Psalm 84
John Milton
How lovely are thy dwellings fair! O Lord of Hoasts, how dear The pleasant Tabernacles are! Where thou do’st dwell so near. My Soul doth long and almost die Thy Courts O Lord to see, My heart and flesh aloud do crie, O living God, for thee. There ev’n the Sparrow freed from wrong Hath found a house of rest, The Swallow there, to lay her young Hath built her brooding nest, Ev’n by thy Altars Lord of Hoasts They find their safe abode, And home they fly from round the Coasts Toward thee, My King, my God Happy, who in thy house reside Where thee they ever praise, Happy, whose strength in thee doth bide, And in their hearts thy waies. They pass through Baca’s thirstie Vale, That dry and barren ground As through a fruitfull watry Dale Where Springs and Showrs abound. They journey on from strength to strength With joy and gladsom cheer Till all before our God at length In Sion do appear. Lord God of Hoasts hear now my praier O Jacobs God give ear, Thou God our shield look on the face Of thy anointed dear. For one day in thy Courts to be Is better, and mere blest Then in the joyes of Vanity, A thousand daies at best. I in the temple of my God Had rather keep a dore, Then dwell in Tents, and rich abode With Sin for evermore For God the Lord both Sun and Shield Gives grace and glory bright, No good from him shall be with-held Whose waies are just and right. Lord God of Hoasts that raign ’st on high, That man is truly blest Who only on thee doth relie. And in thee only rest.
