Psalm 84

Prayer of a Pilgrim to Jerusalem

1 For the leader; "upon the gittith." A psalm of the Korahites.

2 How lovely your dwelling,

O LORD of hosts!^a

3 My soul yearns and pines

for the courts of the LORD.^b

My heart and flesh cry out

for the living God.

4 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!^c

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 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.

III

9 LORD of hosts, hear my prayer;

listen, God of Jacob. Selah

10 O God, look kindly on our shield;

look upon the face of your anointed.^d

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!

CROSS REFERENCES:

a: Pss 43:3-4; 122:1.

b: Pss 42:2-3; 63:2-3; 143:6; Is 26:9.

c: Ps 5:3.

d: Ps 89:19.

NOTES:

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

84:4 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. Ps 42:2-3, where the image for the desire of the pilgrim is the thirst of the deer for water.

84:7 Baca valley: Hebrew obscure; probably a valley on the way to Jerusalem.

84:10 Our shield . . . your anointed: the king had a role in the liturgical celebration. For the king as shield, cf. Ps 89:19.