Psalm 84

1. The beautiful words of this psalm give us the joy being felt by one who is traveling to Jerusalem for a feast. As he nears the city and the temple, he is overcome with joy and expresses his praise to God.

2. While God is everywhere, for this Jewish traveller, the sight of the temple brought forth his first words of praise (verse 1). While we do not travel to the temple to worship, the anticipation of being with God in a special way in worship should cause us to grow with excitement.

3. In verse 2 the writer is having trouble containing his excitement. He has “longed” and “yearned” for this moment of worship. As he nears the temple his entire self is praising God.

4. A beautiful picture is given to us in verse 3. The psalmist is almost jealous of some birds he sees, because they have been able to make their nests in the temple complex. In verse 4, the poet says that anyone (anything!) who dwells this close to God’s holy place is blessed. Why? Because they can constantly praise Him.

5. In verses 5-7, the sons of Korah show their excitement for the trip they have made to this point. While travel was difficult in those times, the joy of knowing what lay ahead was enough to make it a wonderful trek.

6. Again note the attitude expressed by these words: “A day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (verse 10). While I do not want to take this verse out of context, I just wonder how similar our sentiments are when it is time to worship God. The poet didn’t want to be anywhere else; may I ever desire the same!

7. Why does the psalmist wish to remain close to God? Because of His goodness, protection and blessings (verse 11).

8. Because of these things, we can trust God. If we do, we are blessed and we will want to follow the example of this great traveller (verse 12).