Psalms 84
Big idea: Homesickness for a building. The sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars — the psalmist envies birds because they get to live where he only visits. The middle of the poem is a road: pilgrims passing through the valley of Weeping and turning it into a place of springs, going from strength to strength. And the arithmetic at the end is the psalm's whole argument: a day in your courts is better than a thousand; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84 loves the courts. Psalm 85 asks the God who lives there to turn back to the land.
84:1–7 — They go from strength to strength
A pilgrim psalm, and its best observation is about a bird. The sparrow has found a nest near the altars — she LIVES there, which is what the pilgrim can only visit — and the envy in that verse is real. Then the psalm's central claim: the road itself changes under people who are on it. The valley of Weeping becomes a place of springs because they walked through it.
1 For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies! 2 My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are always praising you. Selah. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage. 6 Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings. 7 They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
84:8–12 — A day in your courts is better than a thousand
The second movement contains the comparison the psalm is remembered for, and it is worth reading as arithmetic: one day against a thousand, and a doorkeeper's post against a house of your own. He is not choosing between good and evil — he is choosing the lowest position in one place over comfort in another. And the last promise has a condition attached that the psalm does not hide.
8 Yahweh, God of Armies, hear my prayer. Listen, God of Jacob. Selah. 9 Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your anointed. 10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly. 12 Yahweh of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).