12 O Jehovah of hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 85 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
Trust in him at all times, ye people; Pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah
Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way, For his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all they that take refuge in him. Psalm 3 A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in Jehovah his God: Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that in them is; Who keepeth truth for ever;
And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
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Commentary on Psalms 84 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 84
Ps 84:1-12. (See on Ps 8:1, title, and Ps 42:1, title). The writer describes the desirableness of God's worship and prays for a restoration to its privileges.
1. amiable—not lovely, but beloved.
tabernacles—(Ps 43:3).
2. longeth—most intensely (Ge 31:30; Ps 17:12).
fainteth—exhausted with desire.
courts—as tabernacles (Ps 84:1)—the whole building.
crieth out—literally, "sings for joy"; but here, and La 2:19, expresses an act of sorrow as the corresponding noun (Ps 17:1; 61:2).
heart and … flesh—as in Ps 63:1.
3. thine altars—that is, of burnt offering and incense, used for the whole tabernacle. Its structure afforded facilities for sparrows and swallows to indulge their known predilections for such places. Some understand the statement as to the birds as a comparison: "as they find homes, so do I desire thine altars," &c.
4. This view is favored by the language here, which, as in Ps 15:1; 23:6, recognizes the blessing of membership in God's family by terms denoting a dwelling in His house.
5. (Compare Ps 68:28).
in whose heart … the ways—that is, who knows and loves the way to God's favor (Pr 16:17; Isa 40:3, 4).
6. valley of Baca—or, "weeping." Through such, by reason of their dry and barren condition, the worshippers often had to pass to Jerusalem. As they might become wells, or fountains, or pools, supplied by refreshing rain, so the grace of God, by the exercises of His worship, refreshes and revives the hearts of His people, so that for sorrows they have "rivers of delight" (Ps 36:8; 46:4).
7. The figure of the pilgrim is carried out. As such daily refit their bodily strength till they reach Jerusalem, so the spiritual worshipper is daily supplied with spiritual strength by God's grace till he appears before God in heaven.
appeareth … God—the terms of the requisition for the attendance on the feasts (compare De 16:16),
9. God is addressed as a shield (compare Ps 84:11).
thine anointed—David (1Sa 16:12).
10. I had … doorkeeper—literally, "I choose to sit on the threshold," the meanest place.
11, 12. As a sun God enlightens (Ps 27:1); as a shield He protects.
grace—God's favor, its fruit—
glory—the honor He bestows.
uprightly—(Ps 15:2; 18:23).
12. that trusteth—constantly.