| 1 | How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! |
| 2 | My soul yearns, yes, even pines
and
is homesick for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out
and
sing for joy to the living God. |
| 3 | Yes, the sparrow has found a house, 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. |
| 4 | Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who dwell in Your house
and
Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long.
Selah
[pause, and calmly think of that]! |
| 5 | Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. |
| 6 | Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs; the early rain also fills [the pools] with blessings. |
| 7 | They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power]; each of them appears before God in Zion. |
| 8 | O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
[pause, and calmly think of that]! |
| 9 | Behold our shield [the king as Your agent], O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed! |
| 10 | For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather be a doorkeeper
and
stand at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell [at ease] in the tents of wickedness. |
| 11 | For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace
and
favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. |
| 12 | O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]! |