Psalm 84

Den gudfruktiges glädje i Herrens gårdar

För sångmästaren, till Gittit, en psalm av Koras söner.

Hur ljuvliga är ej dina boningar,
    Herre Sebaot!
Min själ längtar och trängtar
    efter Herrens gårdar,
min själ och min kropp jublar
    mot levande Gud.
Ty sparven har funnit ett hus
    och svalan ett bo åt sig,
där hon kan lägga sina ungar:
    dina altaren, Herre Sebaot,
min konung och min Gud.

Saliga är de som bor i ditt hus,
    de lovar dig ständigt. Sela.
Saliga är de människor som har sin styrka i dig,
de som har dina vägar i sitt hjärta.
När de vandrar genom tåredalen
    gör de den rik på källor,
och höstregnet höljer den med välsignelser.
De går från kraft till kraft,
    de träder fram inför Gud på Sion.

Herre Gud Sebaot, hör min bön,
    lyssna, du Jakobs Gud! Sela.
10 Gud, se vår sköld,
    ge akt på din smordes ansikte!
11 En dag i dina gårdar är bättre än tusen andra.
Jag vill hellre vakta dörren i min Guds hus
än vistas i de ogudaktigas boningar.
12 Ty Herren Gud är sol och sköld,
    Herren ger nåd och ära.
Han vägrar inte dem något gott
    som vandrar i fullkomlighet.
13 Herre Sebaot,
    salig är den människa som förtröstar på dig.

Psalm 84[a]

Prayer of a Pilgrim to Jerusalem

For the leader; “upon the gittith.” A psalm of the Korahites.

I

How lovely your dwelling,
    O Lord of hosts!(A)
My soul yearns and pines
    for the courts of the Lord.(B)
My heart and flesh cry out
    for the living God.
[b]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)
Blessed are those who dwell in your house!
    They never cease to praise you.
Selah

II

Blessed the man who finds refuge in you,
    in their hearts are pilgrim roads.
As they pass through the Baca valley,[c]
    they find spring water to drink.
    The early rain covers it with blessings.
They will go from strength to strength[d]
    and see the God of gods on Zion.

III

Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    listen, God of Jacob.
Selah
10 [e]O God, watch over our shield;
    look upon the face of your anointed.(D)

IV

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,
    blessed the man who trusts in you!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 84 Israelites celebrated three pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem annually. The Psalm expresses the sentiments of the pilgrims eager to enjoy the divine presence.
  2. 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.
  3. 84:7 Baca valley: Hebrew obscure; probably a valley on the way to Jerusalem.
  4. 84:8 Strength to strength: pass through outer and inner wall.
  5. 84:10 Our shield…your anointed: the king had a role in the liturgical celebration. For the king as shield, cf. Ps 89:19.

84 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.

Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.

They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.

Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.

10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.