Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Psalm 15 | Date: September 3, 2023 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

The Prerequisites for Worship

Regarding the preacher’s job, I recall the words of a man down south years ago who said of his pastor one Sunday that he “quit preaching and done went to meddling.” This passage will do that. I saw a video this past week of John MacArthur, who said to his congregation that some had complained that he had offended some women when he was preaching. Others had complained that he had offended some Muslims when he was preaching. And he said, “I really don’t say much about that. I don’t intentionally single out anyone. I’m here to offend all of you.”

There was an elder in a previous church who reminded us often that the pastor’s job was to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comforted. It is the latter that Psalm 15 does for us this morning. This is a very important passage regarding the marks or the traits of an acceptable worshiper, or we might call it the prerequisites for worship.

Psalm 15, it’s a Psalm of David:

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 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; 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.

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, as we take our time this morning to look into this psalm, which is so probing in its application to us as it searches our minds and our hearts, as well as our behavior, we pray that you will give us humble hearts to hear your word. We pray that through it you will give us a fresh appreciation for our acceptance in Jesus Christ and the great transforming work of the gospel that has been begun in us already. We pray that you’ll bless your word and pursue your word to our hearts this morning, in Jesus’ name, amen.

The outstanding distinction of ancient Israel was that God in grace had made them his people. They were his in terms of their belonging to him. He had made them his particular people, a nation called out from Abraham. He brought them out of Egypt; he brought them to Sinai and gave them the constitution by which this nation would live. He gave his law. They were to obey that law and distinguish themselves by obeying that law as God’s unique people.

At Sinai, God gave them not only rules to live by in a moral or an ethical sense, but he gave them an elaborate system of worship. In fact, it is on that elaborate system of worship that the entire law was founded; Hebrews tells us that. We have then in that system of worship the tabernacle, the priesthood, and approaching God by means of a sacrifice. This is how a sinful people make their way into the presence of a holy God.

All of that was intended to teach a very important lesson. Probably the most leading point of all of that, according to the book of Hebrews in chapter nine, was intended to teach ancient Israel the unapproachability of God. He is a holy God; no one has easy access to him. The priesthood, the necessity of sacrifices in approaching God, the fact that there was a tent with successive curtains finally into the Holy Place in which no one was admitted except the high priest—and that only once a year after certain preparations had been made—all of that, according to the book of Hebrews, is to declare to the people: “Stay back, stay back, you have no right into the presence of this God.”

There’s not only the distance of the infinite Creator to the finite creature, but there are also the ethical barriers of God’s holiness. We have no right to approach. We find that in Exodus chapter 19 when the people were afraid to approach the mountain and where God commanded the people, “You don’t come to the mountain when Moses goes up. I’ve called him up, but don’t you even touch that mountain. If a man or a beast touches that mountain, let him be put to death.” We find it in the construction of the tabernacle, as I’ve mentioned, with the Most Holy Place. God was proclaiming to his people that they must never presume on his presence.

All of that, of course, according to the book of Hebrews and elsewhere in the scriptures, is prospective, showing us that we have no right of access to God, but the way of access to God was made open for us through the work of Jesus Christ. In terms of John chapter 2, through his destroyed and risen body we have access into the temple. We have access into the presence of God. Hebrews chapter 9 refers to the flesh of Jesus, the torn flesh of Jesus, as that veil that was opened up through which we have access into the presence of God. So all of that was prospective of the work of Christ and how we have access to God through him.

Israel was called to come to Jerusalem, specifically to Mount Zion, to the temple to worship, and especially so for the principal feasts that were designated for them. We find that in Deuteronomy chapter 16. So they were called to come to the temple to worship God in his presence. But the worship of God must not be reduced to mere externalism, formalism, or ritual. God does not accept, and he made it clear in his law, the professed worship of just anyone.

Not only is there the distance of Creator and creature, but there are ethical barriers. He is holy; we are not. God had given Israel his law so that they would know how they could live in a way that is pleasing to God. They are not welcome to flout God’s law and then presume that they can enter the presence of God in worship as though he would accept them. God had also given Israel the office of the sage, the wise man. We’ve seen that in our psalm studies on Sunday evenings. The wise man applied the broader aspects of the law to specific situations in personal living. He would apply it in ways that were too fine and too small to make it into the mesh of the law that was given. So he’d apply it in certain ways, taking into consideration issues of the heart, issues of speech, and treatment of neighbor. All of that now is the broader context and the setting, if you will, of Psalm 15.

Worship of God is not detached from ethics or morality. He asks the question at the beginning, “Who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell in your holy hill?” That is, who may be accepted in worship at Mount Zion?

Now the Psalter, as we’ve seen in other places, takes up this question of who may approach God in worship. We saw it particularly in Psalm 1, which we pointed out that for centuries has been recognized as the gateway to the Psalter. Psalm 1 opens the door to the Psalter in the sense that it answers the question: who may sing these praises? Here’s a book of praises to God; who may sing them? And Psalm 1 tells us it’s not the man who walks in the counsel of the ungodly, or stands in the way of sinners, or sits in the seat of the scornful. These praises are to be sung by the one who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates in it day and night. This is for the righteous man.

Some of the Psalms are like that. They’re called “entrance liturgies.” They take up the question, as we have here in verse one: who may sojourn in your tent? Who is allowed in? I think I mentioned it before that one commentator has described these Psalms as though they were written by a Levitical gatekeeper who is warning the wicked, “Proceed no further, you’re not welcome here.” Some Psalms appear to be a work of just that kind of a gatekeeper. They take up the question of what we call entrance liturgies—the question of who may approach God in worship. A more well-known one is Psalm 24: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place?” And the answer is given: “He that has clean hands and a pure heart.”

So these Psalms describe the person who is allowed to participate in the worship of the temple. Consistently, the emphasis is on ethics and behavior. Psalm 15 is one of these entrance liturgies. In fact, it’s the only Psalm that’s given in its entirety to that question: who is allowed into the worship of God? Or we might ask it another way: whom will God accept in worship?

Three Virtues That Are Required

Verse 1 raises the question, “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” And then verses 2 to 5 give us the answer.

First of all, in verse 2, we have three virtues that are required: “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.” Now, these are broad, generalized kinds of characteristics. He’ll get to more specific searching and kind of probing applications as we work our way through, but these are more broad characteristics. It is a summary description of the acceptable worshiper.

He is, first of all, blameless. That doesn’t mean that he’s never had a fault, but the idea is that it is his character and his reputation. But it is not just his reputation; it is his character as well. We might in fact be able to point to mistakes that he has made or failures at certain points, but here is a man who’s not marked by being called to repent. Here’s a man whose life generally and broadly is given to what is right. You can’t point to him and say, “Now there’s a guy you shouldn’t be like.” This guy’s blameless.

The second part of the verse is generally the same: “He does what is right.” That is, he’s principled. He’s consistent in his behavior. He’s, as we’ll see, willing to be inconvenienced to fulfill responsibilities. He’s willing to be inconvenienced to do what is right.

And then the last part of verse two is a little bit narrower: “He speaks truth in his heart.” He’s not only principled in his speech, but he’s inwardly upright as well. Notice it doesn’t say he speaks truth to his neighbor, although that’s certainly implied and a ramification of it. He speaks truth in his heart. So not only does he speak truthfully to others, he doesn’t rationalize and scheme in his mind. He’s principled and he’s without hypocrisy; he makes no excuses for sins. He calls it by the numbers. He speaks truth in his heart. So the idea of verse two is that he’s a man of integrity. He behaves, he talks, and he thinks in keeping with his profession of faith.

Three Vices That Disqualify

Then we come to verse three. Here are three vices that disqualify. There’s a negative description of the acceptable worshiper. Verse three: “Who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend.”

The idea here is integrity, but not just integrity of heart; it is integrity with regard to his neighbor specifically. Whether it’s a close friend or a casual friend, he is marked by integrity in his dealings with them. Again, he’s principled. He won’t speak ill of his neighbor. He doesn’t slander with his tongue, does no evil to his neighbor, and doesn’t take up a reproach against his friend. He doesn’t speak ill of him, he doesn’t cheat him, he won’t lie, and he won’t deceive him. He won’t do anything that would in any way disadvantage his neighbor.

He’s always careful to protect his neighbor’s reputation. He’s careful to protect his neighbor’s friendship and relationship. He won’t dig up dirt on his neighbor. And if he hears a rumor, he doesn’t pursue it, and he certainly doesn’t spread it. He does not slander with his tongue. He does no evil to his neighbor. He takes up no reproach against his friend.

We have this insidious tendency to speak ill of others, even our friends. And we have this horrible sense in our hearts that if I can cut you off at the knees, I’ll stand taller. That’s a heavy concern in the wisdom literature in the Old Testament. Proverbs has a lot to speak about it. Proverbs chapter six says this is one of the people God hates; it’s an abomination to him. He sows discord; he gossips. And Psalm 15 is telling us here that that kind of person is unfit for worship. Don’t do that and pretend to come to God in worship as though he will accept you.

Two More Virtues That Are Required

In verse four, we have two more virtues that are required: “In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord.” And second: “Who swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

Now the first part of the verse here is an important caution for us in a day of idolized celebrities and stars. A righteous man does not admire sinners. A righteous man does not admire vile people. He despises them. He honors instead those who fear God. When you find yourself in deep admiration of Hollywood celebrities, ask yourself the question: What is God’s estimate of these people? Are these people that he accepts, or are these people that he rejects? Or more broadly, just who are the people that you admire? Are they people that God values and esteems, or are they people that he rejects? With whom do you identify most closely? Who are the ones that you give honor to?

We need this in a day of pop celebrities and stars in our culture. It’s in our face all the time, where we end up admiring those who have no fear of God. We tend to overlook what God values. We idolize worldly celebrities and we fail to notice the supernatural workings of God in the hearts and the lives of people like in this congregation.

Who are the people that God esteems highly? Who are the ones that he honors? We look at celebrities and they are in this limelight—”Oh, look who’s there, there’s so-and-so.” And we fail to remember that the men and women that God esteems and that God honors are people just like these people sitting in the congregation with you. People who fear God, people who pursue godliness, people in whom there’s been a transforming work of grace and you see it in their lives. They’ll inconvenience themselves for the sake of others; they’re faithful; they’re persevering; they’ll serve in the congregation; they’ll serve outside of the collective congregation; and they do it at their own inconvenience. They spend a good portion of their money advancing the work of the gospel. The true greats in God’s estimation are just these kinds of people.

We have this tendency to overlook what God honors, and he says the man who is acceptable in worship is the man in whose eyes the vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord. So in verse four, the first part of the verse, we must learn to esteem people as God does. God honors those who honor him, and we must honor the same way.

The second part of the verse: “Who swears to his own hurt and does not change.” Fascinating way to say it. He swears to his own hurt and does not change. That is, he keeps his word at all costs. He makes a vow; he keeps it. His marriage vows, his financial obligations—he makes a vow, he keeps it. His word is his bond. He obligates himself to something; he’s bound to it, even if it costs him. He’s trustworthy.

In 1985, Kim and I moved to Pennsylvania. I was the pastor of a small church there. At the time, the church was not able to pay me a living wage. It was really low. And a wealthy man told me, “You go ahead, you go there, I’ll pay your first year’s rent, maybe your second.” So on the basis of that, we went. And then he didn’t make as much money as he thought he would on this expected deal, and the money never came, and we tumbled into debt. We were years and years getting out of it. And this kind of passage has really caught my attention in that regard. We make an obligation to someone, we keep it. He swears to his own hurt.

Two More Disqualifying Vices

In verse five, we have two more disqualifying vices. First: “Who does not put out his money at interest.” And second: “Does not take a bribe against the innocent.”

Now in the first part of the verse, I think the poor, the extremely poor, the destitute are in view here. He’s not forbidding lending institutions for business; I don’t think that’s what’s in view. But when a poor man needs money, this righteous man lends that money, but he lends it as an act of charity, not as an investment opportunity. He lends out his money to help the needy, but not to enrich himself. It’s an act of charity. He’s a man of integrity. He’s principled by grace, and he refuses to make a profit out of another man’s misery. He won’t create an additional burden for the poor man, and he lives by the principle that he professes: “Freely you have received, freely give.” He doesn’t put out his money at interest. He won’t disadvantage the poor to help himself.

The second part of the verse: neither will he bear false witness for monetary gain. “He does not take a bribe against the innocent.” He won’t bear false witness for monetary gain. In the ancient culture, it was accepted practice throughout that you could bribe the officials, and the wealthy could gain advantage over the disadvantaged poor in court and other legal proceedings. It was just a matter of course. And David says here that the acceptable worshiper fears God and he seeks always to reflect the character of God in his own behavior. So, in verse 5, if we would worship God acceptably, we will not disadvantage the poor for personal gain.

So then we have in verses two to five ten ethical requirements. I think it is intended to reflect the Decalogue—not in terms of its content, but in terms of its ten. Ten commandments, and now we have these ten ethical requirements. These are marks, the characteristics of those who may acceptably enter God’s presence. The question in verse one: who can enter God’s tent? Who can stay there and worship God? Who’s acceptable? The answer is these 10 ethical requirements. Requirements bearing on our speech, our behavior with regard to our neighbor, and the use of our money.

And then the last part of verse 5, he concludes: “He who does these things shall never be moved.” That is, moved off of Mount Zion or excluded in worship. He’s accepted of God.

All right, what do we make then of all of these? Well, a couple of things. One, it is interesting, I think, that regarding these marks of an acceptable worshipper, David doesn’t make one mention of the “big ones.” Nothing here of “he doesn’t murder,” “doesn’t commit adultery,” “doesn’t steal”—the big ones. We have things that are more ethically subtle than that, more easily disguised, and that’s what he presses: taking advantage of others, gossiping, breaking vows, keeping your word. The acceptable worshipper is marked by integrity. These requirements are not the big ones; they cut deeper than all of that, and they search our hearts.

I think it’s also important that in this list of qualifications, or this list of conditions for acceptable worship, there’s nothing mentioned here of liturgy. Nothing of ritual, religious performance, or going through the motions of religion. There’s nothing here of “the acceptable worshipper is a pastor of the church” or “the acceptable worshipper is one who attends church at least three times a month.” There’s nothing of that. There’s nothing of “the acceptable worshipper is one who serves in an official capacity of the church.”

And I think the reason for that is that these outward forms can be—they need not be, but they can be—a disguise for mere religiosity. The acceptable worshiper is a person of integrity. He lives the faith that he professes. One characteristic of wide swaths of professing Christianity today is that their faith is just a mere profession. It’s a mere formality. You see it in the political world. They can promote everything against the scriptures and everything against their own church, and then they can say, “Well, I’m a Christian” or “I’m a Catholic” or whatever.

I don’t watch or listen to country-western music really, but I have noticed over the years several times I’ve heard country music stars saying—this must be a thing with them, I don’t know, because I’ve heard it several times—well, these people tend to be more of an evangelical flavor, you know, they attend those kinds of churches. And they say, “We go to church on Sunday and we like that because we can go out and sin on Saturday night and go to church Sunday morning and find forgiveness.” And they laugh. It’s a mockery. And not too many people are so bold as to say it that way, but for so many in the back of their minds, that’s what we think.

Psalm 15 reminds us that no one can barge into God’s presence and assume acceptance. Not just anyone is welcome. God is holy. He demands a corresponding holiness. “Be holy as I am holy.” And only those kinds of people are accepted. This is in fact a familiar theme in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We won’t take time to go there, but if you would like to, those of you taking notes, mark down Ecclesiastes chapter 5 in the opening verses there. He exhorts along the same lines. I’ll just read it for you:

Guard your steps when you go into the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

That is, they offer the sacrifices as prescribed, but they don’t know that they’re doing something that’s evil—divinely prescribed sacrifices, divinely prescribed liturgy—and as they do it, they are doing evil because they have gone in the wrong way.

Verse two: Do not be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are in earth. Therefore let your words be few. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

And so on. So here is a worshipper going to the temple, and he’s offering his sacrifice, he’s doing what God has prescribed, and God says, “I hate it, just go away, you’re doing evil.” Because they approach with a sinful heart and a sinful life behind it.

We have the same thing in Isaiah chapter one. Again, I can’t take time to go to it, but it’s a graphic passage in this regard, where God, through the prophet, issues this stern rebuke to the nation of Israel. Their sins—they’ve forgotten me, they’ve forgotten my law—and then they come to worship and they offer their sacrifices and God says, “It’s just an abomination to me. Take your sacrifices and go home. I don’t want your worship.” You don’t dare go to God in a pretense of worship when we have a life like that behind it.

And we have the same, in case you’re wondering, in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, where the Apostle Paul gives the instructions regarding the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Remember how that had been mishandled in Corinth, in the church? We had people that were going early and not waiting for the others, and in their fellowship meal they were gorging themselves and taking all that they wanted and leaving very little for the poor people that had to work and come late. Paul says to them:

Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died.

So, to put this in plain language: You mistreat your spouse all week. You mistreat your children all week. And all week long, you live a self-centered life without a thought for God’s law. And then you come and you stand behind the hymnal. And you think God accepts worship? Psalm 15 tells us that God is repulsed by a pretense in worship. Pretense in worship may be hidden from others, but it isn’t hidden from God. And until we come to Him with a heart and a life of submission to Him, our worship is just a show, and it’s just a sham.

Now once we’ve said all of that, you think, “Wow, can I come to church?” It’s frustrating. It pushes us into a corner. We just got through with Psalm 14, which told us no one does good. And now we come to Psalm 15, and if you’re not good, don’t pretend to worship. What do you do with that?

And in point of fact, keeping these ten requirements here that David gives us is not enough. There’s more. Nothing less than perfect obedience to all that God has required in purity in heart and in life. We must love God with our whole heart and soul and mind without interruption. We must love our neighbor as ourselves without interruption. What do we do with that then? Can I still go to church?

We get pushed into that corner, don’t we? I live sinfully. My worship’s not acceptable, but yet I’m called to worship. I’m called to corporate worship, and I’m called to come with the people of God and sing. What do I do?

And I think at this point, we have to be careful to recognize the function of these so-called entrance liturgies in the larger biblical perspective. There was one person who lived up to all that God required. And only one. In heart and in life, the Lord Jesus was and he did all that God calls us to be and to do. He is the one—we have it said from God himself—he is the one with whom God was well pleased. And viewed in a whole-Bible perspective, these entrance liturgies just inevitably drive us to Jesus.

How can I then have acceptable worship? How can I go to God? How can I stand behind a hymnal and sing and expect God to accept my worship? There’s one answer. The Lord Jesus Christ has stood in my place. All my sin has gone to him, and all his righteousness has become mine. And to boot, he has given me his Spirit, who has begun a good work in me, and he’s begun the transformation of my heart. It’s not done yet. I know it. But that work has begun, and one day it’ll be complete.

And the psalm drives us then to see that on the one hand, I cannot come in pretense of worship; I cannot approach God on my own terms, but must approach on his terms. And yet at the same time, I recognize that I’ll never meet it. I need a redeemer, and he has given us his Son for just that. So Psalm 15 reminds us that in Christ we have not only justification and acceptance before God, but in Christ we have transformation also. There are those twin promises of the gospel: acceptance and transformation. Not one without the other; both. Twin promises of the gospel: acceptance and transformation.

And Psalm 15 reminds us that apart from that transformation, we can claim acceptance all we like, but our worship is not accepted. Our claim to faith in Jesus Christ puts demands on us to live as he has directed. And in him, then, our worship is acceptable.