F1 D F 1-4. Blessedness of dwellers.
G 5-7. Blessedness of approachers.
E 8. Prayer.
E 9. Prayer.
D F 10. Blessedness of dwellers. "For".
G 11,12. Blessedness of approachers. "For".
F a 1. "Your tabernacles".
b 2. Desire for the courts of Yahaveh.
c 3-. As the sparrow.
c -3-. As the sparrow.
b -3. Desire for the altars of Yahaveh.
Psalm 84)
1 How beloved are Your habitations, (Perhaps referring to the Mosaic [at Gibeon], or the Davidic [on Zion])
O LORD of hosts! (Yehovah Sabaioth. See 1 Sam. 1:3.)
2 I, even myself, long, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD:
My heart and my flesh cries out for the living God.
3 (Yes, the sparrow has found a house,
And the swallow a nest (not in the alters) for herself, where she may lay her young,
Even [so have I] Your altars (i.e. the 2 alters; the brazen alter or burnt offering, and the golden alter of incense. Birds could not build their nests in these! See Ex. 27:1, and 30:1. Cp. Num. 3:31.), O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in Your house:
They will be still praising You (Cp. 1 Chon. 9:33). Selah. (Connecting the dwellers in, and the approachers to, the house of Yehovah, with the common blessedness of all true worshipers.)
G d 5-. Blessed is the man whose strength is in You. [Singular.]
e -5. [They] in whose heart are [Your] ways. [Plural.]
f 6-. Those passing through the valley of weeping, make it a place of springs. The Valley.
f -6. The early rain fills its pools. "
e 7-. They go from strength to strength.
d -7. He [the "man" of v.5, d] appears before God in Zion. [Singular.]
5 Blessed is the man (i.e. anyone; not priest or Levite merely) whose strength is in You;
In whose heart are [Your] highways [leading thereunto].
6 Who passing through the valley of weeping he make it a place of springs; (Cp. Judg. 2:1,5.)
The rain also fills the pools.
7 They go from strength to strength,
He (note the sing., "the man" of v.5) appears before God in Zion. (The valley of Baca thus becomes the valley of Berachah [or blessing], 2 Chron. 20;26)
8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer:
Give ear, O God of Jacob (Not Israel, but the God [Elohim] Who met Jacob when he had nothing and deserved nothing [but wrath], and promised him everything: thus becoming :the God of all grace".). Selah. (Connecting the request for audience with the words of the prayer, and dividing the Psalm, structurally in 2 parts.)
9 Behold, O God our shield, (I.e. God's provision in Messiah. He is our Shield [Gen. 15;1]. Faith's shield [Eph. 6:16]. This shield includes [1] Favor [5:12]; [2] Salvation [18:35]; [3] Truth [91:4]. And "Favor" includes Life [30:5]; Mercy [Isa.60:10]; Preservation [86:2]; Security [41:11]; Remembrance and Salvation [106:4]. Cp. 115:9-11.)
And look upon the face of Your Messiah. (Not on us.)
10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand [elsewhere].
I had rather stand at the threshold in the house of my God,
Than to dwell in the habitations of lawlessness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun (Metaphor used of Messiah. Mal. 4:2) and shield:
The LORD will give grace and glory: (not the former without the later [Rom. 8:29,30]. The former is the flower, the latter the fruit.)
Every good thing, beyond mention, will He give to them that walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts,
Blessed is the man that places his confidence in You.