Psalms · Chapter 15
Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
John Wesley
V. 2. Uprightly-Loving, and serving God, and loving his neighbour not in word only, but in truth; and this constantly. Worketh-Makes it his business to do justly, to give to every one his due, first to God, and then to men. Speaketh-His words and professions to God and men, agree with the thoughts and purposes of his heart.
Adam Clarke
Verse 2. He that walketh uprightly] תמים Ëlwh holech tamim, 1. He walks perfectly. Who sets God before his eyes, takes his word for the rule of his conduct, considers himself a sojourner on earth, and is continually walking to the kingdom of God. He acts according to the perfections of God’s law; he has respect to all its parts, and feels the weight and importance of all its injunctions.
And worketh righteousness] 2. He is not satisfied with a contemplative life; he has duties to perform. The law of righteousness has placed him in certain relations, and each of these relations has its peculiar duties. qdx פעל poel tsedek, the words here used, signify to give just weight, to render to all their dues. 1. As he is the creature of GOD, he has duties to perform to him. He owes God his heart: May son, give me thy heart; and should love him with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is giving GOD his due. 2. As a member of civil society, he has various duties to perform to his fellows, as they have to him. He is to love them as himself, and do unto all men as he would they should do unto him. 3. There are duties which he owes to himself. That his body may be in health, vigour, and activity, he should avoid every thing by which it might be injured, particularly all excesses in eating, drinking, sleeping, &c. That his soul may be saved, he should avoid all sin; all irregular and disorderly passions. He owes it to his soul to apply to God for that grace which produces repentance, faith, and holiness; and in order to get all these blessings, he should read, watch, pray, hear the word preached, and diligently use all the ordinances of God. He who acts not thus, defrauds both his body and soul: but the person in the text works righteousness-gives to all their due; and thus keeps a conscience void of offence, both towards God and man. And speaketh the truth in his heart.] 3. He is a true man; in him there is no false way. He is no man of pretenses; speaking one thing, and meaning another. He professes nothing but what he feels and intends; with him there are no hollow friendships, vain compliments, nor empty professions of esteem, love, regard, or friendship. His mouth speaks nothing but what his heart dictates. His heart, his tongue, and his hand, are all in unison. Hypocrisy, guile, and deceit, have no place in his soul.
Joseph Benson
Verse 2. He that walketh uprightly — Without guile, or hypocrisy, loving and serving God, and loving his neighbour, not in word only, but in truth, and this constantly, and in the whole course of his life, as the word walking implies. And worketh righteousness — Maketh it his business to do justly, to give to every one his due, first to God, and then to men. And speaketh the truth in his heart — His words and professions to God and men agree with, and proceed from, the thoughts and purposes of his heart.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 2. He that walketh uprightly, in heart and life; a perfect and upright man, as described in the first psalm. A man working righteousness, in all good offices to his neighbour; fulfilling every moral and social duty. A man that speaketh the truth in his heart, sincerely and without guile.
Daniel Whedon
2. Walketh uprightly—Whose daily life is blameless, pure. Worketh righteousness—Whose works are conformed to the law of God, in obedience to his will. “Righteousness” is obedience to the law of God. Speaketh the truth in his heart—Whose thoughts and intentions are truthful and sincere, and whose words represent his meaning.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.
John Wesley
V. 3. He-He that doth not speak evil of his neighbour. Neighbour-That is, any man. Nor taketh-Into his mouth, doth not raise it, neither spread or propagate it; or believe it without sufficient reason.
Adam Clarke
Verse 3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue] wnvl l[ lgr al lo ragal al leshono, “he foots not upon his tongue.” 4. He is one who treats his neighbour with respect. He says nothing that might injure him in his character, person, or property; he forgets no calumny, he is author of no slander, he insinuates nothing by which his neighbour may be injured. The tongue, because of its slanderous conversation, is represented in the nervous original as kicking about the character of an absent person; a very common vice, and as destructive as it is common: but the man who expects to see God abhors it, and backbites not with his tongue. The words backbite and backbiter come from the Anglo-Saxon bac, the back, and [A.S.], to bite. How it came to be used in the sense it has in our language, seems at first view unaccountable; but it was intended to convey the treble sense of knavishness, cowardice, and brutality. He is a knave, who would rob you of your good name; he is a coward, that would speak of you in your absence what he dared not to do in your presence; and only an ill-conditioned dog would fly at and bite your back when your face was turned. All these three ideas are included in the term; and they all meet in the detractor and calumniator. His tongue is the tongue of a knave, a coward, and a dog. Such a person, of course, has no right to the privileges of the Church militant, and none of his disposition can ever see God. Nor doeth evil to his neighbour] 5. He not only avoids evil speaking, but he avoids also evil acting towards his neighbour. He speaks no evil of him; he does no evil to him; he does him no harm; he occasions him no wrong. On the contrary, he gives him his due. See under the second particular. See Clarke “Psalm 15:2”.
Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.] 6. The word hprj cherpah, which we here translate a reproach, comes from ãrj charaph, to strip, or make bare, to deprive one of his garments; hence ãrj choreph, the winter, because it strips the fields of their clothing, and the trees of their foliage. By this, nature appears to be dishonoured and disgraced. The application is easy: a man, for instance, of a good character is reported to have done something wrong: the tale is spread, and the slanderers and backbiters carry it about; and thus the man is stripped of his fair character, of his clothing of righteousness, truth, and honesty. All may be false; or the man, in an hour of the power of darkness, may have been tempted and overcome; may have been wounded in the cloudy and dark day, and deeply mourns his fall before God. Who that has not the heart of a devil would not strive rather to cover than make bare the fault? Those who feed, as the proverb says, like the flies, passing over all a man’s whole parts to light upon his wounds, will take up the tale, and carry it about. Such, in the course of their diabolic work, carry the story of scandal to the righteous man; to him who loves his God and his neighbour. But what reception has the tale-bearer? The good man taketh it not up; acn al lo nasa, he will not bear it; it shall not be propagated from him. He cannot prevent the detractor from laying it down; but it is in his power not to take it up: and thus the progress of the slander may be arrested. He taketh not up a reproach against his neighbour; and the tale-bearer is probably discouraged from carrying it to another door. Reader, drive the slanderer of your neighbour far away from you: ever remembering that in the law of God, as well as in the law of the land, “the receiver is as bad as the thief.”
Joseph Benson
Verse 3. He backbites not with his tongue — Doth not use his tongue to calumniate, or detract from the reputation of any one; speaks evil of no man, nor makes the faults of others the subject of his conversation, much less of his sport or ridicule, nor speaks of them with pleasure, nor at all but for edification. Nor doeth evil — Any hurt or injury, willingly or designedly, to his neighbour — That is, any man; doth nothing to offend or grieve his spirit, to prejudice the health or ease of his body, to injure him in his estate or secular concerns, in his family or relations; but makes conscience of doing as he would be done by. Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour — Namely, into his lips or mouth: doth not raise it, or spread and propagate it, or even believe it, without sufficient reason.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 3. He that backbiteth not; for “God will cut off the man who secretly slanders his neighbour.” Psalm 101:5.
Daniel Whedon
3. The remaining verses of the psalm describe the character inquired after (verse 1) in its conduct toward others. Backbiteth not—The word rendered “backbiteth,” radically means to go about, walk, wander, for whatever purpose, and hence as talebearer, slanderer. By the law of God, and the judgment of mankind, a most cowardly, despicable, and pernicious practice, and yet how common! Exodus 23:1; Leviticus 19:16. Our English version of the latter passage brings out the full idea: “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer.” Evil—The term is generic—any thing that works injury. Neighbour—That is, another, whoever he may be, any member of the human family. The word also denotes friend, companion, fellow. Taketh up a reproach—To “take up a reproach” is to repeat it. Against his neighbour—The word here rendered “neighbour” is different from that in the previous line, and means one who is nigh, either by residence, friendship, or blood relationship. Talebearing and slanderous gossip are proverbially neighbourhood nuisances and Church scandals.
In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoreth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
John Wesley
V. 4. Vile-An ungodly man. Honoureth-He highly esteems and loves them, though they be mean as to their worldly condition, and though they may differ from him in some opinions or practices of lesser moment. Sweareth-A promissory oath. Hurt-To his own damage. As if a man solemnly swear, that he will sell him such an estate at a price below the full worth; or that, he will give a poor man such a sum of money, which afterwards he finds inconvenient to him. Changeth not-His purpose, but continues firm and resolved to perform his promise.
Adam Clarke
Verse 4. In whose eves a vile person is contemned] 7. This man judges of others by their conduct; he tries no man’s heart. He knows men only by the fruits they bear; and thus he gains knowledge of the principle from which they proceed. A vile person, samn nimas, the reprobate, one abandoned to sin; is despised, hzbn nibzeh, is loathsome, as if he were covered with the elephantiasis or leprosy, for so the word implies. He may be rich, he may be learned, he may be a great man and honourable with his master, in high offices in the state; but if he be a spiritual leper, an infidel, a profligate, the righteous man must despise him, and hold him, because he is an enemy to God and to man, in sovereign contempt. If he be in power, he will not treat him as if worthy of his dignity; while he respects the office he will detest the man. And this is quite right; for the popular odium should ever be pointed against vice.
Aben Ezra gives a curious turn to this clause, which he translates thus: “He is mean and contemptible in his own eyes;” and it is certain that the original, samn בעיניו hzbn nibzeh beeynaiv nimas, will bear this translation. His paraphrase on it is beautiful: “A pious man, whatever good he may have done, and however concordant to the Divine law he may have walked, considers all this of no worth, compared with what it was his duty to do for the glory of his Creator.” A sentiment very like that of our Lord, Luke 17:10: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do.”
Taken in this sense, the words intimate, that the man who is truly pious, who is a proper member of the Church militant, and is going straight to the Church triumphant, is truly humble; he knows he has nothing but what he has received, he has no merit, he trusts not in himself, but in the living God. He renounces his own righteousness, and trusts in the eternal mercy of God through the infinitely meritorious atonement made by Jesus Christ. The language of his heart is,—
“I loathe myself when God I see,
And into nothing fall;
Content that thou exalted be,
And Christ be all in all.”
He honoureth them that fear the Lord] 8. This cause is a proof, however just the sentiment, that Aben Ezra has mistaken the meaning of the preceding clause. The truly pious man, while he has in contempt the honourable and right honourable profligate, yet honours them that fear the Lord, though found in the most abject poverty; though, with Job, on the dunghill, or, with Lazarus, covered with sores at the rich man’s gate. Character is the object of his attention; persons and circumstances are of minor importance.
The fear of the Lord is often taken for the whole of religion; and sometimes for that reverence which a man feels for the majesty and holiness of God, that induces him to hate and depart from evil. Here it may signify the lowest degree of religion, repentance whereby we forsake sin. Sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.] 9. If at any time he have bound himself by a solemn engagement to do so and so, and he finds afterwards that to keep his oath will be greatly to his damage; yet such reverence has he for God and for truth, that he will not change, be the consequences what they may. He is faithful also to his promises; his bare word will bind him equally with an oath. He that will not be honest without an oath will not be honest with one.
The Hebrew might be thus translated: “He sweareth to afflict himself, and does not change;” and thus the Chaldee has rendered this clause. He has promised to the Lord to keep his body under, and bring it into subjection; to deny himself that he may not pamper the flesh, and have the more to give to the poor.
Joseph Benson
Verse 4. In whose eyes — In whose judgment and estimation; a vile person — An ungodly or wicked man, (as appears from the next clause, in which he that feareth God is opposed to him,) is contemned — Or, thought meanly of, notwithstanding his wealth, or honour, or greatness, or even his learning and knowledge: who does not admire the person of such a one, or envy his condition, or court him with flatteries, or value his company and conversation, or approve of, or comply with, his course of life; but judges him a miserable man, and a great object of pity; abhors his practices, and labours to make such ways contemptible to all men, as far as lies in his power. It must be observed, however, that this contemning or thinking meanly of ungodly men, does not imply a contempt of just authority, which, if it be lodged even in a wicked man’s hand, claims not only obedience, but also honour and reverence, as is manifest from the precepts and examples of Christ and his apostles. But he honoureth them that fear the Lord — He highly esteems and cordially loves them, and shows them great respect and kindness, even though they be mean and obscure as to their worldly condition, and though they may differ from him in some opinions or practices of lesser moment. That sweareth to his own hurt — Promises and engages upon oath to do something which may be beneficial to his neighbour, but apparently will be to his own damage. As if a man solemnly swear that he will sell his neighbour such an estate at a price below the full worth; or that he will give a poor man such a sum of money, to give which afterward he finds inconvenient to him. And changeth not — His purpose, but continues firm, and resolved to perform his promise.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 4. He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. If in our commercial or social connections, we meet with persons who take advantage of our ignorance, or impose on our good nature, and surprise us into a bargain, or draw us into a promise, they do indeed commit a mean and sordid crime. But if we, on perceiving our error or our interest, violate that covenant, we tarnish our honour, and wound our conscience: we add crime to crime, and associate our name with the perjured race. Whereas, if we honourably fulfil our engagements, the injury is only in our exterior circumstances, and we have the promised approbation and reward of the faithful God, which is infinitely preferable to the addition of one fraud added to another. So Joshua kept faith with the Gibeonites, though he was commanded to destroy the Canaanites.
Daniel Whedon
4. A vile person is contemned—This clause relates to the moral estimate given of a worthless character. The true, or ideal, man described in the text despises a “vile” person. He hates the hateful because he loves the lovely. He esteems as reprobate that which ought to be rejected, because his own moral sensibilities and perceptions are just and holy. Honoureth them that fear the Lord—Here is the rule by which his judgments and conduct are governed. Because his own aim is to honour God, he honoureth them that fear God. Sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not—Not that a promise to do a wrong thing is binding either in equity or conscience, of which character is Herod’s oath, (Matthew 14:9;) but that a vow or engagement to do that which in itself is lawful and right must be kept, though the performance should involve pecuniary loss or personal suffering. Fidelity to just contracts is fundamental justice. See Numbers 30:2; Judges 11:35.
He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
John Wesley
V. 5. To usury-In such a manner as is contrary to God’s law: of which see otherwise, Exodus 22:25 Leviticus 25:36,37, &c. Reward-Or, a bribe for him who hath a bad cause. Moved-He shall abide with God here, and when he dies be for ever with the Lord.
Adam Clarke
Verse 5. Putteth not out his money to usury] 10. As usury signifies unlawful interest, or that which is got by taking advantage of the necessity of a distressed neighbour, no man that fears God can be guilty of it. The word Ëvn neshech, which we translate usury, comes from nashach, to bite as a serpent; and here must signify that biting or devouring usury, which ruins the man who has it to pay. “The increase of usury is called Ëvn neshech, because it resembles the biting of a serpent. For as this is so small at first, as scarcely to be perceptible, but the venom soon spreads and diffuses itself till it reaches the vitals; so the increase of usury, which at first is not perceived nor felt, at length grows so much as by degrees to devour another’s substance.” Middoch’s edition of Leigh’s Critica Sacra, sub voce Ëvn.
The Jews ever were, and are still, remarkable for usury and usurious contracts; and a Jew that is saved from it is in the fair way, charity would suppose, to the kingdom of heaven. The Roman laws condemned the usurer to the forfeiture of four times the sum. Cato de Rust., lib. i. Nor taketh reward against the innocent.] 11. He neither gives nor receives a bribe in order to pervert justice or injure an innocent man in his cause. The lawyer, who sees a poor man opposed by a rich man, who, though he is convinced in his conscience that the poor man has justice and right on his side, yet takes the larger fee from the rich man to plead against the poor man, has in fact taken a bribe against the innocent, and without the most signal interposition of the mercy of God, is as sure of hell as if he were already there.
He that doeth these things] He in whose character all these excellences meet, though still much more is necessary under the Christian dispensation, shall never be moved-he shall stand fast for ever. He is an upright, honest man, and God will ever be his support.
Now we have the important question answered, Who shall go to heaven? The man who to faith in Christ Jesus adds those eleven moral excellences which have been already enumerated. And only such a character is fit for a place in the Church of Christ.
On this verse there is a singular reading in my old MS. Psalter, which I must notice. The clause, Qui pecuniam suam non dedit ad usuram, “who putteth not out his money to usury,” is thus translated: He that gat nout his catel til oker. Now this intimates that the author had either read pecudem, CATTLE, for pecuniam, MONEY; or that catel was the only money current in his time and country. And indeed it has long been the case, that the Scottish peasantry paid their rents in kind; so many cows or sheep given to the laird for the usufruct of the ground. That this is no mistake in the translation is evident enough from the paraphrase, where he repeats the words, with his gloss upon them: He that gaf nout his Catel till oker bodyly als covaytus men dos gastly: that he seke naght for his gude dede, na mede of this werld, bot anely of heven.
The very unusual word oker signifies produce of any kind, whether of cattle, land, money, or even the human offspring. It is found in the Anglo-Saxon, the Gothic, the German, and the Danish; in all which languages it signifies produce, fruit, offspring, usury, and the like. Dr. Jameson does not show the word in any of its forms, though it is evident that it existed in the ancient Scottish language.
The word catel may be used here for chattels, substance of any kind, moveable or immoveable; but this word itself was originally derived from cattle, which were from the beginning the principal substance or riches of the inhabitants of the country. Indeed the word pecunia, money, was derived from pecus, cattle, which were no longer used as a medium of commerce when silver and gold came into use. There is a passage in Chaucer where cattel catching seems to be used for getting money. Speaking of the wicked priests of his time, he says:—
Some on her churches dwell
Apparailled poorely proud of porte;
The seven Sacramentes thei doen sell,
In Cattel catching is her comfort.
Of each matter thei wollen mell;
And doen hem wrong is her disport.
To affraie the people thei been fell
And hold hem lower than doeth the Lorde.
Plowmanne’s Tale, 3d part.
Joseph Benson
Verse 5. He that putteth not out his money to usury — In such a manner as is contrary to God’s law, of which see on Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36, 37. Or taketh reward — Or bribe, from him who hath a bad cause; that he may condemn the innocent or acquit the guilty: both which things God abhors. He that doeth these things — Here enumerated, in consequence of first having faith working by love, in consequence of the justification of his person and the renovation of his nature; he that, being made a tree of righteousness, thus glorifies God by bearing the fruit of righteousness, and being created anew, in Christ Jesus, unto good works, thus steadily and perseveringly walks in them; he shall never be moved — But shall abide with God, in his favour and family here, and shall dwell with him for ever hereafter.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 5. He that putteth not out his money to usury. See on Exodus 22:25. Leviticus 25:35. The money lenders on annuities, redeemable at pleasure.—Nor taketh a reward against the innocent. I hope we have now no hired assassins; for he who hires, forfeits his life to his country. But the false swearer, and the minister of justice may be implicated, either by bitterness of impeachment, or by sophisms to clear the guilty.
Daniel Whedon
5. Usury—The law of Moses forbade a Hebrew taking usury or interest from a brother Hebrew. A pledge might be taken in security of payment, but nothing further. The noncommercial habits of the Hebrews did not require interest on capital, and the general law of equal distribution which pervaded their economy, forbade it, as oppressive to the poor. Deuteronomy 23:19, 20. To further shield the poor, the creditor was required to release the debtor every seventh year. Deuteronomy 15:1-2. Nor taketh reward against the innocent—The practice of which is the immemorial blight and curse of oriental governments, and is still watching at all human courts, and threatening the peace and integrity of all nations. For the law on this point, see Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19, and 2 Chronicles 19:6, 7. Never be moved—This last clause concludes the answer to the question of verse 1: “Lord, who shall abide?” The Hebrew µlw[l, (leolam,) for ever, gives the measure of duration suitable to the subject to which it applies— “He shall not be moved to eternity.” To confine these rewards of the perfect man to this life, or to deny to the language a direct reference to the unending future life, is simply to demolish all just rules of interpretation, and trifle with all serious reasoning.
John Wesley
V. 1. Who-Who shall so dwell in thy church here, as to dwell with thee for ever in heaven?
Adam Clarke
Verse 1. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?] The literal translation of this verse is, “Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in the mountain of thy holiness?” For the proper understanding of this question we must note the following particulars:—
1. The tabernacle, which was a kind of moveable temple, was a type of the Church militant, or the state of the people of God in this world.
2. Mount Zion, the holy mount, where the temple was built, was the type of the kingdom of heaven. There the ark became stationary, and was no longer carried about from place to place; and the whole was typical of the rest that remains for the people of God.
3. The TABERNACLE was a temporary and frequently-removed building, carried about from place to place, and not long in any one place. Concerning this it is said: rwgy ym mi yagur, “Who shall lodge, or sojourn,” there? It is not a residence, or dwelling-place, but a place to lodge in for a time.
4. The TEMPLE was a fixed and permanent building; and here it is inquired, ˆkcy ym mi yiscon, “Who shall dwell, abide,” or have his permanent residence, there?
5. The tabernacle being a migratory temple, carried about on the shoulders of the priests and Levites, there was no dwelling there for any; they could but lodge or sojourn.
6. The temple being fixed, the priests, Levites, &c., became permanent occupiers. There was no lodging or sojourning, but permanent residence for all connected with it.
7. The tabernacle is, therefore, a proper type of the Church militant, wandering up and down, tossed by various storms and tempests; the followers of God, having here no continuing city; sojourning only on earth to get a preparation for eternal glory.
8. The temple is also a proper type or emblem of the Church triumphant in heaven. “Here the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.” It is the dwelling-place, the eternal residence, of all who are faithful unto death, who are made pillars in that temple of God, to go no more out for ever.
The questions therefore are,
1. Who can be considered a fit member of the Church of Christ here below? and,
2. Who shall be made partakers of an endless glory? In answer to these questions, the character of what we may term a true Israelite, or a good Christian, is given in the following particulars:—
Joseph Benson
Verse 1. Lord, who shall, &c. — The psalmist proposes this question to God, that the answer, coming from the Supreme Lord of earth and heaven, the Lawgiver and Judge of men and angels, might have the greater authority and influence on men’s consciences. Who shall abide — Hebrew rwgy ym, mi jagur, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? — In thy church here, and be a true member thereof, and an acceptable worshipper of thee therein? Who shall dwell — Hebrew, ˆkvy, jishchon, shall reside, and have his constant and perpetual mansion, in thy holy hill of Zion, often put for heaven, where is the true tabernacle not made with hands, Hebrews 8:2, and 9:11; Revelation 21:3. Who shall be permitted and enabled so to worship thee in thy church on earth, and enjoy and improve the privileges thereof, as to dwell with thee in heaven for ever hereafter? The reader will easily observe, that the psalmist alludes to the hill of Zion, to the tabernacle of God which was thereon, and to the character of the priest who should officiate in that tabernacle. And he will remember that “all these were figures of a celestial Jerusalem, a spiritual Zion, a true tabernacle, and an eternal priest. To the great originals, therefore, we must transfer our ideas, and consider the inquiry as made after Him who should fix his resting-place on the heavenly mount, and exercise his unchangeable priesthood in the temple not made with hands. And since the disciples of this new and great high-priest become righteous in him, and are by the Spirit conformed to his image, the character which essentially and inherently belongs only to him will derivatively belong to them also, who must follow his steps below, if they would reign with him above.” — Horne.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Verse 1. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Either as attendants and ministers, or as true Israelites coming to the feasts with acceptable offerings? The prophet here asks the Lord of the sanctuary for the character of his worshippers. The answers are eleven.
Daniel Whedon
1. Abide—This is the emphatic word in the inquiry, and stands opposed to a formal and occasional visit to Zion. It is the stable and immovable character, that shall “stand in the judgment,” to whom citizenship in the spiritual Zion shall be awarded. Tabernacle—Either the tabernacle proper, which in David’s time was in Gibeon, or the sacred tent, at this time on Zion, which contained the ark of the covenant. Holy hill—Or, mountain of thy holiness, namely, Zion, (Psalm 2:6,) so called because the ark abode there. The terms are to be taken spiritually, and the question is equal to, “Lord, who shall dwell for ever in thy presence? What character shall continue without end in thy true Church?”