O Lord of Heaven's Armies.
I love, yes, I faint with longing
to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home
and the swallow builds her nest and raises
her young at a place near your altar,
O Lord of Heaven's Armies, my King and my God!
What joy for those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises.
What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord,
who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs.
The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.
They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before the God in Jerusalem.
O Lord God of Heaven's Armies, hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Jacob.
O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield!
Show favor to the one you have anointed.
A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right.
O Lord of Heaven's Armies,
what joy for those who trust in you.
A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
New Living Translation
Notes: There is a longing expressed in this psalm for something more than what can be known in this life. This may seem like strange language to those who have never experienced it, but for those who have there is a depth and intensity of feeling that is powerfully compelling. How lovely is the dwelling place of the Lord of Heaven's Armies. Once experienced, nothing else satisfies.
7 comments:
I still have a problem with the "Lord of heaven's armies." God is depicted as a warrior with his armies in the Old Testament whether angelic or human. How could God kill the innocent children of the Canaanites and also the innocent livestock? And how could he exact the post-war syndrome on the Israelites whom he made go into Canaan and kill the men, women, children and livestock?
Cathy, you got to be careful. In the Old Testament sometimes the language of destroying children is exaggeration related to warfare hyperbole in the ancient near east.
I know there is a Psalm that talks about dashing babies against rocks and in the book of Joshua there are verses about God commanding genocide.
Ummm I doubt that God would want babies smashed against rocks...come onnnn!
God can smash whoever he wants because he is God. My parents were lost in Katrina but I don't hold it against God because God is God. I don't get why He did it and it was cruel and i'll never forgive him but I get that God is God.
God cannot smash whoever he wants just like God cannot lie or deceive or violate his own holy purposes you loser! Think before you make sweeping comments. There's nothing wrong with being ticked off with God and ventilating. Check out Psalm 13 for instance.
I don't like this talk about God smashing innocent babies.
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