Psalm 84

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.^a

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

²I long, yes, I faint with longing

to enter the courts of the Lord.

With my whole being, body and soul,

I will shout joyfully to the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young

at a place near your altar,

O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!

⁴What joy for those who can live in your house,

always singing your praises. Interlude

⁵What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord,

who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

⁶When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,^b

it will become a place of refreshing springs.

The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.

⁷They will continue to grow stronger,

and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.^c

⁸O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, hear my prayer.

Listen, O God of Jacob. Interlude

⁹O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield!

Show favor to the one you have anointed.

¹⁰A single day in your courts

is better than a thousand anywhere else!

I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God

than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.

¹¹For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.

He gives us grace and glory.

The Lord will withhold no good thing

from those who do what is right.

¹²O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,

what joy for those who trust in you.