondly, there is an emphasis here on walking, on living, righteously. There is an invitation here to walk in a manner to invite the presence of God. It helps one to think, ‘God dwells with me and his fullness is in me as I walk in holiness.’ There is not self-righteous illusion that this is self-righteousness, but simply a reminder that God is pleased as I live to please him, and his presence remains.
