Sermon Archives
Heart Cry for God's Presence
Psalm 15Psalms - A Heart Cry to God
J. Josh Smith
August 21, 2016
Description:
We were created for the presence of God. We will never find full joy, satisfaction, or meaning apart from His presence. A longing for God’s presence has been hardwired into us. Psalm 15 describes the type of person who is allowed to come into the presence of the Lord. The discouraging truth about this Psalm is that it reveals how far short each of us falls from meeting the requirements of enjoying the presence of God. This Psalm shows us that in order to have a relationship with God, we need a righteousness that is not our own. Psalm 15 points us to Jesus, who was the only Person to ever meet all the requirements of the law. The only way we can enjoy the presence of God is through Jesus Christ. By trusting in Christ, God makes His righteousness your own. The result is that when God looks at your life, He sees the righteousness of Christ. God longed for you to be in His presence to such a degree that He made a way for you to enter His presence by sending His Son as a sacrifice. This is the good news of the Gospel!
Make sure you have received the righteousness of Christ by trusting Him alone for righteousness. Once you have done this, continue to rejoice and rest in Christ’s righteousness. Do not fall into the trap of believing that God’s love, acceptance, and approval of you go up and down based upon your righteous living. God’s love for you is always perfect because He always sees Christ’s perfect righteousness in you. If you live your life thinking that God is pleased with you because of all you have done for Him, then you will ultimately rejoice in yourself rather than Christ. If you are in Christ, God will be eternally pleased with you because He has given you the righteousness of Christ. So, rejoice and rest in the righteousness of Christ!
Strive to grow in righteous living, not so that you might earn God’s favor but because you have received God’s favor. Compelled by the love of Christ, seek to grow in all the areas of righteousness described in Psalm 15.
Keywords:
Devotion, Righteousness