1 Chronicles 17:5
For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.
From the time God brought Israel up from Egypt until David's day, He had not dwelt in a permanent house but had gone from tent to tent and from one tabernacle to another. His dwelling among His people through all those years was associated with the movable tabernacle, not with a fixed temple. The ark remained in that movable tabernacle, where the Shekinah between the cherubim represented God's presence among His people. David wished to build a more fitting house for God in place of that tent-dwelling. That wish was not fulfilled by David himself, because God had appointed his son Solomon to build the temple.