Psalms 15: The Character That Dwells with God

A short checklist of what it means to walk uprightly.

Psalms 15: Who May Dwell With God?

Following the hope expressed at the end of Psalms 14, this chapter opens with a direct question: who may abide in God's tabernacle and dwell on His holy hill? The rest of the psalm answers with a concise list of honest, upright conduct.


O Yahweh! Who shall be a guest in thy tent? Who shall abide in thy holy mountain?

He that walketh without blame, and doeth what is right, and speaketh truth with his heart;

Hath not carried slander on his tongue, hath not done his friend a wrong, nor, a reproach, taken up against his neighbour;

Despised in his sight, is the reprobate, but, them who revere Yahweh, he doth honour, he hath sworn to his neighbour, and will not change;

His silver, hath he not put out on interest, nor, a bribe against the innocent, hath he taken. He that doeth these things, shall not be shaken unto times age-abiding.

David names refusing slander, keeping promises even when costly, and lending without usury as marks of such a person, an ideal expanded in <a href="/bible/rotherham/psalms/chapter-24/3">Psalms 24:3-5</a>, closing with the promise that one who does these things shall never be moved, before <a href="/bible/rotherham/psalms/chapter-16">Psalms 16</a>.