1How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!
2My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for
herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising
You.
Selah
5Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on
pilgrimage.
6As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with
pools.
7They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in
Zion.
8O Lord God of hosts, hear
my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your
anointed.
10For 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.
11For the Lord God is a sun
and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12O Lord of hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts
in You!
Commentary
Vs.
1-2
1How lovely is Your
tabernacle,
O Lord of
hosts!
2My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Passionate for the Lord's praise, desiring to be near His Person, and always longing for His Presence, this is the heart and soul of everyone who believes in Him! For what on earth can satisfy the hungry heart and the longing soul? Nothing but the Lord Jesus Christ who gives His salvation (God’s eternal grace) to all who come to Him in faith (Rev. 3:20).
Vs. 3 “Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for
herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.”
The restless seeker now observes that the lonely sparrow has found a home, and the flittering swallow has even made a nest for herself, but until we come home to our Lord and King and God there is neither a home nor rest for us. Therefore, 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30
Vs. 4 “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising
You.
Selah”
Truly blessed are we who believe, for we now dwell in the Lord's house, we now are apart of God’s heavenly congregation, for we now have His eternal salvation given freely to us through the Lord Jesus Christ's Crucifixion for us all. Therefore we will be praising Him, not only now, but forever!
Vs. 5 “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.”
Once again the Psalms focus is on seeking the Lord who strengthens us during our lifetime journeys with Himself. Therefore blessed is the person who lives in the power and might of His strength, who always looks to Him to strengthen them. Whose hearts are set on a pilgrimage, a lifetime journey of seeking Him, of seeking the Kingdom of heaven and doing His works, of being where He is (John 12:23-26; Eph. 6:10).
Vs. 6-7 6As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with
pools.
7They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in
Zion.
God’s people are now described on their journey to Jerusalem passing through the Valley of Baca, likely a valley on route to Jerusalem (maybe the Valley of Rephaim, 2 Sam. 5:22-24), which literally means: “Valley of Weeping”, and thus we may see it as symbolic of our lifetime journeys down here with Jerusalem being symbolic of our finial destination in heaven, and so our tears down here will be tears of sorrow and joy as we pass through this life onto the next with Christ in heaven. The rain then is the refreshing and regenerating Presence of God in our lives, i.e., the Holy Spirit, as the Believer’s Bible Commentary notes. And so we go from strength to strength, that is God’s strengthening us throughout our lives so that we may overcome all things in our lives, before we get to appear before Him in heaven.
Vs. 8-9 “O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your
anointed.”
With an impassioned plea, a cry now goes out to Lord God of hosts to hear our prayer. For He is the One who has created all things, who sustains all things, who judges all things. For He rules over all things. Thus, the Sovereign God of the Universe is the One whom we (anyone can) make their plea. Immediately then that is follow up with a plea to the God of Jacob, that is the God of the heavens is also the God of sinful but redeemed mankind on earth. And thus, the first is a plea for His justice from our adversary or oppressor, while the second is a plea for His defense of our now redeemed person (vs. 8). For He is our shield against all the fiery darts of the enemy, against every accusing charge that the accuser of the brethren would seek to condemn us before Him by. For through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior we have been not only redeemed by His shed blood on the Cross, but we are now also justified in the sight of God by our faith in Him (Rom. 5:1; 8:1, 31-39). Therefore we can ask Him to look upon the us, upon the face of His anointed and consider us in our troubles, and save us from those who trouble us or seek to orchestrate trouble for us.
Vs. 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 dwell in the tents of
wickedness.”
For us who know God, who are known by Him as His children, a mere day in His courts is a thousand times better than anything here on earth. Truly I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness, that is have fellowship with those whose lives are only lived in and for wickedness, who live and speak justifying the same. For as the Believers Commentary notes, tents are temporary, and that will be the end of their houses, but the house of the Lord endures forever! And that is where I want to be (consider 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).
Vs. 11-12 11For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts
in You!
Our Lord God our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ then is our sun and shield illuminating they way for us to go and shielding us from all the deceptions and lies of this world while we walk with Him on it. Therefore, as Psalmist is confident so are we, that our Lord God will give grace and glory to us, that He will withhold no good thing from us, from all who walk uprightly. Therefore, we also resoundingly say with heavens choir:
“O Lord of
hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts
in You!”
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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