Psalms
Chapter 15
1
Lord, Who Can Dwell in Your Tent?
O Lord, who will dwell in your tent and reside on your holy mount?
2
Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, who speak truth from their heart
3
and control their words, who do no harm to their neighbors and cast no discredit on their companions,
4
who look down on evildoers but highly esteem God’s servants; who, at all costs, stand by a pledged word,
5
who do not lend money at interest and refuse a bribe against the innocent.Do this, and you will not be shaken.
Commentaries
15
Beyond the image of the Temple, the believer longs to be with God, to be one with Him. Those who hold this passionate desire, expressed as a question (v. 1), must be honest, sincere, and upright (vv. 2-3). These are the three main conditions. The following three conditions (v. 3b) concern how one treats one’s neighbor. Those who want to be with God must side with God’s friends, oppose God’s enemies, who have been rebuked by Him, and honor the covenant that sanctifies the promised action (v. 4). These three actions connect God and neighbor. Two other actions have an economic and legal scope (v. 5). Following these commandments without love’s genuine perfume is merely a mechanical act.