Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Psalm 15:1
In his book Man of Honor, Ray Pritchard shares the story of his stroll in a cemetery where he discovered a man’s grave marker with a wordy tribute. But he then describes a more eye-catching epitaph on the gravestone of the man’s son: “A man of unquestioned integrity.” As Pritchard wrote: “Five words to sum up an entire life. Sixty-plus years distilled into five words. But, oh what truth they tell.”
In Psalm 15:1, we find questions asking after a certain kind of person: “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?” (v. 1 nlt). The answer involves integrity and is captured in the word blameless found in verse 2: “Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts” (v. 2 nlt). The question (v. 1) and answer (v. 2) combination refers to communion with God. The rest of the psalm summarizes—in positive and negative terms—what a God-honoring life looks like.
When we have intimate communion with God, it’s displayed in a life of integrity, particularly in how we treat others as the Spirit helps us (see Matthew 22:34-40; 1 John 3:16-18). It’s the posture of life that we assume when we believe in and follow Jesus—the one who lived in perfect communion with His Father.
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