Psalms 84:12
in Psalms 84O LORD of Hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O Jehovah of hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
KJV
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
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This verse in Psalms 84
Commentary
11 notes on this verseO Lord of hosts. See what he says, O Lord of hosts. Therefore when we have any sins in us, God, who is the Lord of hosts, is not our Lord: because the Lord is not the Lord of sinners, but of the righteous. Blessed is the man who hopes in you. He hopes in the Lord, who has no conscience of sins, who lifts free eyes to heaven. This man hopes, who knows that he has not offended his Lord.
This site's exposition
better is one day in Your courts
on Psalms 84:10-12
One day in the courts outweighs a thousand anywhere else. The word rendered doorkeeper is histofef, to wait at the threshold, a place at the door of God's house over the tents of the wicked. Verse 11 gives sun and a shield, grace and glory, and no good thing withheld.
This site's exposition
the man who trusts in You
Charles Spurgeon called this line the key of the psalm. The longing for the courts ends in trust in the God of the courts. Matthew Henry drew the comfort: a person barred from the house of the LORD may still go by faith to the Lord of the house.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
..."Because God loveth mercy and truth" (ver. 12). The Lord loveth mercy, by which He first came to my help: He loveth truth, so as to give to him that believeth what He has promised. Hear in the case of the Apostle Paul, His mercy and truth, Paul who was first Saul the persecutor. He needed mercy, and he has said that it was shown towards him: "I who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, that in me Christ Jesus might show forth all longsuffering towards those who shall believe in Him unto life eternal." So that, when Paul received pardon of such great crimes, no one should despair of any sins whatever being forgiven him. Lo! Thou hast Mercy. ...Lo, we see that Paul holdeth Him a debtor, having received mercy, demanding truth. The Lord, he says, shall give back in that day. What shall He give thee back, but that which He oweth thee? How oweth He unto thee? What hast thou given Him? "Who hath first given unto Him, and it shall be restored to him again." The Lord Himself hath made Himself a debtor, not by receiving, but by promising: it is not said unto Him, Restore what Thou hast received: but, Restore what Thou hast promised. He hath shown mercy unto me, he saith, that He might make me innocent: for before I was a blasphemer and injurious: but by His grace I have been made innocent. But He who first showed mercy, can He deny His debt? "He loveth mercy and truth. He will give grace and glory." What grace, but that of which the same one said: "By the grace of God I am what I am"? What glory, but that of which he said, "There is laid up for me a crown of glory"? Therefore "the Lord will not withhold good from those who walk in innocence" (ver. 12). Why then, O men, are ye unwilling to keep innocence, except in order that ye may have good things? […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Those are blessed who have the liberty of ordinances and the privileges of God's house. But, though we should be debarred from them, yet we are not therefore debarred from blessedness if we trust in God. If we cannot go to the house of the Lord, we may go by faith to the Lord of the house, and in him we shall be happy and may be easy.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee,....
In singing this psalm we should have the same devout affections working towards God that David had, and then the singing of it will be very pleasant. The Pleasures of Public Worship; Benefit of Public Worship.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Here is the key of the Psalm. The worship is that of faith, and the blessedness is peculiar to believers. No formal worshipper can enter into this secret. A man must know the Lord by the life of real faith, or he can have no true rejoicing in the Lord's worship, his house, his Son, or his ways. Dear reader, how fares it with thy soul?
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
IN this sweet Sabbatic Psalm the writer rejoices in the House of God. He evidently loves the place of godly assembly, the place where prayer and praise were offered by the united tribes of his people. But, Brothers and Sisters, there was no superstition in this love. He loved the House of God because he loved the God of the house! His heart and flesh cried out, not for the altar and the candlestick, but for his God. True, his soul fainted for the courts of the Lord, but the reason was that he cried out for the living God, saying, "When shall I come and appear before God?" Brethren, it is well to take an interest in the place where you gather for worship. I am always glad when Brothers and Sisters are moved to contribute towards the necessary maintenance of the building and the provision for its cleanliness and propriety. I hate that God should be served in a slovenly way. Even the place where we meet to worship should show some sign of reverence for His name. But still, our respect for our place of assembly must never degenerate into a superstitious reverence for the mere structure—as though there were some peculiar sanctity about the spot—and prayer offered here would be more acceptable than elsewhere. The great objective of our desire must be to meet with God, Himself. In hearing, the point is to hear the voice of God! In singing, the charm is truly to praise the Most High! In prayer, the main objective is to plead with God and so to speak that our cry comes up before Him, even into His ears. Let us always remember this and never rest content with merely going to a set place. Let us reckon that we have failed if we have not met with God! Let us come up here with strong desire for communion with the Lord in spirit and in truth. The Psalmist also knew right well that the spiritual Law runs through everything.
IN this sweet Sabbatic Psalm the writer rejoices in the House of God. He evidently loves the place of godly assembly, the place where prayer and praise were offered by the united tribes of his people. But, Brothers and Sisters, there was no superstition in this love. He loved the House of God because he loved the God of the house! His heart and flesh cried out, not for the altar and the candlestick, but for his God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee - Blessed in every respect. His lot is a happy one; happy in thy friendship; happy in being permitted to worship thee; happy in the blessings which religion scatters along his path here; happy in thy sustaining grace in times of trial; happy in the support given in the hour of death; happy in the eternity to which he is going. Oh that all men would try it, and experience in their own souls the happiness - the real, genuine, deep, permanent joy - of trusting in God; of believing that there is a God; of confiding in his character; of leaning on him in every situation in life; of relying on his mercy, his grace, and his faithfulness, in the hour of death!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For a sun and a shield שמש may be interpreted according to its apparent meaning, but Midrash Psalms interprets it as an expression of the points of the wall.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
For a day is better [To live] one [day] in Your courts and die the next [is better than] to live a thousand years someplace else.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֑וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אַֽשְׁרֵ֥י | ʾashrei | how blessed! | H835 → | 45 times |
| אָ֝דָ֗ם | ʾadam | [is] anyone | H120 → | 551 times |
| בֹּטֵ֥חַ | boteach | [who] trusts | H982 → | 120 times |
| בָּֽךְ׃ | bakh | in you |
יְהוָ֥הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֑וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
אַֽשְׁרֵ֥יhow blessed!
ʾashreiH835 →45 times
אָ֝דָ֗ם[is] anyone
ʾadamH120 →551 times
בֹּטֵ֥חַ[who] trusts
boteachH982 →120 times
בָּֽךְ׃in you
bakh
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 30:18Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:20
Whoever heeds instruction will find success, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
- Lamentations 3:25–26
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- Proverbs 16:20
Through
Psalms 62:8Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah
it leads to
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the LORD forever, because GOD the LORD is the Rock eternal.
- Lamentations 2:19
Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives…
- Psalms 142:2
I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.
- 1 Samuel 1:15
“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman oppressed in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.
- Philippians 4:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, On the Psalms, Psalm 84; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1659: “A Feast for the Upright” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Homily 16, on Psalm 83; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.