Psalm 84-85
Evangelical Heritage Version
Psalm 84
How Loved Is Your Dwelling Place
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For the choir director. According to gittith.[a] By the Sons of Korah.[b]
A psalm.
How Loved Is Your Dwelling Place
1 How I love your dwelling place, O Lord of Armies.
2 My soul grows weak and even wastes away,
as I long for the courtyards of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow has found a nest for herself,
where she may place her young near your altars,
O Lord of Armies, my King and my God.
The Blessings of Being There
4 How blessed are those who live in your house. Interlude
They are always praising you.
5 How blessed is everyone whose strength is found in you.
The highways to Jerusalem[c] are in their hearts.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,[d]
it becomes full of springs.[e]
The autumn rain also covers it with pools.[f]
7 They go from strength to strength.
Each one will appear before God in Zion.
Prayer
8 O Lord, God of Armies, hear my prayer. Interlude
Give ear, O God of Jacob.
9 Look upon our Shield, O God.
Look with favor on the face of your Anointed One.[g]
The Blessings of Being There
10 Yes, one day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather wait at the doorway of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the Lord is a sun and shield.
God gives grace and glory.
The Lord does not withhold any good thing
from those who walk with integrity.
12 O Lord of Armies, how blessed is everyone who trusts in you.
Psalm 85
You Showed Favor to Your Land
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For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
Past Goodness
1 You showed favor to your land, O Lord.
You restored Jacob.
2 You removed the guilt of your people. Interlude
You covered all their sin.
3 You put away all your wrath.
You turned from your burning anger.
Present Distress
4 Restore us, O God who saves us.
Put an end to your indignation with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you extend your anger through all generations?
6 Will you not turn and revive us,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
Hope for the Future
7 Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and give us your salvation.
8 I will hear what the true God, the Lord, will say.
He indeed speaks peace to his people, to his favored ones,
but do not let them turn to foolish ways.
9 Surely his salvation is near for those who fear him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth meet together.
Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Truth springs up from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed give good things,
and our land will yield its harvest.
13 Righteousness walks in front of him.
It prepares the way for his footsteps.
Footnotes
- Psalm 84:1 Gittith means in the style of Gath or perhaps it is a tune, “Winepress.”
- Psalm 84:1 The Sons of Korah were a group of Levitical musicians, who apparently were descendants of the Korah who rebelled against Moses. In this section of Psalms, Psalms 84, 85, 87, and 88 were written by them.
- Psalm 84:5 The words to Jerusalem are added for clarity.
- Psalm 84:6 In Hebrew Valley of Baca sounds like Valley of Weeping.
- Psalm 84:6 The main Hebrew reading is they make it a place of springs. The words they make it function as an impersonal passive equal to It is made a place of springs. Some manuscripts read He [God] makes it a place of springs.
- Psalm 84:6 The translation pools follows an alternate reading of the Hebrew. The main Hebrew reading is blessings. Pools and blessings are a pun in Hebrew. The autumn rain is also called the early rain.
- Psalm 84:9 Shield and Anointed One are references to Israel’s king.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.