Introduction

In this psalm, David is defining for us the type of person who can enjoy being in God's presence. David is not talking about how to be forgiven of your sins and reconciled to God! He is not describing the means by which we have access to God, but rather how the life of the person who has access to God looks like. These moral declarations are not conditions for acceptance with God. They are the consequence of it. Thus, David is not talking about requirements for entrance into the kingdom on the part of those outside, but about enjoyment of the King on the part of those on the inside.

The question David is asking, then, is this: "Who will enjoy God's fellowship? Who will commune with God? Who will dwell with him on his holy hill" (v. 1)? God cannot and will not abide in the presence of, nor bless, moral corruption (see Ps. 5:4-7).

Ps. 5:4-7 (ESV) – For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. ⁵The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. ⁶You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. ⁷But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

What David describes here is the person who has come to know the steadfast love of God through faith in Jesus Christ. This person is the one who stands before God because Jesus stands before God.

David lists ten characteristics of the person who will abide in God's tent and dwell on his holy hill. The ESV translates verse 1 as:

"O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?"

The description that follows is the description of the obedient person. The person who obeys God because he/she has been transformed by his grace because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The person who obeys God in all matters of life, including in the things we consider very small. As it is so true everywhere in the Bible, enjoyment of God and happiness is tied to obedience to his Word.

I. The First Characteristic Is Blamelessness, 2a.

A. The word translated uprightly is elsewhere translated blameless or blamelessly.

Ps. 18:23 – I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity.

B. Now, we often try to explain this word in terms of being our goal, of being something we are to aim for, but are never able to attain.

C. However, that is not how the Bible uses the word blameless.

1. People are described as blameless.

Ps. 18:23 – I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity.

Job 1:8 – Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?"

Lk. 1:6 – And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. (Zechariahs and Elizabeth)

2. People are commanded to be blameless.

Phil. 2:14 – Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

3. In identifying a man who can serve as an elder, the church is to look for a blameless man.

1 Tim. 3:2 – A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach.

4. Thus, the biblical evidence requires us to say that blamelessness is achievable in this life and, even further, that it must be a characteristic of every Christian.

D. The reason we don't think of blamelessness as something achievable is that we think of it as perfect sinlessness.

1. We know that the Scriptures teach that no one will be sinless on this side of glory.

2. Passages such as Romans 7 makes it very clear.

E. So, the question remains: what does it mean, then?

1. The closest English word to blamelessness is integrity.

2. This word is something of a summary of all that follows.

3. Integrity here does not mean sinless, but it does describe a person who by God's grace sins less.

4. It refers to one who is whole, complete, sound.

II. The Second Characteristic Is Doing What Is Right, 2b.

A. Working righteousness means just that, doing what is right.

1. We tend to think of righteousness as a substance that can be transferred from person to person or quantified.

2. Yet, righteousness is a fancy term for doing what is right.

3. Think how this works in our justification.

a. Christ obeyed every jot and every tittle of the law of God, that is, he did what was right.

b. When we place our trust in Jesus, that is, in whom he is and what he has done, we are united to him.

c. God the Father now sees Christ's doing right as our doing what is right.

d. By virtue of our union with Christ, the Father declares us to be doers of what is right.

B. The emphasis in our passage, however, is on doing what is righteous, rather than being declared so.

1. Doing what is right and lawful and good and honest is extremely pleasing to God, whether it be in private or public, in the church or at work.

2. As think about doing what is right, we need to keep in mind that God is concerned with the little things no less than with the big ones.

3. An example of something that we might consider a little thing is what God says about weights and measures.

Pro. 11:1 – Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.

a. It's stunning to think that God views everything we do or think in life as either an abomination or a delight!

b. We must ask this question: Do we regard minor misrepresentations in business or shopping or speaking as only part of the game everyone plays, or do we regard them as an abomination to God?

c. How big is our God? The answer to this question will determine how we think of sin and obedience.

III. Third, He Speaks Truth in His Heart, 2c.

A. There is a correspondence between what he thinks on the inside and what he says on the outside.

B. This person doesn't resort to hypocrisy, artificial praise, or flattery.

C. When he speaks, he speaks the truth.

Eph. 4:29 – Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

IV. Fourth, He Does not Slander with His Tongue, 3a.

A. The word slander literally means to spy out, in the sense that one goes looking for things in the life of another to use against them.

B. This includes gossiping

1. We tend to think very lightly of gossip.

2. Yet it is a very destructive sin.

Rom. 1:28-32 – And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Pro. 16:28 – A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

V. The Fifth and Sixth Characteristics Are Related – He Does no Evil to His Neighbor, Neither Does He Take up a Reproach against His Friend, 3.

A. Here he refers to both initiating and rejoicing in gossip.

B. His point is that the person of integrity will neither contribute to slander nor tolerate it.

C. Spurgeon said, "If there were no gratified hearers of ill-reports, there would be an end of the trade of speaking them."

1. Not only are we not to propagate gossip or slander, but we are not to listen to it either.

2. Without demand, the supplier will have to stop.

VI. Seventh, This Person Is One in Whose Eyes a Vile Person Is Despised but Who Honors Those Who Fear the Lord, 4a.

A. The vile person is someone known for his/her practice of evil.

1. Someone hardened in perversity.

2. Someone unrepentant and proud of his/her sin.

B. Whom do you admire? Whom do you praise?

1. Try to envision what society (not to mention the church!) would be like if we all suddenly ceased to praise, honor, reward, show deference or grant special privileges to the reprobates of our world, particularly those in Hollywood, the sports world, and in politics.

2. Envision a society where those who feared the Lord were honored.

3. We may not be able to make our society into that in our generation, but that could be the church!

VII. Eighth, He Swears to His Own Hurt and Does not Change, 4b.

A. The NIV renders this, "He keeps his oath even when it hurts!"

B. In other words, his word is more important than his wallet.

C. For this person, integrity has no price tag.

1. He's willing to make material and physical sacrifices to be honest.

2. Often, if there is no risk of loss or painful consequences, one will never know if one has integrity.

3. One will never know if what motivates you is moral conviction or moral convenience until you are forced to suffer loss for standing your ground or keeping your word.

D. This also speaks of keeping your word, your promises even when money is not at stake.

E. The person who enjoys the Lord is a person of his/her word.

VIII. Ninth, He Does not Put out His Money at Interest, 5a.

Dt. 23:19-20 – You shall not charge interest to your brother -- interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

Lk. 6:34-35 – And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

A. The primary aim of this OT legislation was to protect the poor.

B. In other words, it was motivated by compassion.

C. For an Israelite to charge interest on loans made to a fellow-Israelite would aggravate the crisis that had produced the need for obtaining the loan in the first place, driving him yet deeper into debt.

IX. Finally, He Does not Take a Bribe against the Innocent, 5b.

A. Often the poor were taken to court and exploited by the rich who could easily afford to pay a bribe to thwart justice.

B. But the blameless man will not allow that to happen.

Dt. 16:19-20 – You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

C. These last two characteristics show that the one who enjoys the Lord is compassionate just like the Good Samaritan was and that he is involved in ministries of mercy.

Application

· And what profit is there in integrity?

A. David's answer is "He who does these things shall never be moved" (15:5).

B. Moved from what? Most likely, the promise is that this individual will never cease to sojournin God's tent (v. 1) or fail to dwell on God's holy hill ( v. 1).

· Of what, then, does integrity consist?

1. A person of integrity fulfills his/her promises – being true to one's word, especially when doing so is costly (in terms of money, convenience, physical welfare, etc.) is a core characteristic of integrity.

2. A person of integrity speaks the truth, is honest, and does not lie.

3. A person of integrity is a person of sincerity – that is to say, a person of integrity hates hypocrisy.

4. A person of integrity manifests a wholeness of character, including kindness, compassion, mercy, and gentleness.

5. A person of integrity is committed to the pursuit and maintenance of justice and fairness.

6. A person of integrity loves as, when, and what God loves.

7. A person of integrity is humble – he/she shuns pride and arrogance.

8. A person of integrity is law-abiding – he/she plays by the rules, both in the Bible and the law of the land.

9. A person of integrity is fundamentally selfless.

a. That is to say, they are committed not simply to laws and rules but to people.

b. Could a selfish person have much integrity?

c. What about someone who is honest, law-abiding, and fulfills his/her promises but is self-absorbed and egocentric?

d. Does the latter eliminate the possibility of integrity?

10. A person of integrity manifests a high degree of consistency – that is to say, he/she is not always changing the principles on the basis of which they live, unless compelled to do so by the Bible or rational persuasion.

Conclusion

Ultimately, a person of integrity is a person who trusts in Jesus Christ for her salvation.

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