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Epiphany · The Presentation of Our Lord · Year A

Psalm 84

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place

February 2, 2026

Bird's Nest and Ferns, Fidelia Bridges
Bird's Nest and Ferns, Fidelia Bridges, 1863Cleveland Museum of Art
An American watercolourist who painted small natural subjects close up, at ground level, with no landscape around them.Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars.Fidelia BridgesAn American watercolourist, the only woman member of the American Watercolor Society in her day, who painted plants and birds at close range.Cleveland Museum of ArtA large encyclopaedic museum in Ohio, free to enter since it opened in 1916.Cleveland Museum of Art
LSB Three-Year Lectionary
GospelLuke 2:22-40Lk 2:22-40
EpistleHeb. 2:14-18Heb 2:14-18
Old TestamentMal. 3:1-4Mal 3:1-4
PsalterPs. 84Ps 84

Overview & Insights

"How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!" (Psalm 84:1)

The psalmist expresses deep longing for God's temple courts, envying even the sparrows that nest near the altar. The psalm blesses those who make pilgrimage there and affirms that a single day in God's courts outweighs a thousand spent elsewhere.

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Commentary

Psalm 84 - Longing for God's HousePs 84 - Longing for God's House Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse-by-verse evangelical study of the psalmist's longing for the temple courts.

Psalm 84:1 CommentariesPs 84:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on the sparrow's nest near the altar.

Psalm 84 Verse-by-Verse CommentaryPs 84 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight

Gill's Exposition read straight through the psalm for a further expositional voice.

Background & Word Study

Psalms 84 (Hebrew and English)Ps 84 (Hebrew and English) Sefaria

The Hebrew of the passage alongside English with linked Jewish commentary.

The Church Fathers

Psalms 84 (Catena)Ps 84 (Catena) Catena

Early church readings of the psalmist's longing for a single day in God's courts.

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