Psalm 84

Meditating on the Word of God is not the transcendental endeavour which most people associate with the term ‘meditation’. Joshua 1:8 states, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Meditation is something we ought to do moment by moment; connecting with heaven’s throne wherever we are, whenever we can. The Hebrew word for meditate is ‘Hagah’ which means ‘to utter, to muse, and to mutter’. Bible verses are to be mused over and repeated thoroughly and in prayer, to ourselves, over every situation, until they become a part of our lives.

Psalm 84

For the director of music

¹How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
²My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
³Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
⁷They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹Look on our shield, O God;
look with favour on your anointed one.

¹⁰Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favour and honour;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.