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;
“Welcome to my house! Enter freely. Go safely, and leave something of the happiness you bring.”
These are nice words but there is one small problem. It is from a novel by Bram Stoker. The speaker is Count Dracula and the hearer is soon to be a captive in his castle. Any guest, even after hearing that greeting, will not find their stay very pleasant. These verses in Psalm 15 are from a guest that cannot believe that he is worthy of being in God’s tent. This tent, the Tabernacle, is the home of the Ark of the Covenant, the presence of God. David wrote this hymn in “question and answer” format to express his worship of God’s holiness. Who deserves to be a guest in God’s house? The question seems rhetorical and the answer seems easy. No one.
Come to Cape Community Church tomorrow and celebrate the fact that no one deserves to be in his presence, but God sent Jesus to be the substitute lamb, punished for our iniquities so that we are now able to sojourn to his tent and dwell with him. We are definitely not blameless and we lie, doing what pleases us in the full sight of God. Yet, we are bid welcome to his house and we are free to enter and to share the happiness we receive with others as we go.
Dear Lord, thank you for the invitation to spend eternity with you. May we be grateful and faithful to attend and to bring a friend. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church