Morning Psalm

Psalm 85 (Quam dilecta!)

How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts!

My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest

where she may lay her young;

by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Happy are they who dwell in your house!

they will always be praising you.

Happy are the people whose strength is in you!

whose hearts are set on the pilgrim's way.

Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs,

for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

They will climb from height to height,

and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

hearken, O God of Jacob.

Behold our defender, O God;

and look upon the face of your Anointed.

For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room,

and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the Lord God is both sun and shield;

he will give grace and glory;

No good thing will the Lord withhold

from those who walk with integrity.

O Lord of hosts,

happy are they who put their trust in you!

(BCP 707)