hill?
1.—THE QUESTION. _Jehovah._ Thou high and holy One, who shall be
permitted to have fellowship with thee? The heavens are not pure in thy
sight, and thou chargedst thine angels with folly, who then of mortal
mould shall dwell with thee, thou dread consuming fire? A sense of the
glory of the Lord and of the holiness which becomes his house, his
service, and his attendants, excites the humble mind to ask the solemn
question before us. Where angels bow with veiled faces, how shall man be
able to worship at all? The unthinking many imagine it to be a very easy
matter to approach the Most High, and when professedly engaged in his
worship they have no questionings of heart as to their fitness for it;
but truly humbled souls often shrink under a sense of utter
unworthiness, and would not dare to approach the throne of the God of
holiness if it were not for him, our Lord, our Advocate, who can abide
in the heavenly temple, because his righteousness endureth for ever.
“_Who shall abide in thy tabernacle?_” Who shall be admitted to be one
of the household of God, to sojourn under his roof and enjoy communion
with himself? “_Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?_” Who shall be a
citizen of Zion, and an inhabitant of the heavenly Jerusalem? The
question is raised, because it is a question. All men have not this
privilege, nay, even among professors there are aliens from the
commonwealth, who have no secret intercourse with God. On the grounds of
law no mere man can dwell with God, for there is not one upon earth who
answers to the just requirements mentioned in the succeeding verses. The
questions in the text are asked of the _Lord_, as if none but the
Infinite Mind could answer them so as to satisfy the unquiet conscience.
We must know from the Lord of the tabernacle what are the qualifications
for his service, and when we have been taught of him, we shall clearly
see that only our spotless Lord Jesus, and those who are conformed unto
his image, can ever stand with acceptance before the Majesty on high.
Impertinent curiosity frequently desires to know who and how many shall
be saved; if those who thus ask the question, “Who shall dwell in thy
holy hill?” would make it a soul-searching enquiry in reference to
themselves they would act much more wisely. Members of the visible
church, which is God’s tabernacle of worship, and hill of eminence,
should diligently see to it, that they have the preparation of heart
which fits them to be inmates of the house of God. Without the
wedding-dress of righteousness in Christ Jesus, we have no right to sit
at the banquet of communion. Without uprightness of walk we are not fit
for the imperfect church on earth, and certainly we must not hope to
enter the perfect church above.
2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh
the truth in his heart.
3 _He that_ backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his
neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them
that fear the LORD. _He that_ sweareth to _his own_ hurt, and
changeth not.
5 _He that_ putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward
against the innocent. He that doeth these _things_ shall never be
moved.
2.—THE ANSWER. The Lord in answer to the question informs us by his Holy
Spirit of the character of the man who alone can dwell in his holy hill.
In perfection this holiness is found only in the Man of Sorrows, but in
a measure it is wrought in all his people by the Holy Ghost. Faith and
the graces of the Spirit are not mentioned, because this is a
description of outward character, and where fruits are found the root
may not be seen, but it is surely there. Observe the accepted man’s
_walk, work and word_. “_He that walketh uprightly_,” he keeps himself
erect as those do who traverse high ropes; if they lean on one side over
they must go, or as those who carry precious but fragile ware in baskets
on their heads, who lose all if they lose their perpendicular. True
believers do not cringe as flatterers, wriggle as serpents, bend double
as earth-grubbers, or crook on one side as those who have sinister aims;
they have the strong backbone of the vital principle of grace within,
and being themselves upright, they are able to walk uprightly. Walking
is of far more importance than talking. He only is right who is
_up_right in walk and _down_right in honesty. “_And worketh
righteousness._” His faith shows itself by good works, and therefore is
no dead faith. God’s house is a hive for workers, not a nest for drones.
Those that rejoice that everything is done for them by another, even the
Lord Jesus, and therefore hate legality, are the best doers in the world
upon gospel principles. If we are not positively serving the Lord, and
doing his holy will to the best of our power, we may seriously debate
our interest in divine things, for trees which bear no fruit must be
hewn down and cast into the fire. “_And speaketh the truth in his
heart._” The fool in the last Psalm spoke falsely in his heart; observe
both here and elsewhere in the two Psalms, the striking contrast. Saints
not only desire to love and speak truth with their lips, but they seek
to be true within; they will not lie even in the closet of their hearts,
for God is there to listen; they scorn double meanings, evasions,
equivocations, white lies, flatteries, and deceptions. Though truths,
like roses, have thorns about them, good men wear them in their bosoms.
Our heart must be the sanctuary and refuge of truth, should it be
banished from all the world beside, and hunted from among men; at all
risk we must entertain the angel of truth, for truth is God’s daughter.
We must be careful that the heart is really fixed and settled in
principle, for tenderness of conscience towards truthfulness, like the
bloom on a peach, needs gentle handling, and once lost it were hard to
regain it. Jesus was the mirror of sincerity and holiness. Oh, to be
more and more fashioned after his similitude!
3. After the positive comes the negative. “_He that backbiteth not with
his tongue._” There is a sinful way of backbiting with the heart when we
think too hardly of a neighbour, but it is the tongue which does the
mischief. Some men’s tongues bite more than their teeth. The tongue is
not steel, but it cuts, and its wounds are very hard to heal; its worst
wounds are not with its edge to our face, but with its back when our
head is turned. Under the law, a night hawk was an unclean bird, and its
human image is abominable everywhere. All slanderers are the devil’s
bellows to blow up contention, but those are the worst which blow at the
back of the fire. “_Nor doeth evil to his neighbour._” He who bridles
his tongue will not give a licence to his hand. Loving our neighbour as
ourselves will make us jealous of his good name, careful not to injure
his estate, or by ill example to corrupt his character. “_Nor taketh up
a reproach against his neighbour._” He is a fool if not a knave who
picks up stolen goods and harbours them; in slander as well as robbery,
the receiver is as bad as the thief. If there were no gratified hearers
of ill reports, there would be an end of the trade of spreading them.
Trapp says, that “the tale-bearer carrieth the devil in his tongue, and
the tale-hearer carries the devil in his ear.” The original may be
translated, “endureth;” implying that it is a sin to endure or tolerate
tale-bearers. “Show that man out!” we should say of a drunkard, yet it
is very questionable if his unmannerly behaviour will do us so much
mischief as the tale-bearer’s insinuating story. “Call for a policeman!”
we say if we see a thief at his business; ought we to feel no
indignation when we hear a gossip at her work? Mad dog! Mad dog!! is a
terrible hue and cry, but there are few curs whose bite is so dangerous
as a busybody’s tongue. Fire! fire!! is an alarming note, but the
tale-bearer’s tongue is set on fire of hell, and those who indulge it
had better mend their manners, or they may find that there is fire in
hell for unbridled tongues. Our Lord spake evil of no man, but breathed
a prayer for his foes; we must be like him, or we shall never be with
him.
4. “_In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them
that fear the Lord._” We must be as honest in paying respect as in
paying our bills. Honour to whom honour is due. To all good men we owe a
debt of honour, and we have no right to hand over what is their due to
vile persons who happen to be in high places. When bad men are in
office, it is our duty to respect the office, but we cannot so violate
our consciences as to do otherwise than contemn the men; and on the
other hand, when true saints are in poverty and distress, we must
sympathize with their afflictions and honour the men none the less. We
may honour the roughest cabinet for the sake of the jewels, but we must
not prize false gems because of their setting. A sinner in a gold chain
and silken robes is no more to be compared with a saint in rags than a
rushlight in a silver candlestick with the sun behind a cloud. The
proverb says, that “ugly women, finely dressed, are the uglier for it,”
and so mean men in high estate are the more mean because of it. “_He
that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not._” Scriptural saints
under the New Testament rule “swear not at all,” but their word is as
good as an oath: those men of God who think it right to swear, are
careful and prayerful lest they should even seem to overshoot the mark.
When engagements have been entered into which turn out to be
unprofitable, “the saints are men of honour still.” Our blessed Surety
swore to his own hurt, but how gloriously he stood to his suretiship!
what a comfort to us that he changeth not, and what an example to us to
be scrupulously and precisely exact in fulfilling our covenants with
others! The most far-seeing trader may enter into engagements which turn
out to be serious losses, but whatever else he loses, if he keeps his
honour, his losses will be bearable; if that be lost all is lost.
5 “_He that putteth not out his money to usury._” Usury was and is
hateful both to God and man. That a lender should share with the
borrower in gains made by his money is most fitting and proper; but that
the man of property should eat up the poor wretch who unfortunately
obtained a loan of him is abominable. Those who grind poor tradesmen,
needy widows, and such like, by charging them interest at intolerable
rates, will find that their gold and their silver are cankered. The man
who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord must shake off this sin as
Paul shook the viper into the fire. “_Nor taketh reward against the
innocent._” Bribery is a sin both in the giver and the receiver. It was
frequently practised in Eastern courts of justice; that form of it is
now under our excellent judges almost an unheard-of thing; yet the sin
survives in various forms, which the reader needs not that we should
mention; and under every shape it is loathsome to the true man of God.
He remembers that Jesus instead of taking reward against the innocent
died for the guilty.
5 “_He that doeth these things shall never be moved._” No storm shall
tear him from his foundations, drag him from his anchorage, or uproot
him from his place. Like the Lord Jesus, whose dominion is everlasting,
the true Christian shall never lose his crown. He shall not only be _on_
Zion, but _like_ Zion, fixed and firm. He shall dwell in the tabernacle
of the Most High, and neither death nor judgment shall remove him from
his place of privilege and blessedness.
Let us betake ourselves to prayer and self-examination, for this Psalm
is as fire for the gold, and as a furnace for silver. Can we endure its
testing power?
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Verse 1.—“Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?”_—In that the church
of Christ upon earth is a “_tabernacle_,” we may note, that neither the
church itself nor the members of it, have any fixed or firm seat of
habitation in this world: “Arise, depart, for this is not your rest.”
Micah ii. 10. “Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to
come.” Heb. xiii. 14. God’s tabernacle, being a movable temple, wandered
up and down, sometimes in the desert, sometimes in Shiloh, sometimes
among the Philistines, sometimes in Kirjathjearim, and never found any
settled place till it was translated into the mountain of God: even so
the church of God wandereth as a straggler and a stranger in the
wilderness of this world, being destitute, tormented, and afflicted on
every side, persecuted from this city to that, and never enjoying any
constant habitation of sound and sure rest until it be translated unto
“_God’s holy hill_.” The verb גּוּר _gur_ (as the learned in Hebrew
note) signifying to dwell as a stranger, or a sojourner, imports that a
citizen of heaven is a pilgrim on earth.... In that the church is a
_tabernacle_, we may see that it is not a fort, compassed about with any
strong walls, armed with any human forces; and yet such as keep within
her are defended from heat of sun, and hurt of storms. Her strength is
not here, but from above, for Christ her Head is in all her troubles a
present help, a refuge against the tempest, a shadow against the heat.
Isa. xxv. 4. The church on earth is indeed a _tabernacle_, but it is
_God’s_ tabernacle, wherein he dwelleth as in his house; “Lord, who
shall abide in _thy_ tabernacle?” for to this end the Lord commanded the
tabernacle to be made, that he might dwell among them; and again,
whereas he promised by Moses to set his tabernacle among them the
blessed apostle construeth it of his dwelling among them. 2 Cor. vi. 16.
“You are,” saith he, “the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them.” To the same purpose, God is said
elsewhere to dwell in Sion, and to walk in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks, that is, in the midst of the seven churches in the midst
of his city (Psa. xlvi. 5), in the midst of his people. Isa. xii.
6.—_John Boys, D.D., Dean of Canterbury, 1571-1625._
_Verse 1.—“Lord, who shall abide,”_ etc. If David, a man endued with an
excellent and divine spirit, one in whom singular wisdom, rare
knowledge, and deep understanding of hidden secrets appeared, who being
taught of God in heavenly things, far surpassed and exceeded in wisdom
all his teachers and counsellors, did notwithstanding desire to know the
sheep from the goats, the good from the bad, the saints from the
hypocrites, the true worshippers of God from dissemblers, the true
inhabitants of the holy tabernacle from the intruders of the wicked,
lest therein he should be deceived; how great cause have we, in whom
neither the like spirit, neither such wisdom, nor equal knowledge, nor
comparable understanding, by many degrees appeareth to fear our own
weakness, to doubt of our own judgments, to confess our own infirmity,
and to suspect the subtle sleights and coloured pretences of men: and
for further knowledge in hidden, deep, and secret things, with David to
demand and ask this question, “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
who shall dwell in thy holy hill?”... Where David saith, “Who shall
abide in thy holy hill?” he giveth us to understand that there is no
true and sound rest but in the _holy hill of the Lord_, which is the
church. Then the wicked and ungodly which are not of God’s house, of his
_holy hill_, of the church, have no quiet, rest, nor sound peace; but
they are in continual perplexity, continual torment, continual
disquietness of their minds.—_Richard Turnbull, 1606._
_Verse 1.—“Abide in thy tabernacle,”_ etc.—The worshippers in the outer
court only will get their eternal abode without among the dogs,
sorcerers, etc.; but they that shall be inhabitants of heaven, come
further in, even unto the tabernacle itself: their souls are fed at his
table, they find the smell of his garments as of myrrh, aloes, and
cassia; and if they miss it at any time, it is the grief of their souls,
and they are never at rest till they recover it again.—_Thomas Boston._
_Verse 1.—“Who shall dwell,”_ etc.
“Now, who is he? Say, if ye can,
Who _so_ shall gain the firm abode?
Pilate shall say, ‘Behold the Man!’
And John, ‘Behold the Lamb of God!’”
_John Barclay, quoted by A. A. Bonar, in loc._
_Verse 1.—“Holy Hill.”_—Heaven is aptly compared to a hill, hell to a
hole. Now who shall ascend unto this holy mount? None but those whom
this mount comes down unto, that have sweet communion with God in this
life present, whose conversation is in heaven, though their commoration
be for awhile upon earth, who do here eat, and drink, and sleep, eternal
life.—_John Trapp._
_Verses 1, 2._—The disguising and counterfeiting of hypocrites in all
ages, occasioned haply this query: for, as Paul speaks, “all are not
Israel that are of Israel,” a great many living in the church are not of
the church, according to that of the doctors upon this place, _multi
sunt corpore qui non sunt fide, multi nomine qui non sunt nomine_.
Wherefore David, here perceiving that sundry people were shuffled into
God’s tabernacle like goats among the sheep, and tares among the corn,
being Jews outwardly, but not inwardly, deceiving others often, and
sometimes themselves also, with a bare profession of religion, and false
opinion of true piety, cometh unto God (as to the searcher and trier of
the hearts of men, acquainted with all secrets, and best understanding
who are his own), saying unto him, O Lord, forsomuch as there is so much
unsoundness and hypocrisy reigning among those that dwell in thy
tabernacle, professing thy word, and frequenting the places of thy
worship; I beseech thee most humbly, to declare to thy people some
tokens and cognizances by which a true subject of thy kingdom may be
discerned from the children of this world. Here then, observe, that an
external profession of faith, and outward communion with the church of
God, is not sufficient unto salvation, unless we lead an incorrupt life
correspondent to the same, doing the thing which is right, and speaking
the truth in our heart. And, therefore, the silly Papist is exceedingly
deceived in relying so much upon the church’s outside, to wit upon the
succession of Roman bishops, upon the multitudes of Roman Catholics,
upon the power and pomp of the Roman synagogue, crying as the Jews in
old time, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,” our church
is the temple of the Lord. The carnal and careless gospeller is deceived
also, placing all his religion in the formal observation of outward
service, for a mere verbal Christian is a real atheist, according to
that of Paul (Titus i. 16), “In word they profess that they know God,
but in their works they deny him;” and so many who seem to sojourn in
God’s tabernacle for a time, shall never rest upon his “_holy hill_;”
and this assertion is expressly confirmed by Christ himself: “Not every
one (saith he) that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me ye that work iniquity.” Matt. vii.
21-23. Consider this, all ye which are Christians in lip only, but not
in life, making a mask of religion, or rather a very vizard, with eyes,
and mouth, and nose, fairly painted and proportioned to all pretences
and purposes. O think on this, all ye that forget God, he that dwelleth
on high, and beholds the things here below, suffers none _to rest upon
the mountain of his holiness but such as walk uprightly, doing that
which is just, and speaking that which is true_.—_John Boys._
_Verse 2._—“_He that walketh uprightly_,” etc.—If neither the golden
reason of excellency can move us, nor the silver reason of profit allure
us, then must the iron reason of necessity enforce us to _integrity_ and
_uprightness of heart_. For first, such is the necessity thereof, that
without integrity the best graces we seem to have are counterfeit, and,
therefore, but glorious sins; the best worship we can perform is but
hypocrisy, and therefore abominable in God’s sight. For uprightness is
the soundness of all grace and virtues, as also of all religion and
worship of God, without which they are unsound and nothing worth. And
first, as touching graces, if they be not joined with uprightness of
heart, they are sins under the masks or vizards of virtue, yea, as it
may seem, double sins: for as Augustine saith, _Simulata æquitas est
duplex iniquitas, quia et iniquitas est, et simulatio_: Feigned equity
is double iniquity, both because it is iniquity, and because it is
feigning.—_George Downame, D.D., 1604._