Psalm 84, Just One More Day in Your Courts!

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

Psalms 42-49 in Book II were written by the Korahites, the descendants of Korah. In the next five psalms (Psalms 84-88) of Book III, we have four songs by the Korahites, with Psalm 86, of David, in the midst of them.

Korah was a grandson of Kohath, son of Levi. The Korahites were priests who descended from Korah and at one point are gatekeepers in the temple (1 Chronicles 9:17-19.) In the time of David and afterwards, some of these descendants formed a group of singers dedicated to preparing songs of worship. 

The gittith is (says Kidner) a feminine adjective related to Gath, the Philistine town where David hid from Saul. The name Gath is also related to wine-press and so (says Kidner) this song might be sung at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the fall harvest is celebrated. Or the term might be related to celebration of the ark traveling to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite (see 2 Samuel 6:11.) Or the term gittith could refer to a tune or instrument related to Gath. (Kidner, p. 41.)  Other psalms with the gittith in them are Psalms 8 and 81.

Psalm 84:1-3, Yearning

 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!

 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;

 my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

 Even the sparrow has found a home, 

 and the swallow a nest for herself, 

where she may have her young-- 

a place near your altar, 

O LORD Almighty, 

my King and my God.

The singer longs for, yearns for the courts of the temple. The Hebrew word translated "lovely" is yedidot, from yadid, meaning "beloved", a term one would use with a lover. Indeed, says Alter, there is an erotic intensity to the yearning; the psalmist dearly misses his beloved, the temple in Jerusalem. He is homesick. He recalls the sparrow nests built in the rafters and envies the sparrow who gets to flit along the ceiling of the home he so desperately misses.

Psalm 84:4-7, On the way to Your dwelling

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

 they are ever praising you.

 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, 

who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; 

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

 They go from strength to strength,

 till each appears before God in Zion.

The theme of the psalm is carried by the blessings: Blessed are those who can dwell in God's house; they are Blessed because they rely on YHWH and seek Him in pilgrimage to the temple.

The psalmist recalls approaching the temple on pilgrimage. As he walks through the Valley of Baca, luscious water pours from pools; the autumn rains come; all is beautiful! 

If the psalmist is an exile in Babylon, he recalls with nostalgia the joy of walking towards the temple, in preparation for some feast or celebration. (Autumn rains might indicate the feast of Tabernacles.)

Psalm 84:8-10, Better is one day in Your temple

 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; 

listen to me, O God of Jacob.

Selah.

 Look upon our shield, O God; 

look with favor on your anointed one.

 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God 

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

The psalmists asks for God to protect the people's shield, the "anointed one", possibly their king.

The psalmist would be happy just to be a doorkeeper in the temple, with menial tasks, even if only for one day. This is preferred to anything that the wicked could offer.

Psalm 84:11-12, Sun and shield

 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

 the LORD bestows favor and honor; 

no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

YHWH is both light (sun) and protection (shield.) He carefully takes care of His devoted followers. Indeed, one final "blessing" -- blessed is the person who trusts in YHWH.

Our "son of Korah" lifts his voice to praise YHWH as protector, even as he is homesick for the courts of the temple in Jerusalem.

Caroline Cobb has an album on the psalms. (You can find Caroline Cobb on Spotify here.) Her rendition of Psalm 84 is No Place Better.