Psalms

¹ To the Chief Musician; set to a Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!

² My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

³ The bird 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 and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.

⁵ Blessed and greatly favored 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 covers it 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; Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.

⁹ See our shield, O God, And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].

¹⁰ For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD bestows grace and favor and honor; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹² O LORD of hosts, How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].