“Better is one day in your courts… ” An Explication of Psalm

In the twenty-second chapter of Revelation the author gives a brief description of what the Kingdom of heaven looks like. The river of life flows from the throne of God and of the lamb down the middle of the great street of the city (Rev. 22:1-2). Along with the river of life we know that there are streets of gold and pearly white gates where Peter is standing waiting to ask all those waiting the question of all questions. The promise of living in the Kingdom of heaven for eternity is a gift that is given to all if we choose to accept a life with Christ. In Psalm 84 the psalmist states that being in the courts of the Lord for a day is better than being anywhere else and the psalmist asks the Lord to hear his prayer so that he can be in the courts for more than one day.

Psalm 84 is a relatively small psalm consisting of only twelve verses. Depending on the scholar there are different ways in which this psalm is broken up. Derek Kidner perceives the psalm to be spilt up into three stanzas all consisting of four verses. On the other hand, A.A. Anderson breaks Psalm 84 into four stanzas. The first stanza consists of three verses, the second consists

From the beginning of the psalm one can tell that Psalm 84 is a Song of Zion. In this type of psalm the psalmist praises the city of Jerusalem as the city that God has chosen to have his special presence. The psalmist describes the beauty of the city throughout the entire psalm.

Through this psalm believers see first hand how another believer feels about the house of the Lord and how he longs to be in the house. There are passages throughout the Bible that illustrates God’s love for all things. In this psalm the psalmist mentions sparrows and swallows. The Lord provides a place for these birds to make their nests so that they can raise their young. If God cares this much about the birds in the air His love for those who have been made in His image is boundless.

The focal point of this stanza is on those who are on pilgrimages for the Lord. The psalmist goes into detail about the pilgrimage. Before they are able to reach Zion they pass through the Baca Valley. “The location of the Baca valley is unknown, the Latin tradition understood this as ‘the valley of tears,’ suggestive of the desolate places which the pilgrim must traverse to arrive at God’s dwelling place, the end of the psalm” (Olam 207).

The writer of the psalm is unidentified as well as the date of authorship. A.A. Anderson believes that the most likely setting of the psalm is the Feast of Tabernacles (601). During the Feast of Tabernacles praise would be given to the Lord and the Davidic king would be lifted up in prayer. Based on these two assumptions one could assume that this setting of the psalm is true.

In the forth and final stanza (v. 10-12) the psalmist concludes by referring back to the house of the Lord. The psalmist states that one day in the courts of the Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere (v. 10). The psalmist refers to being a doorkeeper in the house of his God, which could possibly be the normal job of the psalmist. In the next verse the word shield is used once again. At this time the pilgrims saw God as a source of their protection. Along with being a shield, the psalmist refers to God as a sun (v. 11). God is the source of light and He brings life to all things. In God is where we find life and our protection. When referring to God as being a sun and shield presumes that everything that comes from God is good and positive. Due to God being a sun and shield He brings glory and honor to all whose walk is blameless. According to Derek Kidner, the Lord’s glory and honor can be translated better as glory and grace (Kidner 307).

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