84:1 HOW LOVELY are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! |
84:2 My soul yearns, yes, even pines {and} is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out {and} sing for joy to the living God. |
84:3 Yes, the sparrow 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. |
84:4 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who dwell in Your house {and} Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! |
84:5 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. |
84:6 Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs; the early rain also fills [the pools] with blessings. |
84:7 They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power]; each of them appears before God in Zion. |
84:8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! |
84:9 Behold our shield [the king as Your agent], O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed! |
84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather be a doorkeeper {and} stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell [at ease] in the tents of wickedness. |
84:11 For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace {and} favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. |
84:12 O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]! |