Psalm 84 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 84 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.
Verse 8O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
Verse 9Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.
Verse 10For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.
Verse 11For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.
Verse 12O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
Devotion
As we “sing for joy to our living God” we may discover joyous laughter surfacing from deep within us. In this passage we hear of joy and happiness directed toward God because of happy, small creatures that chirp and swirl through the air. As we read here about sparrows and swallows we smile – our quiet, serene form of laughter.
As a small boy I saved a family of swallows whose nest had fallen from the beam above to the straw floor below of our barn. I shaped a tin can to support the nest and held it in place with a few small nails. A distressed mother swallow happily returned and I stood back smiling. A similar smile in our place of worship can affirm that we too are happy creatures in the presence of God.
Prayer
Help us, dear Lord, to be caught up in the joyous sights and sounds of life that are all about us. Amen.