Psalms 15:1-5

Psalms 1:41

Gordon Churchyard

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A Place for You

Psalms 15

Gordon Churchyard

Jesus said, "Where I am going you cannot come now. But you will come with me later". (John 13: 36)

Psalms 15

v1 LORD, who will stay in your house?
Who will live on your holy hill?

v2 He that is always:
- making no mistakes
- doing what is fair
- speaking in his heart what is true

v3 He says nothing bad.
He does nothing wrong to his neighbours.
He does not call his brother a fool.

v4 He does not like bad people,
but he does like the servants of the LORD.
He keeps his promises even when it costs a lot.

v5 He does not lend money to get more money.
He does not take money to do what is not fair.
Nothing can ever *move the man that does all this.

The story of Psalms 15

David had a house in Jerusalem for the LORD. It was a tent. People made it from goat skins. (Look at the end of Psalms 4) Holy means very, very good. Only God is really holy. David called his tent the house of the LORD. David thought that God lived in it. God is holy, so David said this made the hill of Zion holy too. People that loved the LORD came to his house. They asked, "Who can come into the house of the LORD?" The answer is in verses 2-5. A priest of the LORD probably said it. A priest is a special servant of God. Psalms 15 says the same things today. If we want to live with the LORD, we must obey verses 2-5. Because God loves us, he will give us help. If we do not obey a rule, we must tell God that we are sorry. He will forgive us. This means that he will give our sins (the things that we do wrong) to Jesus. Jesus will take them away, and give us help to keep to his rules.

What Psalms 15 means

The doing-words (called verbs) in Psalms 15:2 are different from those in Psalms 15:3-5. This is in the Hebrew Bible. David spoke Hebrew. He wrote Psalms 15 in Hebrew. The words in verse 2 tell us what believers are like on the inside. A believer is a person that believes in the LORD. We call them Christians today. Only God sees inside us. Verses 3-5 tells us what believers are like on the outside. This is what everyone sees. There is no temple today. Soldiers destroyed it about 2000 years ago. Jesus told his friends that he would make them another house. It will be in heaven. Christians believe that Psalms 15 is about that house in heaven.

Something to do

1. Study John 14: 2-3. John was the best friend that Jesus had. This was when Jesus lived on earth. When Jesus went back to God in heaven, John wrote a book. It was all about Jesus. We call it "the Gospel of John". Gospel means good news. Some of the very best news is in John 14. Here is some of it:

John 14:1-6

v​1 Jesus said, "Do not think of trouble. You believe in God. Believe in me also.

v​2 In my father's house are many rooms. What I tell you is true. I will go there to prepare a place for you.

v​3 Because I will prepare a place for you, I will come back for you. Where I am, you will be also.

v​4 You know where I am going. You also know the way".

v​5 Thomas said to Jesus, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"

v​6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody comes to the father except by knowing me".

Jesus said this on the day before he died. Thomas was a friend of Jesus. Truth means what is true. The father is God in heaven. We do not know what the rooms are in John 14:2. We do not know what places Jesus is making for us. We believe that the rooms and places are very special. There is something for everyone that believes in Jesus. We show people that we believe in Jesus when we obey Psalms 15:2-5.

2. Study 1 John 1:9. John wrote 3 letters that are in the Bible, as well as the Gospel of John. We call the first letter 1 John. We call the second 2 John. The third is 3 John. In 1 John 1:9 he wrote:

If we tell God:
- that we have broken his rules and
- that we are sorry

then God will:
- forgive us and
- make us clean from all wrong

We can be sure of this because God promised it. Because God is good, he will keep his promises. If we tell God:

It is difficult to obey all the rules in Psalms 15:2-5. We make mistakes and then we feel bad. The Bible calls the mistakes sin. It calls the bad feeling guilt. When this happens, remember 1 John 1:9. Tell God about it. Tell God you are sorry. God will forgive you. This means God will give your sin and guilt to Jesus. Jesus will take it away. He will also help you not to make the same mistakes again.

3. You have 10 fingers. Count on your 10 fingers the 10 rules in Psalms 15:2-5. You will remember them more easily. Remember, only God will see if you obey the first 3. Everyone will see if you obey the others.

4. Try to learn parts from the Bible. If you remember them, we say that you "know them by heart". John 14:1-6 and 1 John 1:9 are two of the most important parts of the Bible. Learn them "by heart". This means that you can repeat them without looking at the words! You will remember them when you want them. Remember - the Jews believed that they thought with their hearts!

move ~ here it probably means "make him go away from God".