There is no indication as to when or why this Psalm was written by David. It may have been when they brought the ark of the covenant into
A Psalm of David.
1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
The word translated abide may also be sojourn. Who can be a visitor in the tabernacle? A visitor in the time of David was a special guest and treated with great respect. All a visitor's needs were met and he was under the protection of the house they were in. David wants to know who can be a guest in the presence of the Lord and have their needs met and be under His protection.
The tabernacle of God was the tent of meeting that Moses built at the direction of God. This tabernacle was at
The second question is essentially a repeat of the first. The 'dwell' is more permanent than the abide in the first question. 'Your holy hill' is
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
To walk 'uprightly' is have a character that is wholesome, complete, sound, unimpaired and to have integrity. Working righteousness is also a reflection of character. It is doing what is right and just and normal. This man who walks upright and in righteousness will speak truth in his heart. You will be able to recognize the man of Godly character by what comes out of his mouth. What comes out of the mouth reflects what is in the heart.
Someone once said character is what you do when no one is watching. But God sees even when no one else does…so maybe Character is what God sees.
In this Old Testament thought, David knows that you come to the presence of the Lord by acting right. This is the Old Covenant in which blessing and favor came to those who acted right and curses came upon those who were disobedient. Our ability to come to the Lord isn't based on how we act. Instead we come to Him by faith alone. As a result of the receiving grace by faith we walk in obedience. In the Old Covenant a righteous walk was a condition to coming before the Lord. In the New Covenant a righteous walk is the result of coming to the Lord.
3 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 Matthew 12:34 Jesus said 'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.' This backbiter is a tale bearer and a slanderer. The word reflects that it is done as a spy, secretly, behind the back.
Those that dwell with the Lord or abide in Him do no evil to their neighbor. In fact we find out later that we are to go beyond this. We don't just refrain from treating them poorly we are supposed to love them as we love our self.
And the final part of verse 3 says we are to not take up a reproach against your friend. We are not to bring shame or scorn on a friend. This friend is someone in your area of influence in your life. Those that abide in God won't despise their friends.
4In 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;
We are to see things as the Lord does; those whom God sees as vile are to be despised and we are to honor those who fear the Lord. Those that abide in the Lord will stand fast even when it hurts. God's people are steadfast in their belief and unchanging. Because of that their 'yes' means yes and their 'no' means no. They aren't fickle and do not waver in the pressures of the world's system.
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
And you can't talk about righteousness and abiding in the Lord without addressing money. It is the root of all kinds of evil and if it is not considered it will cause a problem. Those that abide in God don't lend their money out to rake in interest. Interest at that time could be as high as fifty percent. This kind of interest would be indicative of greed and not the heart of a servant. And isn't it interesting the bible has to tell us not to take a bribe against the innocent. Have we ever done that? Have we ever taken something to look the other way? How about a promotion to silence your opposition? Or a tax break to keep you quiet.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
To do these things is to seek after His righteousness and have your life anchored in the Lord. If we are anchored in the Lord, we can not be moved. The 'moved' means a violently shaken or upheaval. Regardless of how the world shakes us up, a life anchored in the Lord will hold fast.
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