Praying the Psalms -Psalm 84-

Psalm 84

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the LORD

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O LORD of hosts!

My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

Even 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.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise!

Selah

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

As they go through the Valley of Baca

they make it a place of springs;

the early 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

Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed!

For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

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 bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

O LORD of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you!

************** 

Lord, that I may love your dwelling place,

your courts more than anything else on earth;

more than anything else in my heart.

Lord, only you can put a song of joy in my heart;

only you can make me sing your praises,

only you can fill my mouth 

with songs and hymns that will be pleasant unto you.

Father, O Father in Heaven, thank you,

thank you because You have opened a way for me

to come to your presence, 

to dwell in your courts,

to sit at your table

and enjoy your presence.

How unworthy I am, O LORD, 

and yet You cleansed me;

You clothed me with your righteousness,

You set a place for me at your table,

in your precious dwelling place.

How blessed I am

to be counted among those 

who are welcome to your dwelling place!

How blessed I am 

to have my strength renewed in You!

How blessed I am

to know that you give ear to my prayer!

O LORD, You alone are my shield.

You alone are my safe place.

Father in Heaven,

help me live my days,

my moments,

in your courts;

praying all day,

meditating in your Word,

longing for nothing or nobody else

than You.

Lord, deliver me from walking into the tents of the wicked.

Be my Sun that I might not walk in darkness.

Be my shield against the enemy.

 Bestow your favor and honor upon me today,

that I may glorify Your name in all I do.

Thank you, O Lord, 

because You do not withhold any good thing from your children.

O LORD of hosts,

that I may never fail to place my trust 

in You, keeper of my Soul.

Amen-

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I took today's picture at Ghent, Belgium.