Dec. 15th Devotion
Fellowship with God – Chuck Swindoll
If you read Psalm 15 carefully, you will discover the entire song all hangs upon the first verse. Verse 1 is crucial in that it asks a probing question. That's today's devotional. David's answer forms the rest of the psalm. He then arrives at a wonderful promise. These we'll look at over the next couple of days.
The Question
David's psalm opens with a probing question, put in the form of a metaphor.
O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill? (15:1)
The song is a prayer directed to God, whose name appears in Hebrew as the four consonant letters YHWH. Using the Lord's sacred name, David asks two questions that appear different, but they actually seek a single answer. Hebrew poetry often uses a grammatical device called "synonymous parallelism," in which two lines express the same thought using different words or phrases. Literally, they read: "YHWH, who shall dwell in your tent? Who shall settle down on your holy mountain?"
The references to "tent" and "holy mountain" are both symbols of God's presence—descriptive expressions of intimate fellowship. At the time, the temple had not yet been built; the Israelites worshiped God in the tabernacle, a large tent structure. The ark of the covenant was kept in the center of the tabernacle, in the Most Holy Place, and that's where God's shekinah glory could be found. The otherworldly light of the shekinah represented God's special presence among the Israelites, establishing them as a nation, protecting them from harm, and blessing their faithfulness.
The expression "Your holy hill (mountain)" recalls the event in the book of Exodus when Moses met God on Mount Sinai to receive His Law (Exodus 24:12-18). On that occasion, a fiery, glowing cloud covered the summit. The expression also refers to the summit of Jerusalem, the future home of the temple, where God's presence would abide and where all people were invited to worship Him.
David asked, "What kind of an individual does it take to maintain and enjoy intimate fellowship with You, Lord?"
If you read Psalm 15 carefully, you will discover the entire song all hangs upon the first verse. Verse 1 is crucial in that it asks a probing question. That's today's devotional. David's answer forms the rest of the psalm. He then arrives at a wonderful promise. These we'll look at over the next couple of days.
The Question
David's psalm opens with a probing question, put in the form of a metaphor.
O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill? (15:1)
The song is a prayer directed to God, whose name appears in Hebrew as the four consonant letters YHWH. Using the Lord's sacred name, David asks two questions that appear different, but they actually seek a single answer. Hebrew poetry often uses a grammatical device called "synonymous parallelism," in which two lines express the same thought using different words or phrases. Literally, they read: "YHWH, who shall dwell in your tent? Who shall settle down on your holy mountain?"
The references to "tent" and "holy mountain" are both symbols of God's presence—descriptive expressions of intimate fellowship. At the time, the temple had not yet been built; the Israelites worshiped God in the tabernacle, a large tent structure. The ark of the covenant was kept in the center of the tabernacle, in the Most Holy Place, and that's where God's shekinah glory could be found. The otherworldly light of the shekinah represented God's special presence among the Israelites, establishing them as a nation, protecting them from harm, and blessing their faithfulness.
The expression "Your holy hill (mountain)" recalls the event in the book of Exodus when Moses met God on Mount Sinai to receive His Law (Exodus 24:12-18). On that occasion, a fiery, glowing cloud covered the summit. The expression also refers to the summit of Jerusalem, the future home of the temple, where God's presence would abide and where all people were invited to worship Him.
David asked, "What kind of an individual does it take to maintain and enjoy intimate fellowship with You, Lord?"
Recent
Archive
2024
January
January 1st DevotionDecember 31st follow-upJanuary 2nd DevotionJanuary 3rd DevotionJanuary 4th DevotionJanuary 5th DevotionJanuary 8th DevotionJanuary 7th Follow-upJanuary 9th DevotionJanuary 10th DevotionJanuary 11th DevotionJanuary 12th DevotionJanuary 15th DevotionJanuary 14th Follow-upJanuary 16th DevotionJanuary 17th DevotionJanuary 18th DevotionJanuary 19th DevotionJanuary 21st follow-upJanuary 22nd DevotionJanuary 23rd DevotionJanuary 24th DevotionJanuary 25th DevotionJanuary 26th DevotionJanuary 29th Devotion1-28-24 follow-upJanuary 30th DevotionJanuary 31st Devotion
February
February 1st DevotionFebruary 2nd DevotionFebruary 5th DevotionFebruary 6th DevotionFebruary 4th Follow-upFebruary 7th DevotionFebruary 8th DevotionFebrtuary 9th DevotionFebruary 12th DevotionFebruary 11th Follow-upFebruary 13th DevotionFebruary 14th DevotionFebruary 15th DevotionFebruary 16th DevotionFebruary 19th DevotionFebruary 20th DevotionFebruary 21st DevotionFebruary 22nd DevotionFebruary 23rd DevotionFebruary 26th DevotionFebruary 27th DevotionFebruary 28th DevotionFebruary 29th Devotion
March
March 1st DevotionMarch 4th DevotionMarch 3rd follow-upMarch 5th DevotionMarch 6th DevotionMarch 7th, 2024March 8th DevotionMarch 11th DevotionMarch 12th DevotionMarch 13th DevotionMarch 14th DevotionMarch 15th DevotionMarch 18th DevotionMarch 19th DevotionMarch 20th devotionMarch 21st DevotionMarch 22nd DevotionMarch 25th DevotionMarch 26th DevotionMarch 27th DevotionMarch 28th Devotion
2023
January
January 2nd DevotionFollow-up to January 1st teachingJanuary 3rd DevotionJanuary 4th DevotionJanuary 5th DevotionJanuary 6th DevotionJanuary 9th DevotionFollow-up to January 8th teachingJanuary 10th DevotionJanuary 11th DevotionJanuary 12th DevotionJanuary 13th DevotionJanuary 16th DevotionJanuary 17th DevotionFollow-up to January 15th teachingJanuary 18th DevotionJanuary 19th DevotionJanuary 20th DevotionJanuary 23rd DevotionFollow-up to January 22nd teachingJanuary 24th DevotionJanuary 25th DevotionJanuary 26th DevotionJanuary 27th DevotionJanuary 30th DevotionFollow-up to January 29th teachingJanuary 31st Devotion
February
No Comments