Psalms 84
Longing for the Temple Worship.
1How lovely are Your dwelling places,
O Lord of hosts!
2My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3The bird has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence;
They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.
5Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
7They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];
Each of them appears before God in Zion.
8O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.
9See our shield, O God,
And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].
10For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];
I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God
Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.
11For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord bestows grace and favor and honor;
No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12O Lord of hosts,
How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].