Psalms
Chapter 84
How Delightful Is Your Dwelling Place, Lord!
How lovely are your rooms, O Lord of hosts!
My soul yearns; pines, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God!
Happy are those who live in your house, continually singing your praise!
Happy, the pilgrims whom you strengthen, to make the ascent to you.
As they pass through the Valley, they make it a place of springs, the early rain covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength till they appear before God in Zion.
O Lord of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!
Look upon our shield, O God; look upon the face of your Anointed!
One day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be left at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; he bestows favor and glory. The Lord withholds no good thing from those who walk in uprightness.
O Lord of hosts, blessed are those who trust in you.
Commentaries
84
The home of God on earth! What does this mean? There can be no change in God. He cannot move into a new house. No, the change is in human beings! God is everywhere, but consecrates certain places where people can meet him and feel his presence more deeply. There is a power there, without which not a sparrow falls to the ground, but also a peace that encourages the sparrow to build its nest. Such a home of God stood on the hill of Zion. It is a weary climb for the pilgrim at the end of his journey, but it strengthens him when he pauses to lift his eyes. The end of every pilgrimage lies further ahead, and it is a very tiring climb for all. Our city is heaven, but in a sense, it is here too: ‘You came near to Mount Zion, the city of the living God’ (Heb 12:22), because the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us: in a new sense, the earth is the Lord’s.
Some people visit the Temple but do not experience the love of God who dwells therein. They do not see a transformation in their conduct because they trust in the Temple of God, not the God of the Temple. This psalm can guide us on pilgrimages and religious festivals.