From Glory To Glory: The Story Of Christ In Psalms 15–24 (Part 3)—Psalm 15 And Christ As Our Pioneer Into God’s Presence

by on August 9, 2025 | Comment

Since purchasing a home, the world of do-it-yourself repairs and upgrades has hit me hard in the face. I often find myself with a vague sense of how to complete the task in front of me, yet I know I cannot do it myself. I have a set of friends whom I call often. The question is always, “What do I do?” Often, they say, “I will come help.” They end up contributing to the task by going before me in it, showing me what to do rather than just steering me the right way.

Psalm 15 points to this truth about Christ. The question that drives this whole psalm is, “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” (Ps 15:1) This question also reverberates throughout the whole run of Psalms 15–24.

Hence, we are studying Psalms 15–24 as a block, aiming to see how they tell the story of the incarnate Christ and his saving work. Psalm 15 is the triumphant opening to that story—triumphant in that it starts at the end of the story. It starts on the note about who has already ascended God’s mountain and entered his tent. It starts the story on the note of Christ’s ascension.

A Threefold Application

Psalm 15 serves at least three roles in our lives.1 First, it prompts us to repentance. The previous article argued that Psalm 15 instructs us about the law in that it teaches how the requirement to enter God’s presence is perfect righteousness. When we see this condition, we should realize that we can never meet it. It reminds us of Heidelberg Catechism 4–5:

What does the Law of God require of us?
Christ teaches us in sum, Matt 22: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (22:38, 39, 40)
Can you keep all this perfectly?
No, for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbor.

So, we ought to flee to the Lord in confession of our sin. We know that we fall dreadfully short of these requirements listed for us in Psalm 15.

Second, Psalm 15 motivates us unto greater resolution for new obedience. It sets before us the pattern of the Christian life as we follow God. While the Spirit does cultivate in our hearts the desire to be faithful to our redeemer, we know we cannot earn entry into God’s presence by our own works. Yet, we still have great reason to renew our faithfulness. Heidelberg Catechism 86 explains:

Since then we are redeemed from our misery by grace through Christ, without any merit of ours, why should we do good works?
Because Christ, having redeemed us by His blood, also renews us by His Holy Spirit after His own image, that with our whole life we show ourselves thankful to God for His blessing, and also that He be glorified through us; then also, that we ourselves may be assured of our faith by the fruits thereof; and by our godly walk win also others to Christ.

By our best efforts in following Christ, we show that we do not despise him who has performed the work to earn that blessing for us.

Third, Psalm 15 instills in us gratitude for what Christ has done for us. Indeed, only Christ fulfills perfectly these covenant requirements. They demand perfect obedience, and only Christ has perfectly kept the law.2 So, we see a description of what Christ has accomplished. We turn now to reflect more upon this use of Psalm 15.

The Righteous King Ascends

In considering the description of the law in Psalm 15, we need to realize that Christ has already done these things and ascended the mountain of the Lord. Psalm 2:6, which is about God’s messianic king, Jesus Christ himself, also tells us about God’s holy hill: “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”3 God has already set his king upon his mountain. For this reason, the early church often associated Psalm 15 with Christ’s ascension.4 Christ has already been set on God’s mountain, having proved himself by his perfect obedience during his life.

The story told in Psalms 15–24 then begins on the note that Christ has climbed God’s holy mountain, entered his tent, and stands there to intercede for us. His ascension is the event upon which Psalm 15 reflects. Still, the emphasis is more upon why he got to ascend rather than on that he ascended.

The Reformed have a doctrine called the imputation of Christ’s active obedience. Christ forgave our sin by dying on the cross and paying the penalty for our sin. But he did more than that. He also fulfilled every obligation that we have for gaining entry to God’s presence.

Imagine that you have an invitation to stay at the most lavish hotel on earth, full of everything enjoyable. It only costs ten million dollars. The trouble is that you are not only lacking that ten million dollars, but you are also ten million dollars in debt. To enter this place, you not only need to overcome what you owe but also come up with a positive balance to meet the entry requirements.

When Christ died for us, he paid our debts. Our sin meant that we had accrued the debt of a death penalty, having transgressed God’s holiness. But entry into God’s tent does not require us to be merely debt free. It means we must have a positive balance of righteousness.

Christ has fulfilled those conditions. He is the truly righteous one who has earned the right to ascend God’s mountain. He has done so most clearly by ascending into heaven itself. As Hebrews 4:14 explains, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” The point Hebrews is making is that Christ has ascended, not for himself, but for us. His ascension is why we hold fast to our confession that he is the Son of God come down from heaven for us and for our salvation.

The ascension is of great hope to every Christian. Heidelberg Catechism 49 elaborates,

What benefit do we receive from Christ’s ascension into heaven?
First, that He is our Advocate in the presence of His Father in Heaven. Secondly, that we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge, that He as the Head, will also take us, His members, up to Himself. Thirdly, that He sends us His Spirit as an earnest, by whose power we seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and not things on earth.

Christ has covered our debts and filled our account with all that we need to ascend God’s holy mountain and to dwell in his presence. He has gone before us and passed through the veil into God’s presence. Since he is God the Son who by nature deserves to be there, he has gone through the heavens to enter God’s presence in our nature for us. He is our pioneer into the heavens, having lived the perfect life, risen from the grave, and ascended into heaven to clear the way for us to follow him. Because he has gone before us, all who trust in him for salvation will certainly follow him into everlasting joy of dwelling in God’s presence.

Notes

  1. Christopher Ash, The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary, 4 vol. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 2:164–65.
  2. Bruce K. Waltke and James M. Houston with Erika Moore, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010), 296; Bruce K. Waltke and Fred G. Zaspel, How to Read and Understand the Psalms (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023), 429.
  3. James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, 2 vol. (Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 1:204; Ash, Psalms, 2:159, 161.
  4. Ash, Psalms, 2:150.

© 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.