² I thirst for God, the living God.
    When can I go and stand before him?

¹ O God, you are my God;
    I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
    my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
    where there is no water.

¹⁰ A 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.

⁴ The one thing I ask of the Lord—
    the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
    delighting in the Lord’s perfections
    and meditating in his Temple.

² I 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.

⁸ You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
    letting them drink from your river of delights.
⁹ For you are the fountain of life,
    the light by which we see.

⁴ What joy for those who can live in your house,
    always singing your praises. Interlude