Psalm 84:1-12

  • Yearning for God’s grand tabernacle

    • A Levite’s longing to be like a bird (3)

    • “A day in your courtyards” (10)

    • “God is a sun and a shield” (11)

For the director; upon the Gitʹtith.* Of the sons of Korʹah.+ A melody. 84  How lovely* your grand tabernacle is,+O Jehovah of armies!  2  My whole being* yearns,Yes, I am faint with longing,For the courtyards of Jehovah.+ My heart and my flesh shout joyfully to the living God.  3  Even the bird finds a home thereAnd the swallow a nest for herself,Where she cares for her youngNear your grand altar, O Jehovah of armies,My King and my God!  4  Happy are those dwelling in your house!+ They continue to praise you.+ (Selah)  5  Happy are the men who find their strength in you,+Whose hearts are set on the highways.  6  When they pass through the Baʹca Valley,*They make it into a place of springs;And the early rain clothes it* with blessings.  7  They will walk on from strength to strength;+Each one appears before God in Zion.  8  O Jehovah God of armies, hear my prayer;Listen, O God of Jacob. (Selah)  9  Look, our shield+ and our God,*Look upon the face of your anointed one.+ 10  For a day in your courtyards is better than a thousand anywhere else!+ I choose to stand at the threshold of the house of my GodRather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11  For Jehovah God is a sun+ and a shield;+He gives favor and glory. Jehovah will not hold back anything goodFrom those walking in integrity.+ 12  O Jehovah of armies,Happy is the man who trusts in you.+

Footnotes

Or “deeply loved.”
Or “My soul.”
Or “the valley of baca bushes.”
Or possibly, “And the instructor enwraps himself.”
Or possibly, “Look at our shield, O God.”