Psalm 15:1 – Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever. (NLT)

This psalm is simply titled, A Psalm of David.  We cannot say when this psalm was written, but it has traditionally been believed that this psalm was written while the Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem.  In this psalm, David longs to be able to stay in the presence of God.  We must remember, only the priests were able to enter into the innermost area of the tabernacle (sanctuary), and David was not a priest.  David loved the Lord so much that he desired to be in the presence of the Lord at all times. 

What a wonderful picture of the love that one has for God, and an even more wonderful picture is that we can be in the presence of the Lord at all times.  When Kind David ruled, many of the Jews believed that God resided in the Ark, and the Ark was kept away from the people.  Let’s fast forward centuries later to the death of Jesus.  In Matthew 27:50-51 we read: “Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.  At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”  This curtain essentially kept all but a very few priests from ever entering into the presence of God.  If we return to this psalm, we know that the reason that the Jews did not allow the common man (and woman) from entering into the presence of God was their sin.  Sin separates us from God.  The death of Jesus – for our sins – removed from us this separation from God.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote:  “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.  By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.  And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

When Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, he was promising the very presence of God – no more separation.  This promise has been fulfilled, and the Holy Spirit is available to all. 

Today, let us not live like God is unapproachable.  Indeed, let us live confidently, and powerfully, as we live and breathe in the very presence of God!

Posted by Ramón Torres