1HOW lovely is Your dwelling place,
O LORD of Hosts!
2 My soul longs, indeed, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a place for her nest,
where she may lay her young—
near Your altars, O LORD of Hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
that they can praise You continually. Selah
5 Blessed are the people whose strength is in You,
who have their hearts set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the early rains also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each appears before God in Zion.
8 O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Look upon our shield, O God,
and show regard for Your anointed one.
10 Better one day in Your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the temple of my God,
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;
the LORD bestows grace and glory;
no good thing does He withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of Hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in You.