Rande Greene
“How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home, 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. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You;
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.
O LORD God of hosts hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
O God, behold our shield, And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts Blessed is the man who trusts in You! Psalm 84:1-12
The heading of the 84th Psalm identifies it as being written by a “son of Korah”. The sons of Korah became the caretakers and custodians of the tabernacle. They were Levites who under the direction of Moses had been given this care of the Tabernacle. Later they assumed the care of the temple in Jerusalem.
The dating of the 84th Psalm puts it being written around the time of King Hezekiah. During that time a very aggressive and violent Assyrian military power had devastated the northern ten tribes and had pushed down into the southern 2 tribes almost as far as Jerusalem. They were stopped short of Jerusalem.
Travel had not been permitted because of Assyrian patrols still making their rounds. But now the threat was gone. Once more it was safe to travel to Jerusalem to the temple. The author of this Psalm evidently had been separated from his duties at the temple for a while.
He and the devout were in route to the renovated temple with its restored temple worship.
Possibly years before he had exercised the ministry of a doorkeeper in the temple.
He is now joyfully recounting the days until he will again see the beauty of the worship of God in the temple precincts.
As he makes his way back to Jerusalem he writes this song revealing the longing of his heart.