Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?

15 A Psalm of David. 

        1         O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 

Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 

        2         He who walks blamelessly and does what is right 

and speaks truth in his heart; 

        3         who does not slander with his tongue 

and does no evil to his neighbor, 

nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 

        4         in whose eyes a vile person is despised, 

but who honors those who fear the Lord; 

                who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 

        5         who does not put out his money at interest 

and does not take a bribe against the innocent. 

                He who does these things shall never be moved. 

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 15:title–5.

Abba,

Who shall sojourn in your tent?  Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
In other words…
Who shall enjoy intimacy with you?  Who shall delight themselves with the joy of your presence?

Put another way, who shall know the joy of deep fellowship and relationship with you?

The answer…summed up….he who walks blamelessly and does what is right….
This one…shall not be moved…
Moved from dwelling with you.
This one shall not be moved out of fellowship and communion with you.
This one shall not be removed from your presence.
This one shall not be ripped asunder from the warm embrace of one whose tent he is dwelling in.  

This is not about salvation, but about fellowship and intimacy of Your own with You.

The prerequisite for fellowship, for dwelling with God is found in possessing a heart like Yours, Abba.
A character like Yours.

Fellowship with you requires us to be like you.

Is it any wonder then, that there is so little fellowship between Your church and You today?  
So many still insist upon their own way, on coming to You in their own terms.  No relationship has ever thrived that way, let alone ours with You.

Why is it we think we can have intimacy with You while still demanding You accept us as WE WANT to come?  
Intimacy, true intimacy, with You (or with others for that matter), requires humility, selflessness, and a willingness to put the highest needs of another before our own.

This means, that when we come to You, holiness and righteousness IS THE HIGHEST NEED that we must bring.  

And yet, so often, we come and think You are satisfied to take us as we are, with our unrepentant filth and all.
“You love us just as we are” right?
We come, with little or no desire to change.  
We come, justifying our sins, excusing, rationalizing, and ignoring them…and then expecting intimacy with You.

Such an attitude, such behavior, such clinging to our own rights is destroying the very intimacy that we desire with You.
Such is why we HAVE MOVED and are not found to be dwelling in the tents of intimacy with You.

How then, do we dwell with You?
How then do we enjoy intimacy with You?
How then are we not to be moved?

By being conformed to the character and likeness of YOU.
By walking blamelessly and doing what is right.
By walking in truth.
By possessing a heart of humility and grace that refuses to slander another.
By refraining from evil against others.
By refusing to partake in the gossip of slander.
By honoring others, especially those who fear the Lord.
By keeping our word no matter the cost.
By giving to others with no expectation of return.
By not seeking our own through manipulation and bribery.
By protecting the innocent and helpless.


In short, by possessing Your character, Abba, we will know intimacy with You AND WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED FROM DWELLING WITH YOU AND KNOWING INTIMACY WITH YOU.

Oh, Abba…that I, that we would understand what true intimacy with You means; that we would understand what it means to dwell with You. 
AND that we would willingly, joyfully, and readily sacrifice ourself, our rights, privileges, and demands that we might attain it.  

The invitation is there.
The door stands open.
The dwelling is erected.
The intimacy is offered.
If we would but come, rejecting our standard and embracing Yours.