Psalm 15
5 verses · BSBPsalms book hub →
Speaks with:Psalms 101×2Psalms 24×1Psalms 84×1Psalms 61×1Proverbs 28×1Colossians 3×1
Summary
Chapter summary
'Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?' The answer is a portrait in eleven strokes: he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness; speaketh truth in his heart; slandereth not; honoreth them that fear Jehovah; sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not; putteth not out his money to interest nor taketh reward against the innocent. 'He that doeth these things shall never be moved.'
Context
Poetry · David, Asaph, Sons of Korah, others — Psalms overview
The world behind this chapter
Psalms 15The history
This psalm is a gate liturgy. Worshipers coming up to a sanctuary in the ancient world were met with a question about who was fit to enter, and temples across the region posted entrance requirements — but those usually concerned ritual cleanness, correct offerings, and freedom from certain physical defects. Israel's list is startling by comparison: it is almost entirely about how a person treats other people.
"He that putteth not out his money to usury" reflects Israel's law on lending. Charging interest to a fellow Israelite was forbidden, because loans within the community were relief for a family in trouble, not investment. A neighbor's cloak taken as a pledge had to be returned by nightfall, since he slept in it.
"He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not" describes a man who made a deal under oath, watched the market move against him, and kept it anyway. Oaths in that culture were sworn before witnesses and invoked God's name; breaking one was thought to draw down real consequence, which is why people were careful how they swore.
"He that taketh not up a reproach against his neighbour" is about carrying gossip — refusing to pick a slander up and pass it along. In a village where everyone's livelihood depended on reputation at the gate, a rumor could ruin a family.
What it meant to them
The question at the door — who shall abide in thy tabernacle? — was the most important question a pilgrim could ask, and the answer put no priest, sacrifice, or pedigree in the list.
That did not abolish the offerings; Israel still brought them. It told the worshiper that the God who received them was not indifferent to how he treated a debtor on the way to the altar.
Sources cited
- Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David on Psalm 15
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Psalms 15. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.