Speaking of Life 5010 | The Who Question
Heber Ticas
Psalm 15 seems to be obsessed with a “who” question. Namely, who can be in God’s presence? That’s a big question and the psalmist explores the answer with a series of “who” statements.
Remarkably, the Psalm is able to repeat some form of the word “who” thirteen times in only five verses. That’s a poetic feat for any person in my opinion.
See if you can count all the “who’s” as I read Psalm 15:
Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.
Psalm 15:1-5
Were you able to count all the “who’s?” Clearly, the writer of this psalm wants to answer the “who” question. But his answer does not give us any names of who can be in God’s presence. However, he does give us a lot of descriptions of the heart and character of the “who” in question.
When we read this psalm, we may wonder if we fit the “who” descriptions and qualify to be one who can be in God’s presence. If we are honest with ourselves, we will have to admit that we do not measure up to the psalmist’s descriptions. Unfortunately, the answer to the question of “who can be in God’s presence” would be, “Not me?”
However, that doesn’t answer the question of who can. We must read beyond this Psalm to find the ultimate answer to the “who” question. The only one who fits all the descriptions perfectly in this Psalm would be the person of Jesus Christ found in the Gospels. Like Psalm 15, the entire Bible is concerned about answering the question of “who?” Even Jesus asked us the same question when he asked, “Who do you say that I am?”
The answer to that question ends up being very good news for us who know we do not qualify to be in God’s presence. Jesus is the one who has always been in God’s presence as God’s very own Son. He has come as the answer to Psalm 15, standing in for us so we can stand in God’s presence by the Spirit, enjoying the Father as the Son does.
I’m glad the psalmist asked the who question. And more so, I’m glad the Father sent Jesus as the answer.
Mi nombre es Heber Ticas. Hablando de Vida.
