Psalm 84

Wishing to Be in the Temple

For the director of music. On the gittith. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

84Lord All-Powerful,

how lovely is your Temple!

²I want more than anything

to be in the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple.

My whole being wants

to be with the living God.

³The sparrows have found a home,

and the swallows have nests.

They raise their young near your altars,

Lord All-Powerful, my King and my God.

⁴Happy are the people who live at your Temple;

they are always praising you.

Selah

⁵Happy are those whose strength comes from you,

who want to travel to Jerusalem.

⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baca,

they make it like a spring.

The autumn rains fill it with pools of water.

⁷The people get stronger as they go,

and everyone meets with God in Jerusalem.

⁸Lord God All-Powerful, hear my prayer;

God of Jacob, listen to me.

Selah

⁹God, look at our shield;

be kind to your appointed king.

¹⁰One day in the courtyards of your Temple is better

than a thousand days anywhere else.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the Temple of my God

than live in the homes of the wicked.

¹¹The Lord God is like a sun and shield;

the Lord gives us kindness and honor.

He does not hold back anything good

from those whose lives are innocent.

¹²Lord All-Powerful,

happy are the people who trust you!