Psalms 84 (ASV)

Chapter Text

84:1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts!

84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God.

84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, My King, and my God.

84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: They will be still praising thee. Selah

84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; In whose heart are the highways [to Zion].

84:6 Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs; Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings.

84:7 They go from strength to strength; Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.

84:8 O Jehovah God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah

84:9 Behold, O God our shield, And look upon the face of thine anointed.

84:10 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.

84:11 For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

84:12 O Jehovah of hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 85 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "grace", "amiable", "tabernacles", "jehovah", "hosts", "soul", "longeth", and "even". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grace" and "amiable", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "grace" and "amiable" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "grace" and "amiable" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.