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Psalms 84
1How lovely are your dwellings, LORD of Armies!
2My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your altars, LORD of Armies, my , and my God.
4Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are always praising you. Selah.
5Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage.
6Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.
7They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
8LORD, God of Armies, hear my prayer. Listen, God of Jacob. Selah.
9Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your .
10For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield. The LORD will give and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
12LORD of Armies, blessed is the man who trusts in you.
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by many human authors over a long period, and Scripture presents itself as God-breathed rather than as human opinion. Some books name their writer, some do not, and honest study says which is which. Paul calls every Scripture God-breathed, and Peter says no prophecy came by the will of man but that people spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which is the Bible's own account of how both authors are involved at once.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.