My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Parallel translations
- KJV My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
- BSB My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
- NKJV My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
- NASB My soul longed and even yearned for the courtyards of the Lord; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
- NLT I 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The psalmist's soul longs and even faints for the courts of the LORD, crying out for the living God. He yearns with his whole being to be in God's presence.
Overview
This intense longing reveals that the psalmist's deepest desire is God Himself, the living God, not just the temple courts. Heart and flesh together cry out, showing total devotion. Such holy longing is the mark of a soul satisfied only in God, fulfilled for believers in communion with Christ (cf. Ps. 42:1-2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 26:9With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
- Ps 42:1–2For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.
- Ps 63:1–2A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
- Ps 119:81My soul faints for your salvation. I hope in your word.
- Ps 143:6I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.
- Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- Ps 119:20My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
- Job 23:3Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
- Song 5:8I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, that you tell him that I am faint with love.
- Song 2:4–5He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.
- Isa 64:1Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 84:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.