A pale footpath winds up through dry stony hills in clear morning light toward a long, plain stone house, small and far off on the last ridge, under a wide calm sky.

Song of Zion · Sons of Korah

Psalm 84

For the days you’d give anything to be somewhere else, and you know exactly where.

12 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–41Book IDavid's prayers: 'The LORD is my shepherd'
42–72Book II'As the deer pants'; the throne under pressure
73–89Book IIIAsaph and Korah: the kingdom fallsPsalm 84
90–106Book IVBack to Moses: the LORD reigns
107–150Book VSongs of ascents, and the last Hallelujah

Better Is One Day in Your Courts

For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

How lovely is Your dwelling place,

O LORD of Hosts!

My soul longs, even faints,

for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she places her young near Your altars,

O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.

How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!

They are ever praising You.

Selah

A dry stony valley just after the first autumn rain, with new pools shining among gray rocks and thin poplars, and a far small line of pilgrims walking up it under breaking cloud.

Blessed are those whose strength is in You,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca,

they make it a place of springs;

even the autumn rain covers it with pools.

They go from strength to strength,

until each appears before God in Zion.

0:17

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Reflect

Your valley

The pilgrims don’t skip the dry valley. They walk through it with their hearts set on where the road ends. Where is your Valley of Baca, and what is the road through it headed for?

O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob.

Selah

Take notice of our shield, O God,

and look with favor on the face of Your anointed.

For better is one day in Your courts

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

Psalm 84:10

A round shield of hide and bronze leans against a sunlit stone wall in strong clear daylight, its studs throwing small shadows, with cool deep shade on the ground behind it.

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;

the LORD gives grace and glory;

He withholds no good thing

from those who walk with integrity.

Plan to scale in cubits · north at the top

The temple

The courts he longs for

This open court, around the altar, is where “the sparrow” found its home and the doorkeepers stood. Only priests went into the house, so the courts were as near as a worshiper came. Drawn from 1 Kings 6–7; the court’s size is not given.

O LORD of Hosts,

how blessed is the man who trusts in You!

You’ve experienced

Psalm 84

0 of 150 psalms read

A verse to carry with you

For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

Psalm 84:10

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