From Glory To Glory: The Story Of Christ In Psalms 15–24 (Part 2)—Psalm 15 And The Law’s Demand For Perfection

by on August 2, 2025 | Comment

We tread carefully when we enter an important space. Moses stopped cold and removed his shoes when he came near the burning bush. Israel’s high priests knew they stepped on hallowed ground as they entered the holy of holies. We too tend to mind practices of silence and care, for instance, even when we enter the office of an important official, and all the more a site of Christian significance.

We know that not everyone ought to be in important places. We know that it is a privilege to venture into holy space. We also know that the privilege is not really one that we have earned. The privilege to come before God and to receive blessings from him feels outside our grasp because we do not deserve it on our own merits.

Psalm 15 raises this question for us concerning God’s presence. “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” Who is allowed to abide with God and to enjoy his presence in his dwelling?1 The question is genuine. Who can really do this? Who can ever obtain such a privilege?

We should remember this series’ scope. We are exploring Psalms 15–24 to see how they tell the story of Christ’s incarnate ministry. Psalm 15 points us to two truths. First, as we remember that the Psalter teaches about the law and the gospel, Psalm 15 instructs us that entering God’s presence requires righteous standing. In one sense, it is about the law’s demands. Second, it is about Christ’s ascension, as he has already entered God’s presence. In this sense, it is about the gospel in that Christ has fulfilled the law’s demands and grants us entry with him into God’s blessed presence.

A Simple Answer

Psalm 15 unfolds in three parts. First, in verse 1, it asks that question about what is required to have access to God. Then, it provides an answer in verses 2–5. Finally, the last line states the result or promise related to meeting those conditions just described.2 All things considered, Psalm 15 is about who can come before the Lord in blessing.

The opening question frames the concern of this psalm as well as the main topic of Psalms 15–24. David asks,

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?

Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

The question is one that resounds in the heart of every person who has not suppressed the truth so much as to have numbed their conscience entirely. It amounts to the same thing that Luther asked: How can a sinner be right with a holy God?

Nevertheless, we know that nowhere else will satisfy us besides knowing the Lord in blessing. As Augustine so famously put it, “Our hearts are restless until they find peace in you.”3 So, Psalm 15 sets before us the goal for each of our lives. Namely, to find the path to come before God and be welcomed in blessing.

The answer to that question about who may enter God’s presence is rather simple. David explains it in verses 2–5:

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.

The answer is a description of the righteous person. The man who enters God’s presence is blameless. He acts without reproach, speaks with pure godliness, treats his neighbor well, and also rejects wickedness.

Just because the answer is simple does not mean it is easy to achieve. Nevertheless, this answer brings us back to Psalm 1 and the description of the blessed man. Psalm 1 tells us that the blessed man

walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night. (Ps 1:1–2)

This big-picture description portrays the principles of the righteous man’s life. Psalm 15 goes into greater detail about what these principles mean.

Psalm 15 connects to Psalm 1 in explaining the nature of blessing as well. The man who walks in the ways of Psalm 1 is blessed. Psalm 15 shows us what the content of that blessing is. The highest blessing is entry before the Lord himself.

Psalm 15 closes with that statement of reward for practicing righteousness in the way of Psalm 1 and Psalm 15. David says, “He who does these things shall never be moved.” The result of performing righteousness is unshakable access to God himself. The one who fulfills the law cannot be put out from entering God’s holy hill. In fact, God will welcome him!

Psalm 15 reminds us that life’s highest end is God’s presence.4 That is the most fitting pursuit of all that we do. It sets before us the goal of ascending God’s mountain to dwell in his tent and to meet him in blessing.

The Law’s Demand

We mentioned in the series introduction that Psalms 1 and 2 teach that the whole book of the Psalms is about the law and the gospel. Psalm 15 is first an instruction about the law.5 It is an entrance liturgy, used in services about entering God’s presence, and it aims to reinforce an ethical point.6 The point is about who may enter God’s presence.7

The bulk of this psalm points to how righteousness is the requirement to enjoy God’s presence in his house.8 There are ten criteria listed here, which suggests a purposeful reminder of the ten commandments.9 This psalm is about how righteousness is required to enter the presence of God and to dwell in his tent.

John Goldingay argues that this requirement is to show that someone must have righteousness relative to the community.10 In other words, he thinks this psalm is about how God accepts someone who looks good compared to those around him or her, especially when the backdrop is an unrighteous society.

We get a better, more grounded theological perspective by considering Israel’s encounter with God when he revealed his law. As Israel gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai with God’s presence at the top, Exodus 19:12–13 says, “Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.”11 At Sinai, God forbade every sinner from even touching his mountain. So we see that the requirement for entering God’s presence is not relative righteousness (that we be better than those around us)—rather, the law demands perfect righteousness for entering God’s presence.

Thus, we see why the question about who may enter God’s presence drives reflection for ten whole psalms. The tension is that the only thing that will satisfy us ultimately is God’s presence. Yet, the requirements as Psalm 15 expresses them are not even about avoiding the most heinous sins. These are in everyday affairs of how we treat one another, being blamelessness in how we speak to and about others. The person described in Psalm 15 is the righteous person who is honest and fair with their resources. We need perfection even in the minutiae of our moral lives. How then are we to realize our desire to enter God’s presence?

The answer to who may enter God’s presence is simple: the one who performs perfect righteousness. The problem is that it is not easy to meet that condition. Indeed, for sinners it is impossible. Thus, we need to consider how this Psalm points us to the one who has met these conditions in our place, Jesus Christ the righteous. Psalm 15 is ultimately about him. Our next article will take up that point.

Notes

  1. James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, 2 vol., Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 1:201.
  2. Carissa Quinn, The Arrival of the King: The Shape and Story of Psalms 15–24, Studies in Scripture and Biblical Theology, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2023), 40; Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms, 3 vol. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic Press, 2011–16), 1:387; John Goldingay, Psalms, 3 vols., Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006–8), 1:223; Hamilton, Psalms, 1:205.
  3. Saint Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, trans. Rex Warner (New York, NY: Signet Classics, 1963), 1.1.
  4. Quinn, Arrival of the King, 162.
  5. Bruce K. Waltke and James M. Houston with Erika Moore, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010), 291, 296; Bruce K. Waltke and Fred G. Zaspel, How to Read and Understand the Psalms (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023), 413–15, 424.
  6. Waltke, Houston, and Moore, Psalms, 231.
  7. Ross, Psalms, 1:386–87, 394–95; Goldingay, Psalms, 1:219.
  8. Hamilton, Psalms, 1:204; Ross, Psalms, 1:389, 395; Quinn, Arrival of the King, 36, 40–41; Goldingay, Psalms, 1:224l.
  9. Christopher Ash, The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary, 4 vol. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 2:161; Waltke and Zaspel, How to Read and Understand the Psalms, 426.
  10. Goldingay, Psalms, 1:220–21.
  11. Waltke and Zaspel, How to Read and Understand the Psalms, 423.

© Harrison Perkins. All Rights Reserved.

You can find this whole series here.

RESOURCES

Heidelberg Reformation Association
1637 E. Valley Parkway #391
Escondido CA 92027
USA
The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Subscribe to the Heidelblog today!


Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments are welcome but must observe the moral law. Comments that are profane, deny the gospel, advance positions contrary to the Reformed confession, or that irritate the management are subject to deletion. Anonymous comments, posted without permission, are forbidden. Please use a working email address so we can contact you, if necessary, about content or corrections.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.