This song was to be accompanied “on an instrument of Gath.” Gath? Goliath’s hometown? Really!
Maybe, as with my grandchildren, I shouldn’t have a favorite, but Psalm 84 brings me great delight. The Selahs divide the psalm into three equal parts of four verses each, and these sections present three blessed truths. “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You” (v 4). “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage” (v 5). “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!” (v 12). So there you have it! If the Lord is the dearest confidant of your life, if He is the hidden secret of your strength, and if He is the unswerving object of your trust, then blessings of the highest sort will certainly follow. The varied names of God are prominent here, as if His tabernacle is a wonderful place to visit (v 1), His courts an ideal destination (v 2), and His house a place of rich blessing (v 4)—but what would they be without Him? He is Jehovah Sabaoth, “O Lord of hosts” (v 1), the living El (v 2), “My King and my God” (v 3), and the Elohim of Jacob (v 8). He is the most gracious of Hosts, even putting up with the inconvenience of finding that “the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young— even Your altars, O Lord of hosts” (v 3). How gracious! And His house is not only hospitable but happy. “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You” (v 4). But what about when I’m not at home? Then He is our ideal traveling companion when our hearts are “set on pilgrimage” (v 5). I think I prefer another way this verse is often rendered: “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” Nothing like an internal GPS, always pointing heavenward and homeward. But there’s much more!