a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
courts
בַּחֲצֵרֶ֗יךָba.cha.tze.Rei.kha
H2691
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
better
טֽוֹבtov-
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
thousand
מֵ֫אָ֥לֶףme.'A.lef
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
rather
בָּחַ֗רְתִּיba.Char.ti
H977
properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
doorkeeper
הִ֭סְתּוֹפֵףHis.to.fef
H5605
to wait at the threshold · verb, hithpael infinitive construct
house
בְּבֵ֣יתbe.Veit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהַ֑י'e.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
dwell
מִ֝דּ֗וּרmi.Dur
H1752
properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
tents
בְּאָהֳלֵיbe.'o.ho.lei-
H168
a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
wickedness
רֶֽשַׁעRe.sha'
H7562
a wrong (especially moral) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold t…
Psalms 26:8-10 LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
Psalms 63:2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Romans 8:5-6 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Psalms 84:1-2 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
Psalms 141:4-5 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Psalms 17:14-15 From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 84:8–end
Here, I. The psalmist prays for audience and acceptance with God, not mentioning particularly what he desired God would do for him. He needed to say no more when he had professed such an affectionate esteem for the ordinances of God, which now he was restrained and banished from. All his desire was, in that profession, plainly before God, and his longing, his groaning, was not hidden from him; therefore he prays (Psa 84:8, Psa 84:9) only that God would hear his prayer and give ear, that he would behold his condition, behold his good affection, and look upon his face, which way it was set, and how his countenance discovered the longing desire he had towards God's courts. He calls himself (as…
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand,.... "One day"; so the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and so the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it; one day in the house of God, in the world to come, so Arama: though rather reference is had to the seventh day sabbath, then in being; and which with the psalmist was a delight, holy and honourable; and though now abolished, as to the time of it, with the rest of the ceremonial law, there is yet a day of public worship, called the Lord's day, and the day of the Son of man; and one of these days spent in the courts of the Lord, in an attendance on the word and ordinances, in worshipping in the fear of God, in…
Psalm 84:8-11
8. O Jehovah, God of Hosts! hear my prayer: O God of Jacob! hearken. Selah. 9. O God! our shield, behold; and look upon the face of thy Anointed. 10. For better is one day in thy courts than a thousand elsewhere. [469] I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11. For Jehovah God is our sun and shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory: he will withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly. O Jehovah of Hosts! blessed is the man who trusteth in thee.
8 O Jehovah, God of Hosts! hear my prayer. David, instead of acting like worldly men, who foolishly and unprofitably distress and torment themselves by inwardly cherishing…
The Church Fathers
"For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand" [Psalm 84:10]. Those courts they were for which he sighed, for which he fainted. "My soul longs and fails for the courts of the Lord:" one day there is better than a thousand days. Men long for thousands of days, and wish to live here long: let them despise these thousands of days, let them long for one day, which has neither rising nor setting: one day, an everlasting day, to which no yesterday yields, which no tomorrow presses. Let this one day be longed for by us. What have we to do with a thousand days? We go from the thousand days to one day; let us hasten to that one day, as we go from strength to strength.
For better is one day in your courts above thousands. See what he says, "one day." Someone thinks it should be understood thus: It is better for me to have a little in the kingdom of heaven, than here the whole, that is, in this world. This understanding, indeed, is not a bad one. But let us say: If it could happen that someone should be for one day in the kingdom of heaven, and afterward be cast down headlong, he would rightly say: Better is one day in your courts. But now, in that he says "one day," this is what he says: The kingdom of heaven is one day; it does not have night and darkness, but always there is light. He therefore who has been for one day in the kingdom of heaven, is always there. I have chosen to be an outcast in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. This is what the Savior also says about John: "Amen I say to you, that among those born of women there is not a greater than John the Baptist." Then he says that he himself is an angel. And then he says: "But he who is lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." The sense there is this: John is greater than all men, and, if you wish to know, he himself is an angel; but this one who on earth is an angel, is the least in the kingdom of heaven, that is, he is lesser than the angels; but he who is lesser in the kingdom of heaven, that is, the angel, is greater than this one who on earth is greater than all. This, therefore, is now what the prophet says: I have chosen to be an outcast in the house of my God, that is, I have wished to be the least in the kingdom of heaven, rather than the first in this world. I have chosen to be an outcast in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. Consider what he says, Rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. Tabernacles have no foundation, but they pass away: yet he who is a sinner never merely sojourns on the earth, but dwells in it and possesses it.
Dictionary and topics
Door-keeper — This word is used in Ps. 84:10 (R.V. marg., “stand at the threshold of,” etc.), but there it signifies properly “sitting at the threshold in the house of God.” The psalmist means that he would rather…
Gittith — A stringed instrument of music. This word is found in the titles of Ps. 8, 81, 84. In these places the LXX. render the word by “on the wine-fats.” The Targum explains by “on the harp which David…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Church · General references — General references
Company · EVIL — EVIL
Worship · Loved by his people — Loved by his people
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
This second half takes up the "blessed" of the distichic epode (epoodo's) of the first, and consequently joins member to member chain-like on to it. Many hindrances must be cleared away if the poet is to get back to Zion, his true home; but his longing carries the surety within itself of its fulfilment: blessed, yea in himself blessed, is the man, who has his strength (עוז only here plene) in God, so that, consequently, the strength of Him to whom all things are possible is mighty in his weakness. What is said in Psa 84:6 is less adapted to be the object of the being called blessed than the result of that blessed relationship to God. What follows shows that the "high-roads" are not to be und…
The psalmist viewed being in God’s presence as much better than being anywhere else.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 84:10
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. Of course the psalmist means a thousand days spent elsewhere. Under the most favourable circumstances in which earth's pleasures can be enjoyed, they are not comparable by so much as one in a thousand to the delights of the service of God. To feel his love, to rejoice in the person of the anointed Saviour, to survey the promises and feel the power of the Holy Ghost in applying precious truth to the soul, is a joy which worldlings cannot understand, but which true believers are ravished with. Even…
