What I’m Reading: David’s Tabernacle

On By CaitlynIn What I'm Reading

(Full disclosure: I love to recommend resources to help you in your journey, and when I do I use Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through my links, I may receive a small commission. But if there’s a resource you want, I encourage you to get it wherever works best for you!)

As you probably know if you follow me on Instagram, because it’s definitely something I talk about fairly often, I really appreciate Matthew Lilley’s Presence Pioneers ministry encouraging praying communities in pursuing the presence of God. It’s been a huge encouragement and blessing to me over the past two years (I even highlighted his podcast in my blog 5 House of Prayer Podcasts I Love), and a recurring theme has been the tabernacle of David. Matthew has spent years going deep in this topic, and I’ve been waiting for him to write a book on it.

Well, he finally has! I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy of David’s Tabernacle, releasing May 18, and LOVED it. Matthew’s style is personal, passionate, and engaging, and there are fresh insights in every chapter. I’ve been in the prayer movement almost nine years and have heard a lot of teachings on the tabernacle of David, but there were a ton of insights and dots connected that I had never thought of before. This book has a really good mix of exploring the historical details of David’s tabernacle, the thematic tie-ins from all over Scripture, and also the implications for the church today.

Okay, let’s back up. What is the tabernacle of David and why does it matter?

In between the tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon, King David had a tabernacle. After growing up as a shepherd boy with a harp falling in love with the presence of God, as a king he brought the ark of the covenant into his own backyard and set up a worship tent that was radically different from the sacrificial model Moses had instituted. David had priests in the tent offering musical worship before the ark 24/7. There was no veil separating the holy of holies; it was open to allow full access into God’s presence. The worship in this tent was continual, original, and prophetic. This is the environment in which many of the Psalms were written.

And today, we are seeing a restoration of this as God raises up a global prayer and worship movement in the spirit of the tabernacle of David!

In Amos 9:11, God promised, “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old.” As Matthew describes (Chapter 11: The Promised Restoration), some people see this as being mainly about night and day prophetic worship, and some people see this as being mainly about the eternal throne of Jesus in David’s lineage. I grew up hearing the latter, and my circles now mostly emphasize the former.

One of the things that struck me as a major theme throughout this book is that it’s both.

“David’s kingdom and tabernacle were flowing and functioning together to manifest heaven in Israel, and biblically we cannot separate the ideas of worship and government. Zion, the heavenly throne room, is both a place of God’s rule and a place of day and night worship. There is actually no contradiction in the two interpretations. It’s not an either/or issue.”
(David’s Tabernacle, chapter 11)

David was a king who functioned as a priest. Jesus is a king and priest. We are made kings and priests. God is enthroned in our praises; worship pushes His kingdom forward. Of course Jesus’ kingship, both in the “already and not yet,” is tied to worship. And of course He wants us to partner with Him to establish His kingdom from the place of worship. It’s the first and second commandment, really. Upward and outward– but upward first.

One of my other favorite parts of this book was “Chapter 10: We Were Made For This”. Matthew breaks down several key passages to uncover the theme woven throughout Scripture that we were always meant to be priests, beginning with the genealogy in the opening verses of 1 Chronicles:

“When sharing the story of David’s tabernacle, the author of I Chronicles begins with lists of genealogies. He starts at the very beginning, with Adam. He does not begin with Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. He is making his intention clear. This story he is about to tell about David’s tabernacle is reframing the entire story of mankind. Something in David’s story connects all the way back to the beginning of time.”
(David’s Tabernacle, chapter 10)

Okay, so let’s go back to Genesis. As Matthew explains, Adam was told to “work and keep” the garden (Ge. 2:15). The Hebrew words are abad and shamar, which elsewhere are translated “serve and guard” and refer to the priestly ministry of tending God’s presence in the tabernacle (Nu. 3:7–8; 8:25–26; 18:5–6). Adam was a priest. (This is something I explored in my message Our Eternal Priesthood, available on my Resources page.)

The tabernacle of David is massively important for this generation. I believed it before reading this book, but I believe it even more now! It was a moment when the deep desire of God’s heart broke through and had expression in history, because of one man’s zeal to see His presence manifest on earth. God has been using David’s tabernacle as a model ever since, calling His people back to worship in spirit and in truth and enthrone Him on their praises.

David’s Tabernacle is currently available for preorder on Amazon before its May 18, 2021, release date. If you plan to get it, I suggest you do it now– preorders are really good for Amazon rankings, etc! I already ordered a paperback for myself since my pre-release copy was digital, and an extra copy for The Prayer Room‘s library.

To tide you over while you wait for May 18, I also suggest:

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