The Godly Life
Sermon Notes
It’s been a great morning already here at City Awakening. We had 3 families complete the last session of Growth Track, and we had a bunch volunteers from our Kids Team here for training. We’re so thankful for their commitment to serve our church and our families. Can you give them a hand? We truly believe that we can impact future generations by laying a Gospel foundation in their lives as early as possible, and our desire is to partner with parents in making disciples of their kids. I want my kids, and as a church, we want your kids to love Jesus and live Godly lives. Just like most of you want that for yourself….that’s largely why we’re here today, right? Even if you’re not a Christian here today, you are at least interested in learning more about who God is and what it looks like to follow him…and that’s great! We’re glad you’re here. Because the truth is we’re all still learning and even searching for more clarity on the answers to those questions. And, most of us live with this tension of believing in God and wanting to follow him, but also feeling pulled away from Him and following our own path.
That begs the question…what does it mean to live a Godly life? Last week, Pastor Louis talked about why it’s foolish to live like God doesn’t exist. But if we believe God exist, how does that change how we live? How do we know if we are living a Godly life? Because my guess is most of us would hesitate to answer that question too enthusiastically. Most days we feel like we’ve failed at that more than succeeded, and that may even make us feel like giving up at times. But there’s hope. And today we’re going to see that the Godly life is defined by our posture not perfection. It’s not about our ability to be perfect…thank goodness…but about the posture of our heart towards God.
We’re going to be in Psalm 15 if you want to open your Bibles up. The Scripture will also be on the screen. Psalm 15 is a Psalm of David. We don’t know the exact occasion that led to this Psalm. Some scholars suggest it was when the Ark of the Covenant was being brought into Jerusalem, which would make sense based on the questions being asked, but there’s no way to know if that’s actually the situation or not. Nonetheless, there’s a lot we can learn from this Psalm. Look at verse 1 with me.
Psalm 15:1,
1 Lord, who can dwell in your tent?
Who can live on your holy mountain?
That’s a big question. “God, who can be in your presence?” This was especially a big deal for the Israelites. If you read much of the Old Testament, you’ll see that it was no small feat to be in the presence of God. There’s two particular scenarios that David alludes to in verse 1.
First, David mentions the tent, which is a reference to the Tabernacle. When the Israelites were traveling through the desert for 40 years they carried a giant tent with them. It was built according to God’s instructions and it was the place where God would come down and meet with Moses. In fact, the Bible says that when Moses would come out of the tent, he would be glowing after being in the presence of God. Then when God gave His law and setup the system of priests and sacrifices, there were very specific steps of cleansing and purification that the priests had to go through in order to enter into the tent. It wasn’t like just anyone could walk up and go in. If you did, you would literally die. So that’s what David has in mind when he asks, “Who can dwell in your tent?” Who is worthy of entering?
The second thing David references is the holy mountain. This points back to when Moses met with God on Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments. Before he went up the mountain Moses warned the people that they couldn’t go up the mountain with him, they couldn’t even touch the base of the mountain. They put up barricades so no one would get close, and if anyone touched it he had to be killed, and if anyone touched the person that touched the mountain he had to be killed also….even if it was an animal. It was intense. You can read about it Exodus 19-20. The reason for that is because God is holy and the people were sinful. Sinful people can be in the presence of God. It’s why David asks this question in the first place, and it’s why Moses had to go up as an intercessor on behalf of the people. It really even points back further to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve walked in the presence of God, but once they sinned God removed them from the Garden because they could no longer be in His presence.
So on Mount Sinai, Moses goes up as intercessor to talk to God and the people stood back and watched in fear because there was thunder and lightening and the sound of a horn, and a huge cloud of smoke. It was a scary scene.…and the people told Moses, “Please, you talk to God for us…we’ll just hang out here!”
So, David poses a pretty good question….especially if this is when the Ark of the Covenant (which represented God’s presence) was being brought into Jerusalem. It gives us a little different perspective, right? David and the Israelites understand the magnitude and seriousness of being before a Holy God! If you’re not worthy, you die! However, David still had a desire to be in the presence of God. He was just like us. We have a God given desire to be close to Him. It’s what we were made for. So, the rest of Psalm 15 is an answer to that question….how is it possible to be with God?
Let’s see what David says.
2 The one who lives blamelessly, practices righteousness,
and acknowledges the truth in his heart—
That sounds a little bit like being perfect, I know, but bear with me.
Blameless comes from a word that means complete or sound. Sometimes it’s translated here and in other parts of Scripture as integrity, which I like because we recognize that integrity has a lot to do with our intent. In our house we define integrity as doing what’s right even when no one is watching. In other words, you’re not just doing the right thing because you don’t want to get in trouble or because you want the recognition. You’re doing the right thing because it’s who you are. Our faith affects our character.
Nowadays, we’re pretty much always being watched. In fact, you’re on camera right now….so don’t go to sleep. That ever-present footage has exposed a lot of people who thought they were going to get away with something. It exposed their intentions. But camera or no camera, we know that God sees and knows not only our actions but He sees the desire and intent of our hearts. If your life was a movie, what story would it tell? There’s going to be mistakes, character flaws….maybe some big ones, but what would we see as your motivation in life? So, our first point is that a Godly life is not defined by perfection but by A Posture of Integrity.
The verbs in this verse are important as well. They don’t have an “ing” ending in our translations, but in the original language they are participle verb forms which means they imply an ongoing action….living, practicing, acknowledging…. We never arrive, we’ll never get to check the box off as perfect. Instead we keep moving forward, even if it’s two steps forward, one step back. It’s a humbling process, but that’s actually a good thing!
When I was studying this Psalm I felt like the Lord brought to my mind the Beatitudes that Jesus preached in Matthew 5 as a part of the Sermon on the Mount. He lays out this picture of coming to God eager and ready, but also authentically aware of our great need.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. (They can dwell in the tent)
Blessed are the humble,
for they will inherit the earth. (They can live on the holy mountain)
I love this connection because it tears down any pride or self-righteousness that we might have. Walking with integrity, speaking the truth to our hearts, requires humility because we have a reverent fear of who God is and who we really are. If I were to paint a picture of this way of living, I don’t see a man strutting with his chest puffed up because he’s blameless. It’s more like a child learning to walk. They want to go so bad. They wobble toward their parent, they fall down, get up and try again that’s a posture of integrity, that’s a Godly life.
Let’s look at verse 3 and see what else David says.
3 who does not slander with his tongue,
who does not harm his friend
or discredit his neighbor,
This now turns to an outward focus. What is our posture towards other people? Jesus taught that the second most important thing for us to do is to care about other people as much as we care about ourselves. The person David is describing here in Psalm 15 cares about other people. He’s not against them but for them. This takes us back to the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
Our second point then is that a Godly life is defined by A Posture of Peace.
I think this might be one of the most under-the-radar issues when it comes to Godly living. We are not great at being peacemakers…not in social media, not at work, not at church, and often times we’re the worst in our homes. And it’s because we’re really good at seeing things from our perspective and not anyone else’s. I recently read a book called The Anatomy of Peace, and one of the biggest things I took away from that book was the need to see other people as people and not a problem. We tend to see people as a problem. The solution is to fix the problem by either getting them to see things our way or we just write them off all together.
David used three negatives to make this point…we slander, harm, and discredit. But if we put those ideas in the positive what do we see? The opposite of slander is praise, the opposite of harm is to benefit, the opposite of discredit is to credit or honor… Those are all ways of building others up.
Paul said in Ephesians 4:29 that the only things that should come from our mouths are things that are “good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.”
We are expected to be peacemakers. It’s easy to tear other people down. We criticize, complain, assume the worst, and most of all, gossip. But a peacemaker looks for opportunities to build up, encourage, praise, and honor one another….even if the other person has a different opinion than you or…. even if they have offended you. This doesn’t mean that we have to agree with everyone or even be friends with everyone, but it means we see them as people made in the image of God, not a problem to fix. This should especially true within the Church, which leads us to verse 4.
Who is welcome in the presence of God? The one…
4 who despises the one rejected by the Lord
but honors those who fear the Lord,
who keeps his word whatever the cost,
This speaks to two different ideas, but I want to lump them together and say that a Godly life is marked by A Posture of Commitment.
First, David points out the commitment to the body of Christ. This was before the Church as we know it had been established but there was still a community of believers….primarily the Jews, but David refers to anyone that fears the Lord. If you study much of the Old Testament you’ll see that God was continually reminding the Israelites to stay focused on His laws and His faithfulness. And, one of the big ways of doing that was to not take on the pagan cultures that were all around them. That’s why when they entered the Promised Land they were supposed to wipe out the other people living there. They were corrupt and did not recognize the one true God as God. They were rejected by God because they had rejected God themselves.
Here’s how that basically translates for us today: Join arms with the Church, not the world. The Bible tells us we are a family. If we are centered on the Gospel, then we share the same heart and mind with other believers, here and around the world. But we don’t share the same heart and mind with the majority of the world, because they either don’t know God or they have rejected Him altogether. It would be a major oversight to be more deeply rooted in the world or with people of the world, than the Church. Jesus said it like this, “We are to be in the world, but not of the world.” We’re like frogs: when we were tadpoles we belonged in the water, but now we’ve changed. We need air, so while we can swim in the water, it’s not our home anymore. And if we stay too long, we drown.
This doesn’t mean we can’t have relationship with non-Christians. That would be contradictory to what Jesus taught in Matthew 28, when he said we are to go and make disciples of all nations. We believe every Christian should be intentional about connecting with and caring for non-Christians. Jesus did this so well. He spent time with the tax collectors, prostitutes, and social outcasts. He didn’t just live in a holy huddle…had had a huddle, he had his disciples, but he took them out into the world and multiplied his followers.
This is why church membership and small groups matter. If you’re going to be serious about living a Godly life, you have to be committed to the body of Christ. The church is an army and we are on mission together.
This is directly related to the second thing David says we have to be committed to…our word no matter what the cost. Our faith comes with a cost. Following Jesus isn’t easy because we’re going against the flow of the culture around us.
We live in an era of convenience. Nearly everything is available at the tip of our fingers, and that’s led to decline in our ability to stay committed. When things become too difficult or don’t meet our needs the way we want, we’ll just find another option that’s easier and more convenient. This is usually how I buy gas. I go to a station that’s on my way and even on the same side of the street. I don’t want to have to cross the street just to get gas! But I’ve known people in the past that would only buy a certain brand of gas….it’s BP or Chevron only! And I’ve known people that would drive 15 minutes out of the way to save $0.03/gallon. That’s not convenient, that’s commitment! If we’re being honest, we can be more committed to our wallets, our calendars, our sports, our tv shows, and a lot of other things than we are to Jesus and his church.
We need that kind of commitment when it comes to our faith. The convenience mentality that most of us have is harmful to our personal growth, to our relationships, and to the Church. We need to be willing to do the hard thing. We have to show up when it’s not convenient because we said we would. We need to read our Bibles, pray, serve, give when it’s not convenient because we know we should. And, we have to say no to some things because we’re willing to sacrifice what’s convenient for our commitments.
It really comes down to what we love. We are committed to what we love. We need to step back and evaluate the things we love. If we love Jesus and his church, then we’ll be committed to Jesus and his church. After all, Jesus loved us and was committed to us.
If God has demonstrated anything for us throughout history, it’s that he’s faithful. He is committed to His people; He is committed to you. So much so that Jesus was willing to give his own life to pay the ransom for yours. He went to the cross and he stayed. We’re not Jesus, but when we demonstrate a similar type of commitment and faithfulness, it can become a powerful way of showing our convenience driven world that our lives are shaped by something different…something much better.
This leads to one final characteristic of Godly living in Psalm 15. Look at verse 5:
5 who does not lend his silver at interest
or take a bribe against the innocent—
David says that Godly living is not greedy living. The characteristics described in v. 5 show a desire for selfish gain and a willingness to get it at the expense of others. It’s an abuse of power to gain privilege over others.
You may not realize this but everyone in this room has power. God gave each of us the ability to think creatively, the problem solve, to put words together to form powerful thoughts, to build relationships, to make music and art, and to make choices. Much like when we talked about having a posture of peace, God expects us to use our power for good and not evil. Author Andy Crouch says that, “Jesus’ only use of power was to create, never to protect himself or to exalt himself.” If our primary focus is on benefiting ourselves and making ourselves happy, we tend to misuse our power. We use our influence to get what we want. We might do for others, but with the expectation of getting something in return.
The key here is not only to be aware of the power we have, but also to be aware of the state of our heart which determines how we use our power. A heart that’s not content will be looking for someway of finding fulfillment. When we look at the world around us we will only see opportunities to get more or try something else that might satisfy. But those things always disappoint. On the other hand, hen we’re content we can use our power and influence for good. We can see opportunities to give what we have. We can be generous with our time, money, talents, and even our words. So, a Godly life is marked by A Posture of Contentment. One of our core values here at City Awakening is that we want to live contently, give generously, to reach more missionally. We believe that the ability to live out our faith effectively begins with having a posture of contentment rooted in Christ.
Psalm 73 says,
Who do I have in heaven but you?
And I desire nothing on earth but you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart,
my portion forever.
A posture of contentment believes that this world has nothing to offer us, but we have everything we need in Jesus. When we see life that way we stop doing everything we can to build our own kingdoms, and we start doing what we can to build God’s Kingdom.
I wish I could say this transformation was black and white. Like every other issue we’re talking about today, it’s a journey of learning. Sometimes I feel like God is constantly testing me in this, to see how content I am. My monthly budget is already bleeding red all over, and yet my kids keep eating, my cars keep breaking, and I keep getting emails from Royal Caribbean and TripAdvisor about all the great deals and wonderful things I should doing this weekend. Can anybody else relate to that? It’s hard to feel like I have enough. But one thing I feel like God has laid on my heart though this study of Psalms is this question: Is my salvation enough? If my money, my health, my comfort all gets stripped away, is my salvation enough? Is Jesus enough? The obvious answer is yes, but in all honesty, some days that’s a hard question. I get greedy and I want more, and I have to remind myself over and over again to maintain that posture of contentment. I love the old John Piper quote, “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”
Integrity, Peace, Commitment, and Contentment.
When we get to the end of Psalm 15 we see the reward for living a Godly life marked by these characteristics. David says that,
the one who does these things will never be shaken.
How are we unshakeable? Because in order to live like this it requires dependence on God. We aren’t unshakeable because we’re just that strong and determined. No, it’s because we are putting our hope and trust in God and not ourselves. We’re looking to Him for guidance and transformation. In his commentary on Psalm 15, Derek Kidner says,
“[The qualities found in Psalm 15] are those God creates in a man, not those he finds in him.”
This is all the work of God done in us as we continually put our faith in him….as we surrender to His will and not our own. That’s what the Gospel is. That’s why the big idea for the message is that the Godly life is defined by our posture not perfection. We don’t have to be perfect to come to God and we won’t be perfect until we are resurrected with him at the second coming. What God wants is for us to come to him completely and utterly dependent, believing that He has done everything necessary for us to come to him, it’s nothing we achieve on our own. We take on Christ’s righteousness that that’s what allows us to enter into the presence of God.
As we conclude today I want to read you a passage of Scripture from Hebrews 12. It’s the perfect companion to Psalm 15 because it provides the Gospel solution to the question David poses and beautiful picture of the hope that we have. I want to invite you to close your eyes and visual while I’m reading. Pay attention to what you see and how that makes you feel as the words form pictures in your mind.
Hebrews 12:18-24
For you have not come to what could be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, gloom, and storm, 19 to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words. Those who heard it begged that not another word be spoken to them, 20 for they could not bear what was commanded: If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned. 21 The appearance was so terrifying that Moses said, I am trembling with fear.
22 Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, 23 to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which says better things than the blood of Abel.
Keep your eyes closed for just a minute. If you put yourself in that second scene, what is your response? As you come to that festive gathering, to the Holy Mountain, to God the Judge, and into the presence of Jesus standing there with open arms…what do you do?
Godly living is about that posture….humbled, broken, thankful, joyful,…never more aware of your imperfections, yet overwhelmed and motivated by the underserved love of God. You don’t have to wonder today. You can know for certain that you will dwell with God forever because Jesus lived the perfect life for you. How will you respond?
