Psalm 84 (prayerful reading)

Psalm 84

Longing for the Temple Worship.

    For the choir director; ^[a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. ¹ How lovely are Your dwelling places,
O LORD of hosts!
² My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
³ The bird also 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.
⁴ How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are ever praising You.
                         ^[b]Selah.
 ⁵ How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
In ^[c]whose heart are the highways to Zion!
⁶ Passing through the valley of ^[d]Baca they make it a ^[e]spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
⁷ They go from strength to strength,
^[f]Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
 ⁸ O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob!
                         Selah.

⁹ Behold our shield, O God,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
¹⁰ For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
The LORD gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold ^[g]from those who walk^[h]uprightly.
¹² O LORD of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You!