[1] How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! [2] My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. [3] The bird has found a house, 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. [4] Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah. [5] Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion. [6] Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs; The early rain also covers it with blessings. [7] They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power]; Each of them appears before God in Zion. [8] O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah. [9] See our shield, O God, And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative]. [10] For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else]; I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness. [11] For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD bestows grace and favor and honor; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. [12] O LORD of hosts, How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].
