Psalm 84:1-7 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 84:1-7 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
Verse 2My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Verse 3Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Verse 4Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah
Verse 5Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Verse 6As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
Verse 7They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
Devotion
As I read the first verse of this passage, it’s hard for me to imagine how lovely is the dwelling place of our Lord Almighty.
But in 1999, I had a chance to visit Rome. The beauty of Vatican City made the abstract idea more real for me. If the creature could make such a fabulous building to display the beauty of the Creator, then imagine what the new heaven and new earth where the Lord lives would be like!
People like to visit Vatican City for many reasons. But for only one reason the psalmist was more eager to live in the Lord’s temple than anywhere else, even though he was just a doorkeeper there. It’s not because the temple is marvelous, but because the Lord is in it.
Prayer
Dear Lord, how blessed we are, for you came from heaven to earth to save us from evil through your death and resurrection, so that we could live on earth as in heaven. Thank you also for returning to our heavenly Father’s place to prepare a room for us. Like the psalmist, we are eager to live in your temple. We look forward to your second coming so that we can be with you in your loving place forever. Amen.