Psalms
Chapter 84
1
1 For the leader; "upon the gittith." A psalm of the Korahites.
2
How lovely your dwelling, O LORD of hosts!
3
My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and flesh cry out for the living God.
4
2 As the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest to settle her young, My home is by your altars, LORD of hosts, my king and my God!
5
Happy are those who dwell in your house! They never cease to praise you. Selah
6
Happy are those who find refuge in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrim roads.
7
3 As they pass through the Baca valley, they find spring water to drink. Also from pools the Lord provides water for those who lose their way.
8
They pass through outer and inner wall and see the God of gods on Zion.
9
LORD of hosts, hear my prayer; listen, God of Jacob. Selah
10
4 O God, look kindly on our shield; look upon the face of your anointed.
11
Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. Better the threshold of the house of my God than a home in the tents of the wicked.
12
For a sun and shield is the LORD God, bestowing all grace and glory. The LORD withholds no good thing from those who walk without reproach.
13
O LORD of hosts, happy are those who trust in you!
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Footnotes

1 [Psalm 84] Israelites celebrated three pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem annually. The psalm expresses the sentiments of the pilgrims eager to enjoy the divine presence.

2 [4] The desire of a restless bird for a secure home is an image of the desire of a pilgrim for the secure house of God. Cf Psalm 42:2-3, where the image for the desire of the pilgrim is the thirst of the deer for water.

3 [7] Baca valley: Hebrew obscure; probably a valley on the way to Jerusalem.

4 [10] Our shield . . . your anointed: the king had a role in the liturgical celebration. For the king as shield, cf Psalm 89:19.


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