My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to pThe Gittith.1 A Psalm of qthe Sons of Korah.
1 How rlovely is your sdwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul tlongs, yes, ufaints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to vthe living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
wmy King and my God.
4 xBlessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever ysinging your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
zin whose heart are the highways to Zion.2
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
athe early rain also covers it with bpools.
7 They go cfrom strength to strength;
each one dappears before God in Zion.
8 O eLord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day hin your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be ia doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is ja sun and gshield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
kNo good thing does he withhold
from those who lwalk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
mblessed is the one who trusts in you!
The Lord’s Faithfulness Endures Forever
1 cPraise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
2 For dgreat is his steadfast love toward us,
and ethe faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
bPraise the Lord!
3 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
qwho have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
4 reven to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.
5 s“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
6 tThose who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
uthen they fall down and worship!
7 vThey lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
wit cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
8 “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, xyou transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 ydeclaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, z‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 acalling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
bI have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
12 “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
13 cI bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
dI will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”
Thanksgiving and Prayer
15 For this reason, mbecause I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love1 toward all the saints, 16 I ndo not cease to give thanks for you, oremembering you in my prayers, 17 that pthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, qmay give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 rhaving the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is sthe hope to which he has called you, what are tthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, uaccording to the working of vhis great might 20 that he worked in Christ wwhen he raised him from the dead and xseated him at his right hand yin the heavenly places, 21 zfar above aall rule and authority and power and dominion, and above bevery name that is named, not only in cthis age but also in the one to come. 22 And dhe put all things under his feet and gave him as ehead over all things to the church, 23 fwhich is his body, gthe fullness of him hwho fills iall in all.