Intro: This morning I was reading Psalm 15 over and over again. And something hit me like never before. In order to understand, the psalm is below:

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
    Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

² He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
    and speaks truth in his heart;
³ who does not slander with his tongue
    and does no evil to his neighbor,
    nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
⁴ 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;
⁵ 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. (Ps 15, ESV)

The Beginning: How does David begin the poem? With a question. With two questions, actually. In prosaic terms, David is asking fundamental, profound questions: Who can stand before the Lord? And how can that ever happen?

Then in the following verses, there follow characteristics of such a person:

• blameless
• does what’s right
• speaks the truth
• defends the innocent
• honors and fears God
• “swears to his own hurt”/sacrifices himself
• is consistent/faithful
• is not bribable

Question: Who ever lived that standard perfectly? Who swore to his own hurt? Who sacrificed himself on the altar of truth and justice? It was not you; it was not me.

Takeaway/encouragement: No matter how many times I go through Scripture, I think I’m reading it, but what’s happening is God is reading me. He is showing me that all glory goes to him alone. No matter how we might try to live up to God’s standards, no matter how often we speak the truth and are slandered for it, no matter how we might bear injusitices at the hands of sinful men, God alone is the hero and redeemer. Christ alone. It’s to him all 66 books point. It’s his work on behalf of sinners. And it is to be marvelous in our sight.