In his sermon titled 'The Portrait of a Worshipper,' Mike Davenport explores Psalm 15, which outlines the characteristics of an acceptable worshiper of God. He examines the psalm's structure, focusing on the questions, the answer, and the promise. The sermon identifies key traits of a true worshiper: upright conduct, concern for others, concurrence with God's will, unwavering commitment, and a godly character. Davenport highlights the importance of aligning one's life with God's values and stresses the need for worshipers to be genuine in their love for God and others. He connects the message to the New Testament, indicating that Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of a perfect worshiper, fulfilling the psalm's demands. The sermon concludes by urging believers to reflect on their own lives, recognize their need for grace, and strive to emulate Christ as they prepare for eternal worship.

And before we begin, let's look again to the Lord in prayer. Our gracious God, we thank you for the book of Psalms. Lord, they touch us where we are in our Christian experience. The ups, the downs, the joys, the sorrows, the sin, the grace. Lord, we're so thankful for this book.

Lord, as we look at Psalm 15, we pray, oh God, that you would make clear to us, Lord, as you each in every Lord's day go about seeking worshipers to worship you in spirit and in truth. May we see even from this text who it is you are looking for. May we be those ones by the grace of your spirit working in us and by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died to make us his. We pray all of these things in his name. Amen.

Psalm 15. It's a psalm of David. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart, he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord.

He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved." Well the title of this brief message is nothing other than the subject matter of this Psalm. The portrait of a worshiper. The portrait of a worshiper.

And obviously we are talking about the worship of our great God, Jehovah. Now this psalm comes right after a psalm that paints the portrait of a sinner. It paints the portrait of a wicked man. The sinner is a fool that does not acknowledge the presence nor the existence of God in his heart. One of the texts we looked at this morning was Philippians 3.

There Paul declares to the church in Philippi and to our church, brethren, join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. Philippians 3 is a call to those who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ to walk in a certain way, the way that Paul lays out even in the preceding verses of chapter 3. Paul declares that there is a walk that belongs to those whose citizenship is in heaven. It's different. It's distinguishable.

It's definitive. Well, this psalm sets a pattern for us to follow. It calls us to walk according to the things we find right here on these pages. The outline of the text is simple. The questions, the answer, and then the promise.

The questions, the answer, and the promise. So first, the questions. We find them in verse 1. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?

There are two questions here. Most commentators agree that it is not simply a repetition of the same question for emphasis that we see distinguishing marks about these. First there are two different verbs, abide and dwell. There are two places, God's tabernacle and His holy hill. Many think that this was actually written before the arc was brought into the city and set there in a more permanent place.

God's holy hill, that's Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Dr. Plummer in his commentary on the book of Psalms says, Mount Zion was a type of the gospel church, and Jerusalem was a type of the heavenly abode of the redeemed. And so the questions of this verse inquire, who shall be an acceptable worshiper of God on earth, and so be prepared to worship God in the temple not made with hands. Quoting another commentator, Dr.

Plummer writes, the fundamental fault of Psalm 15 is this, he only whose piety not only in God's public worship but in his life is worthy of the prerogative of dwelling in the house of God. As it is the connection between the adoration of God in the temple and its evidence in life, it cannot seem strange that it insists upon our duties toward man. Indeed, it is very interesting that David calls our attention to the way we treat our brother. You would think that he would deal with the first table of the law, but he doesn't. He doesn't.

And John tells us in his epistles, how can we say that we love God if we don't love our neighbor right in front of us? Well indeed we shall see that one whose citizenship is truly in heaven walks a particular way. So who is this acceptable worshiper of God? Who is it that is prepared to worship God in heaven for all eternity? Well, David doesn't leave us hanging.

Having stated the questions, we come next in the text to the answer, the answer, verses 2 through 5a. He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. He who does not backbite with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor nor does he take up a reproach against his friend in whose eyes a vile person is despised but he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent." So I want to provide a portrait of this worshiper by looking at five things in this portion of our text.

His conduct, his concern for others, his concurrence, his commitment, and his character. So look with me first at verse 2. Look at his conduct, the acceptable worshiper's conduct. He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. The accepted worshiper, the accepted worshiper is the following, to use scriptural terms, perfect, blameless, sincere, uncorrupt, a man of integrity, faultless, unblameable, upright.

The word here in our text rendered uprightly, he who walks uprightly, is the Hebrew word that was actually used to describe the lamb that was to be sacrificed and without blemish. As was that lamb, so must be our walk. Psalm 119.1 translates that same word as undefiled. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. But not only do we see in his conduct that he walks up rightly but we also see that he works righteousness.

The accepted worshiper is a keeper of the law. He does what is right in the sight of God. He is not a worker of iniquity. His habit is to do justly. He pursues, in that word in Hebrews, pursues holiness.

It means to hunt it down. He hunts holiness down. Third, under this first point of his conduct, we see that he speaks the truth in his heart. There is a perfect agreement. There is harmony between the heart and the tongue.

His mouth reveals his hidden affections and feelings for Christ and his word. But not only do we see the accepted worshiper's conduct, secondly, his concern for others, his concern for others. Verse three, He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend." The word backbite is an interesting word. The idea means to walk about, to walk about, but it also carries with it the idea of spying. It's actually translated that way in other places, to spy out.

So it seems that David is saying that the accepted worshiper does not go about spying out opportunities to speak bad of others. You know what happens if you go about spying, looking for things to talk about others, you find a bunch. You'll find a bunch. But not only does he not use his tongue against his neighbor, he doesn't do evil to his neighbor. He won't do evil to his neighbor.

A good man will not willingly choose to do anything to harm, wrong, or needlessly displease, needlessly trouble needlessly trouble or afflict any other human being. He doesn't set roadblocks and speed bumps. He removes them. He has such a love for his neighbor. The one who can abide and dwell in God's presence is also one who does not take up a reproach against his neighbor.

He's not willing to be the sounding board of accusations. He's not willing to entertain rumors spreader. He won't even take it. He won't receive it. John Gill puts it like this, "'This good man does not himself raise "'any scandalous report on his neighbor, "'nor will he bear to hear one from another, "'much less will he spread one, "'nor will he suffer one to live on, to lie on his neighbor, but will do all he can to vindicate him and clear his character.

Thirdly, who may abide in his tabernacle and dwell in God's holy hill? One who gives his concurrence. So we see next his concurrence, verse four, in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. Now, that's a big word, concurrence. What does that mean?

What I mean by that is this man agrees with the Word of God and the God of that Word and what marks the character of a wicked man and a God fearing man. He agrees with Scripture. Back in Isaiah, for those of you who are here when we studied Isaiah, you remember how men call what God calls good they call evil and what he calls evil they call good. Not this man. He concurs with God.

What God says is good is good. What he says is evil is evil. He despises or abhors the character and behavior of a man who hates God, but he has a high regard for the God-fearing man. And such agreement with the Word of God will cause this man to not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the paths of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. He agrees with David who in the very next psalm says, as for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight." He loves those who fears the Lord, and his companionship and the time that he spends with others reflects this, that he abhors the vile person and he fears or loves and honors those who fear God.

And in our day and time, that applies even to those who we hang out with in our entertainment. Are they vile people or are they God-fearing people? Number four, we see his commitment. His commitment, verse four. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

The accepted worshiper of God is one who keeps his oaths and promises in the face of the greatest obstacles and the greatest personal losses, against the greatest pressures to break his word, even when it's to his own disadvantage, or to break his word when it's to his own advantage, but he's unwilling to his own disadvantage. Truth is supreme. He is committed to those he is bound to. Fifth, His character, His character, the accepted worshiper's character. Verse 5, he who does not put out his money at usury nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

This man does not take advantage of those in difficult or vulnerable positions. He is generous with his money and does not use it to wield the power of extortion. He is unmoved by bribes and will always do what is just and what is right. Dale Ralph Davis makes the observation that this portrait of this acceptable worshiper, it's either reassuring to us or it's restorative. It's either reassuring or it's restorative.

It's reassuring if, as our brother Scott talked about earlier about coming in today on a high spiritually, I mean we're we're walking with God, we feel his closeness. This is reassuring. But maybe that's not how we came today. In which case may it be restorative in that it shows us what God desires in the worshipers that he is seeking. No one dare complain, says Mr.

Davis, about there being no grace in this Psalm. Of course there is. Anything that brings you to your knees and shows you how pervasive your sin is and how much you need atonement and forgiveness is gracious. It's gracious. Third in our text, having looked at the questions and the answer, thirdly, the promise.

The promise, it's found at the end of verse five. He who does these things shall never be moved. He who does these things shall never be moved. The abiding and the dwelling that God opens up to all such worshipers is eternal. It's eternal.

From such abiding and dwelling, never to be moved. Never. Let that word sink in. Never. Never be moved.

Plummer wraps up his comments on this verse with this. A man of the foregoing, what he just talked about, character, shall never so fall, so fall into decay as not to flourish in eternity, never so shaken as to lose his steadfastness, never so slip as to not recover himself, never so slide as to rise no more, never removed from the Mount Zion above. Eternity itself shall see no ruin, no overthrow come on this man. He shall not be moved to eternity." End quote. And this is the promise of the Old Testament.

God will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forever more. Psalm 121.

It's the promise declared in the New Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock never to be moved." Well dear ones, this is a portrait of the worshiper that God allows to abide in his tabernacle and dwell in his holy hill. This is the one described here who is an acceptable worshiper of God on earth and who is prepared to worship God in heaven for all eternity. Dale Ralph Davis rightly states, quote, all too casually We may think of having fellowship with God all too easily.

We may come to the next episode of public worship. And Psalm 15 stands in the way. Not so fast, it seems to say. How do you know you are one of the worshipers the Father is seeking to worship Him? Psalm 15, he says, means to jolt us out of our Overly familiar, of course, attitude towards God's worship." Well, we've gathered today to worship our God.

This Psalm tells us who may approach, who may abide, who may dwell. It demands that we look at our hearts. It demands that we also look at our lives. Is this an accurate portrait of you? Is it?

Do you have such a conduct in your words and in your ways, such a concern for the well-being of others, such concurrence with God's word that what he calls good, you call good, and what he calls evil, you call evil? Do you have a commitment to the owes that you take and the promises that you make? Are you marked by upstanding and holy character of life? You must have some measure of these things in your life, But do you have enough to warrant your approach to God in the worship of His holy name? John Calvin sets this in front of us as our aim.

If we really wish to be reckoned among the number of the children of God, the Holy Ghost teaches us that we must show ourselves to be such by a holy and upright life, for it is not enough to serve God by outward ceremonies unless we also live uprightly and without doing wrong to our neighbors." End quote. And although these things must be true in our lives to some measure, we must recognize that the only thing that makes us acceptable to God as a true worshiper is the fact that Jesus fulfilled all of these things perfectly for us. You see, all of the Psalms are in this way messianic Psalms. Christ is our only hope. He is our only plea.

We have access to God through Him. We have recently been in John 19 studying the narrative of Christ's suffering on the cross. Our study brought us to a consideration of the prophecy of Christ's suffering found in Psalm 22. Turn over there a few pages to Psalm 22. I want to read a portion of Scripture, And as I do, I want you to note how our worship is tied to Christ's death.

Our worship, you see, is his reward. Our worship is contingent upon his atonement, Starting with the last portion of verse 21, Psalm 22, 21. You have answered me. I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him. All you descendants of Jacob glorify him and fear him all you offspring of Israel for he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, nor has he hidden his face from him." He's talking about himself. But when he cried to him, he heard, "'My praise shall be of you in the great assembly." These are words of Christ attributed to him. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. The poor man shall eat and be satisfied.

Those who seek him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship.

All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who cannot keep himself alive. Here at the end of this Messianic psalm, Christ is declaring that all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before you because of what he did. God is seeking worshipers today, worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. This psalm forces us to ask the question, who is such a worshiper? It causes us to take inventory of our own lives.

It brings us face to face with our failures and it begs a fresh look at our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, we have him as a pattern. He is our pattern. Let us walk as he did. And I close with this quote from Mr.

Davis. God, he has a way of breaking out beyond what we ask or imagine. Here in the Psalm we begin by wanting to sojourn in his tent. And he concludes by assuring us that we are safe in his hand. Yahweh always gives more.

Adoration is in order. Let's pray. Oh gracious God, Lord we look in the mirror and Lord, if we're not those who look and then go our way and forget what manner of men and women we are, we look of those who are accepted worshipers in your house and in your heaven. God, we see glimpses where the Spirit has aided us and helped us to be these things. But oh God, we see our failures.

And Lord, for every look at ourself, we desire to look 10 times to Jesus. And oh God, as you look down now at our hearts before you in this service. Oh, see Christ. See Christ in not us. Oh, God, he obeyed.

He did all of these things perfectly, and he didn't do it for his account. He didn't need to. He was your perfect beloved son from all eternity. Lord, he did it for us. So look at him, look at him.

And make us more like Him. May He be our pattern. May we walk as we should walk as citizens of heaven and not as mere men of the earth who find their treasure here. Oh God, help us to set our eyes on earthly things where Christ is, where our treasure is, and not on things of this earth. Oh God, make us true worshipers of you today and prepare us for worship throughout all eternity to the praise and glory of your son Jesus Christ we pray these things Amen