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Epiphany · The Presentation of Our Lord · Year B

Psalm 84

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place

February 2, 2027

The Interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, Emanuel de Witte
The Interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, Emanuel de Witte, c. 1660–1665Emanuel de Witte, c. 1660
De Witte painted Dutch church interiors swept bare by the Reformation, full of ordinary life: dogs, gravediggers, children, people talking during the sermon.Psalm 84 is about longing for the courts of the Lord and envying the sparrow that nests there, and this is a building with the daylight and the dogs left in.Emanuel de WitteThe Dutch painter of church interiors, who filled the whitewashed Protestant churches of his day with ordinary, untidy life.Emanuel de Witte, c. 1660Recorded without a holding institution; the painting is known from reproduction rather than from a gallery wall.Emanuel de Witte, c. 1660
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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