<div class="version vid107 iso6393eng" data-vid="107" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPSA">
 <div class="chapter ch84" data-usfm="PSA.84">
 <div class="label">84</div><div class="s1">Psalm 84#sn Psalm 84. The psalmist expresses his desire to be in God&#8217;s presence in the Jerusalem temple, for the Lord is the protector of his people.</div><div class="s2">For the music director; according to the gittith style;#tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term &#1492;&#1463;&#1490;&#1468;&#1460;&#1514;&#1468;&#1460;&#1497;&#1514; (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument. written by the Korahites, a psalm.</div><div class="p">1 How lovely is the place where you live,#tn Or &#8220;your dwelling place[s].&#8221; The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord&#8217;s special dwelling place (see Pss 43:3; 46:4; 132:5, 7).</div><div class="p">O Lord who rules over all!#tn Traditionally, &#8220;Lord of hosts.&#8221; The title draws attention to God&#8217;s sovereign position (see Ps 69:6).</div><div class="p">2 I desperately want to be#tn Heb &#8220;my soul longs, it even pines for.&#8221;</div><div class="p">in the courts of the Lord&#8217;s temple.#tn Heb &#8220;the courts of the Lord&#8221; (see Ps 65:4).</div><div class="p">My heart and my entire being#tn Heb &#8220;my flesh,&#8221; which stands for his whole person and being. shout for joy</div><div class="p">to the living God.</div><div class="p">3 Even the birds find a home there,</div><div class="p">and the swallow#tn The word translated &#8220;swallow&#8221; occurs only here and in Prov 26:2. builds a nest,</div><div class="p">where she can protect her young#tn Heb &#8220;even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.&#8221;sn The psalmist here romanticizes the temple as a place of refuge and safety. As he thinks of the birds nesting near its roof, he envisions them finding protection in God&#8217;s presence.</div><div class="p">near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,</div><div class="p">my king and my God.</div><div class="p">4 How blessed#tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 12 and Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15). are those who live in your temple</div><div class="p">and praise you continually! (Selah)</div><div class="p">5 How blessed are those who#tn Heb &#8220;[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.&#8221; Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle stated here was certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific &#8220;man&#8221; with the plural &#8220;those.&#8221; The individual referred to in v. 5a is representative of followers of God, as the use of plural forms in vv. 5b-7 indicates. find their strength in you,</div><div class="p">and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple!#tn Heb &#8220;roads [are] in their heart[s].&#8221; The roads are here those that lead to Zion (see v. 7).</div><div class="p">6 As they pass through the Baca Valley,#tn The translation assumes that the Hebrew phrase &#1506;&#1461;&#1502;&#1462;&#1511; &#1492;&#1463;&#1489;&#1468;&#1464;&#1499;&#1464;&#1488; (&#8217;emeq habbakha&#8217;) is the name of an otherwise unknown arid valley through which pilgrims to Jerusalem passed. The term &#1489;&#1468;&#1464;&#1499;&#1464;&#1488; (bakha&#8217;) may be the name of a particular type of plant or shrub that grew in this valley. O. Borowski (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 130) suggests it is the black mulberry. Some take the phrase as purely metaphorical and relate &#1489;&#1468;&#1464;&#1499;&#1464;&#1488; to the root &#1489;&#1468;&#1464;&#1499;&#1464;&#1492; (bakhah, &#8220;to weep&#8221;). In this case one might translate, &#8220;the valley of weeping&#8221; or &#8220;the valley of affliction.&#8221;</div><div class="p">he provides a spring for them.#tc The MT reads &#8220;a spring they make it,&#8221; but this makes little sense. Many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, understand God to be the subject and the valley to be the object, &#8220;he [God] makes it [the valley] [into] a spring.&#8221;</div><div class="p">The rain#tn This rare word may refer to the early (or autumn) rains (see Joel 2:23). even covers it with pools of water.#tc The MT reads &#1489;&#1468;&#1456;&#1512;&#1464;&#1499;&#1493;&#1465;&#1514; (b&#255;rakhot, &#8220;blessings&#8221;) but the preceding reference to a &#8220;spring&#8221; favors an emendation to &#1489;&#1468;&#1456;&#1512;&#1461;&#1499;&#1493;&#1465;&#1514; (b&#255;rekhot, &#8220;pools&#8221;).sn Pools of water. Because water is so necessary for life, it makes an apt symbol for divine favor and blessing. As the pilgrims traveled to Jerusalem, God provided for their physical needs and gave them a token of his favor and of the blessings awaiting them at the temple.</div><div class="p">7 They are sustained as they travel along;#tn Heb &#8220;they go from strength to strength.&#8221; The phrase &#8220;from strength to strength&#8221; occurs only here in the OT. With a verb of motion, the expression &#8220;from [common noun] to [same common noun]&#8221; normally suggests movement from one point to another or through successive points (see Num 36:7; 1 Chr 16:20; 17:5; Ps 105:13; Jer 25:32). Ps 84:7 may be emphasizing that the pilgrims move successively from one &#8220;place of strength&#8221; to another as they travel toward Jerusalem. All along the way they find adequate provisions and renewed energy for the trip.</div><div class="p">each one appears#tn The psalmist returns to the singular (see v. 5a), which he uses in either a representative or distributive (&#8220;each one&#8221; ) sense. before God in Zion.</div><div class="p">8 O Lord, sovereign God,#tn Heb &#8220;Lord, God, hosts.&#8221; One expects the construct form &#1488;&#1457;&#1500;&#1465;&#1492;&#1461;&#1497; before &#1510;&#1456;&#1489;&#1464;&#1488;&#1493;&#1465;&#1514; (ts&#255;va&#8217;ot, &#8220;hosts&#8221;; see Ps 89:9) but &#1497;&#1456;&#1492;&#1493;&#1464;&#1492; &#1488;&#1457;&#1500;&#1465;&#1492;&#1460;&#1497;&#1501; (yehvah &#8217;elohim) precedes &#1510;&#1456;&#1489;&#1464;&#1488;&#1493;&#1465;&#1514; in Pss 59:5 and 80:4, 19 as well.</div><div class="p">hear my prayer!</div><div class="p">Listen, O God of Jacob! (Selah)</div><div class="p">9 O God, take notice of our shield!#tn The phrase &#8220;our shield&#8221; refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God&#8217;s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with &#8220;your anointed one&#8221; here and with &#8220;our king&#8221; in Ps 89:18.</div><div class="p">Show concern for your chosen king!#tn Heb &#8220;look [on] the face of your anointed one.&#8221; The Hebrew phrase &#1502;&#1456;&#1513;&#1473;&#1460;&#1497;&#1495;&#1462;&#1498;&#1464; (m&#255;shikhekha, &#8220;your anointed one&#8221;) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17).</div><div class="p">10 Certainly#tn Or &#8220;for.&#8221; spending just one day in your temple courts is better</div><div class="p">than spending a thousand elsewhere.#tn Heb &#8220;better is a day in your courts than a thousand [spent elsewhere].&#8221;</div><div class="p">I would rather stand at the entrance#tn Heb &#8220;I choose being at the entrance of the house of my God over living in the tents of the wicked.&#8221; The verb &#1505;&#1464;&#1508;&#1463;&#1507; (safaf) appears only here in the OT; it is derived from the noun &#1505;&#1463;&#1507; (saf, &#8220;threshold&#8221;). Traditionally some have interpreted this as a reference to being a doorkeeper at the temple, though some understand it to mean &#8220;lie as a beggar at the entrance to the temple&#8221; (see HALOT 765 s.v. &#1505;&#1508;&#1507;). to the temple of my God</div><div class="p">than live#tn The verb &#1491;&#1468;&#1493;&#1468;&#1512; (dur, &#8220;to live&#8221;) occurs only here in the OT. in the tents of the wicked.</div><div class="p">11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector.#tn Heb &#8220;[is] a sun and a shield.&#8221; The epithet &#8220;sun,&#8221; though rarely used of Israel&#8217;s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, &#8220;An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22&#8221; (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.</div><div class="p">The Lord bestows favor#tn Or &#8220;grace.&#8221; and honor;</div><div class="p">he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity.#tn Heb &#8220;he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.&#8221;</div><div class="p">12 O Lord who rules over all,#tn Traditionally &#8220;Lord of hosts.&#8221;</div><div class="p">how blessed are those who trust in you!#tn Heb &#8220;[Oh] the happiness [of] the man [who] trusts in you.&#8221; Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle stated here is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific &#8220;man&#8221; with the plural &#8220;those.&#8221; The individual referred to here is representative of all followers of God, as the use of the plural form in v. 12b indicates.</div>
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How lovely is the place where you live,
O LORD WHO RULES OVER ALL!
I desperately want to be
in the courts of the LORD’s temple.
My heart and my entire being shout for joy
to the living God.
Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow builds a nest,
where she can protect her young
near your altars, O LORD WHO RULES OVER ALL,
my king and my God.
How blessed are those who live in your temple
and praise you continually! (Selah)
How blessed are those who find their strength in you,
and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple!
As they pass through the Baca Valley,
he provides a spring for them.
The rain even covers it with pools of water.
They are sustained as they travel along;
each one appears before God in Zion.
O LORD, sovereign God,
hear my prayer!
Listen, O God of Jacob! (Selah)
O God, take notice of our shield!
Show concern for your chosen king!
Certainly spending just one day in your temple courts is better
than spending a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather stand at the entrance to the temple of my God
than live in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is our sovereign protector.
The LORD bestows favor and honor;
he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity.
O LORD WHO RULES OVER ALL,
how blessed are those who trust in you!

සවන් දෙන්න Psalms 84