Who Shall Abide In His Tabernacle? An Exposition Of Psalm 15

Who Shall Abide in His Tabernacle?

Psalm 15:1–5 NKJV

Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?

Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

He who walks uprightly,

And works righteousness,

And speaks the truth in his heart;

He who does not backbite with his tongue,

Nor does evil to his neighbor,

Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;

In whose eyes a vile person is despised,

But he honors those who fear the Lord;

He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

He who does not put out his money at usury,

Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

We now come to the 4th Sunday of Epiphany in which we remember that the message of Christ is meant for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. The previous two Sundays, we looked at 2 psalms, the 40th and the 27th. Like today’s psalm text, they were written by King David. David wrote these psalms at particular times in his life. In these first two psalms, we can deduce that they were written in distressful times, of which there were many. This psalm does not even give us this clue. This psalm is similar to the 24th Psalm which gives us many clues. That psalm seems to have been written n the occasion in which the Ark of the Covenant was brought up from the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite outside the city of Jerusalem where it had been placed after Uzzah died after trying to steady the Ark. There is the joyous cry to open the gates and let the King of glory to come in. The question in that Psalm is who this King of Glory is. The answer comes back: “Yahweh of Armies. He is the King of Glory.

The 15th Psalm we read this morning lacks this greater context and serves instead as a means of introspection. We know by mention of the tabernacle and His holy hill that this psalm comes from the latter part of David’s reign after the Ark was brought into the city of Jerusalem. But this psalm is more introspective in that the questions it asks pierces t one’s own heart. The middle of the 24th psalm is also introspective and asks the same question, but this treatment is more direct. David asks “Who may abide in His tabernacle? There is no question that the LORD of Glory can enter the gates and dwell in the Tabernacle. He has clean hands and a pure heart. The place of His Presence is most holy. Psalm 24 responds that only those who have a pure heart and clean hands. But who has a heart pure enough (motives) and clean hands (actions). If one directs this question honestly to one’s own heart, we fall into despair. Likewise here, Who can remain in His tabernacle. Not even the High Priest could remain in the holy of holies where the presence. He could go there once a year after elaborate purification and the blood of the atonement long enough to sprinkle the blood of atonement on the mercy seat of the Ark. It is said that a rope was attached to his body in case the LORD struck him down so that others could drag his body out. Even his dead body could not abide in His presence. I am not aware of this actually happening, but one can see the terror the holy place of the LORD elicited from Israel.

The Holy Hill in this psalm is the ancient city of Jerusalem which David had just conquered. It had been occupied by Jebusites whom Israel was supposed to remove from the land during the conquest of Canaan hundreds of years ago. Jerusalem was easy to defend and had high walls to protect her. But with the LORD’s help, David was able to subdue it. The LORD chose Jerusalem for His presence to dwell. Not only was the holy of holies sacred, the entire city was holy unto the LORD. To dwell on this holy ground, the character of the people were to reflect His glory. It was because Israel failed to reflect this glory that they would be removed from the land.

We know of the corporate nature of Israel being dedicated to the LORD, but this psalm seems intensely personal. What does one have to do and be in order to dwell in the presence of God. The first thing is that this person has to be upright in character. An upright person does what is right. People can see in the way one conducts one’s self that this person is honest and fair. However, many can be deceived by a “supposedly” upright man. Some people play the game well. As Jesus would describe them, these are whitewashed tombs who are bright and shiny on the outside but inwardly corrupted. This is why David adds that the truly upright man speaks the truth in his heart. True uprightness springs forth from the heart. The inside is the same as the outside.