1How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty.
2I long, 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.
3Even the sparrow finds a home there, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young--at a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God!
4How happy are those who can live in your house, always singing your praises.
5Happy are those who are strong in the LORD, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
6When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains!
7They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
8O LORD God Almighty, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Israel.
9O God, look with favor upon the king, our protector! Have mercy on the one you have anointed.
10A 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.
11For the LORD God is our light and protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who do what is right.
12O LORD Almighty, happy are those who trust in you.