properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
longeth
נִכְסְפָ֬הnikh.se.Fah
H3700
properly · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
fainteth
כָּלְתָ֨הkal.Tah
H3615
to end · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
courts
לְחַצְר֪וֹתle.chatz.Rot
H2691
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · preposition + noun, common both genders plural construct
LORD
יְה֫וָ֥הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
heart
לִבִּ֥יli.Bi
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
flesh
וּבְשָׂרִ֑יu.ve.sa.Ri
H1320
flesh (from its freshness) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
out
יְ֝רַנְּנ֗וּye.ra.ne.Nu
H7442
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
living
חָֽיChai
H2416
alive · adjective, masculine singular absolute
God
אֵֽל'el-
H410
strength · 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
Isaiah 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth…
Psalms 42:1-2 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Psalms 63:1-2 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no wa…
Psalms 73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Psalms 119:81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
Psalms 143:6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
Psalms 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
Song of Solomon 5:8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 84:1-7
The psalmist here, being by force restrained from waiting upon God in public ordinances, by the want of them is brought under a more sensible conviction than ever of the worth of them. Observe,
I. The wonderful beauty he saw in holy institutions (Psa 84:1): How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! Some think that he here calls God the Lord of hosts (that is, in a special manner of the angels, the heavenly hosts) because of the presence of the angels in God's sanctuary; they attended the Shechinah, and were (as some think) signified by the cherubim. God is the Lord of these hosts, and his the tabernacle is: it is spoken of as more than one (thy tabernacles) because there were several…
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord,.... The courts of the tabernacle now at Gibeon, though the ark was in Zion, 2 Chronicles 1:3 as the court of the priests, and the court of the Israelites, in which latter the people in common stood: after these David longed; he longed to enter into them, and stand in them, and worship God there; which soul longings and hearty desires were the fruits and evidences of true grace, of being born again; so newly born souls desire the sincere milk of the word, and the breasts of Gospel ordinances, as a newly born babe desires its mother's milk and breast; and he even "fainted", through disappointment, or length of time, being impatien…
Psalm 84:1-4
1. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of Hosts! 2. My soul longeth, [or greatly desireth,] yea, even fainteth after the courts of Jehovah: my heart and my flesh leap for joy towards the living God. 3. The sparrow also hath found a house for herself, and the swallow [457] a nest for herself, where she may place her young ones, O thine altars! Thou Jehovah of Hosts! my King, and my God. 4. Blessed are they who dwell in thy house: they will be ever praising thee. Selah.
1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of Hosts! David complains of his being deprived of liberty of access to the Church of God, there to make a profession of his faith, to improve in godliness, and…
The Church Fathers
And what follows? "My soul longeth and faileth for the courts of the Lord" (ver. 2). It is not enough that it "longeth and faileth:" for what doth it fail? "For the courts of the Lord." The grape when pressed hath failed: but for what? So as to be changed into wine, and to flow into the vat, and into the rest of the storeroom, to be kept there in great quiet. Here it is longed for, there it is received: here are sighs, there joy: here prayers, there praises: here groans, there rejoicing. Those things which I mentioned, let no one while here turn from ashamed: let no one be unwilling to suffer. There is danger, lest the grape, while it fears the winepress, should be devoured by birds or by wild beasts. ...
My heart and my flesh have exulted in the living God. It is difficult that both the heart and the flesh of anyone should agree together in common. For if, according to the apostle, the spirit fights against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit, how does he here say: My heart and my flesh have exulted? This no one can say, except him who is fixed with his whole mind in the love of God. My heart and my flesh. This is what he says also in another place: "My soul has thirsted for you, how manifoldly my flesh for you." And my flesh. This is the flesh that desires the Lord, of which it is said in another place: "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." But that flesh, of which it is said "All flesh is grass," does not desire the Lord. My heart and my flesh. Show me some abstinent man, who reckons the death of his flesh to be the gain of his soul. And these are the fastings and the afflictions of the flesh. Finally, what does the apostle also say? "Whom I have handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved." Unless the flesh has died, the spirit cannot be made alive. For this reason the apostle also says: "When I am weak, then I am stronger." Let each one consider himself, when he is wearied and worn out with fasting, how the soul flourishes, how the mind considers nothing else except God, how it always says: How beloved are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.
My heart and my flesh have exulted in the living God. Listen, heretic, to what he says. How beloved are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts: he is speaking of the kingdom of heaven. "There are many dwelling-places with my Father," the Lord says in the Gospel. My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord: these are the courts in which the saints will dwell for eternity, which the prophet desires. My heart and my flesh. You see, then, that both the soul and the flesh alike desire the kingdom of heaven. But if the flesh is dissolved into the air, if it will not rise again, as the heretics suppose, how does the flesh of the prophet desire the kingdom of heaven? My heart and my flesh: because they have labored together, together they await the recompense. If the labor is shared, why should the reward not be shared? I beg you to hear me with indulgence. The flesh labors more in the present age than the soul: because the soul commands, the flesh serves. One thing is the labor of the servant, another the delights of the one who commands. The soul desires the Lord: the flesh fasts, the flesh lies on the ground in the cold, in prison it is scourged in martyrdom, it is beaten, it is condemned — the injury is the flesh's. The soul indeed grieves: but grief does not reach it except through the flesh. But someone may say: How does the apostle say that "flesh and blood shall not obtain the kingdom of God"? Do you wish to know how it is written? Listen to the Lord speaking in Genesis: "My spirit shall not remain in man forever, because he is flesh." Why? For what is this? You made the flesh, and do you accuse and condemn the flesh? But what God says is this: my spirit shall not remain in these men, because they do not live according to the spirit, but according to the vices and will of the flesh. Let the apostle too give his testimony: "Whoever are in the flesh cannot please God." If all who are in the flesh cannot please God, how did Paul himself, who is speaking, please God? How did Peter or the rest of the apostles and the saints please him, whom we cannot deny to have been in the flesh? Just as the same apostle again says: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit." They were in the flesh: and how does he say, You are not in the flesh? Because you do not live according to the flesh, because "our citizenship is in heaven." For we who in this age "are…
Dictionary and topics
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.)…
Tent — (1.) Heb. ‘ohel (Gen. 9:21, 27). This word is used also of a dwelling or habitation (1 Kings 8:66; Isa. 16:5; Jer. 4:20), and of the temple (Ezek. 41:1). When used of the tabernacle, as in 1 Kings…
Access To God · Saints earnestly seek — Saints earnestly seek
Affections · 29:3; — 29:3;
Affections, The · Should be set: Upon the house and worship of God — Should be set: Upon the house and worship of God
Church · General references — General references
Desire · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Heart · .It should seek God — .It should seek God
Heart, Character Of The Renewed · Desirous of God — Desirous of God
Seekers · 5:8;8:5,6; — 5:8;8:5,6;
Temple, The First · Was called: Zion — Was called: Zion
How loved and lovely (ידידות) is the sacred dwelling-place (plur. as in Psa 43:3) of the all-commanding, redemptive God, viz., His dwelling-place here below upon Zion! Thither the poet is drawn by the deeply inward yearning of love, which makes him pale (נכסף from כּסף, to grow pale, Psa 17:12) and consumes him (כּלה as in Job 19:27). His heart and flesh joyfully salute the living God dwelling there, who, as a never-failing spring, quenches the thirst of the soul (Psa 42:3); the joy that he feels when he throws himself back in spirit into the long-denied delight takes possession even of his bodily nature, the bitter-sweet pain of longing completely fills him (Psa 63:2). The mention of the "c…
Ps 84 The psalmist expresses his deep spiritual longing for God’s presence. He faints with longing as he reflects on the Temple and on pilgrims making the journey to Jerusalem (84:1-7). He prays for himself and for the community (84:8-9). The conclusion of the psalm (84:10-12) clarifies that the Temple represents God—the psalmist truly longs for God’s presence. He knows that God’s goodness is greater than life and that only God can give his people favor and honor (84:10-11).
84:1-4 The psalmist is far from the Temple. He turns toward it in hopeful reflection.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 84:2
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
My soul longeth, it pines, and faints to meet with the saints in the Lord's house. The desire was deep and insatiable—the very soul of the man was yearning for his God. Yea, even fainteth; as though it could not long hold out, but was exhausted with delay. He had a holy lovesickness upon him, and was wasted with an inward consumption because he was debarred the worship of the Lord in the appointed place. For the courts of the Lord. To stand once again in those areas which were dedicated to holy adoration was the soul longing of the psalmist. True subjects love the courts of t…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· 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).
