841 How lovely are your dwellings,
Yahweh of Armies! 2 My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh.
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Yes, the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young,
near your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house.
They are always praising you. Selah. 5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you;
who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage. 6 Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs.
Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings. 7 They go from strength to strength.
Everyone of them appears before God in Zion.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 84:1-7
Commentary on Psalm 84:1-7
(Read Psalm 84:1-7)
The ordinances of God are the believer's solace in this evil world; in them he enjoys the presence of the living God: this causes him to regret his absence from them. They are to his soul as the nest to the bird. Yet they are only an earnest of the happiness of heaven; but how can men desire to enter that holy habitation, who complain of Divine ordinances as wearisome? Those are truly happy, who go forth, and go on in the exercise of religion, in the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, from whom all our sufficiency is. The pilgrims to the heavenly city may have to pass through many a valley of weeping, and many a thirsty desert; but wells of salvation shall be opened for them, and consolations sent for their support. Those that press forward in their Christian course, shall find God add grace to their graces. And those who grow in grace, shall be perfect in glory.