Psalms 84
American Standard Version (1901) (ASV) · English
1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, My King, and my God. 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: They will be still praising thee. [Selah 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; In whose heart are the highways to Zion. 6 Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs; Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings. 7 They go from strength to strength; Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion. 8 O Jehovah God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob. [Selah 9 Behold, O God our shield, And look upon the face of thine anointed. 10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 12 O Jehovah of hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Commentary — not Bible text
Psalms 84:1
PSALM 84
Psa 84:1-12. (See on Psa 8:1, title, and Psa 42:1, title). The writer describes the desirableness of God's worship and prays for a restoration to its privileges.
1. amiable--not lovely, but beloved.
tabernacles--(Psa 43:3).
Psalms 84:2
2. longeth--most intensely (Ge 31:30; Psa 17:12).
fainteth--exhausted with desire.
courts--as tabernacles (Psa 84:1)--the whole building.
crieth out--literally, "sings for joy"; but here, and La 2:19, expresses an act of sorrow as the corresponding noun (Psa 17:1; 61:2).
heart and ... flesh--as in Psa 63:1.
Psalms 84:3
3. thine altars--that is, of burnt offering and incense, used for the whole tabernacle. Its structure afforded facilities for sparrows and swallows to indulge their known predilections for such places. Some understand the statement as to the birds as a comparison: "as they find homes, so do I desire thine altars," &c.
Psalms 84:4
Psalms 84:5
Psalms 84:6
6. valley of Baca--or, "weeping." Through such, by reason of their dry and barren condition, the worshippers often had to pass to Jerusalem. As they might become wells, or fountains, or pools, supplied by refreshing rain, so the grace of God, by the exercises of His worship, refreshes and revives the hearts of His people, so that for sorrows they have "rivers of delight" (Psa 36:8; 46:4).
Psalms 84:7
7. The figure of the pilgrim is carried out. As such daily refit their bodily strength till they reach Jerusalem, so the spiritual worshipper is daily supplied with spiritual strength by God's grace till he appears before God in heaven.
appeareth ... God--the terms of the requisition for the attendance on the feasts (compare De 16:16),
Psalms 84:9
Psalms 84:10
10. I had ... doorkeeper--literally, "I choose to sit on the threshold," the meanest place.
Psalms 84:11-12
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