Bible Strands
Psalms 65:4
Blessed is the one You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts! We are filled with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A corporate voice of Israel addresses God in thanksgiving, immediately after acknowledging that He atoned for their transgressions (v.3). The community moves from confession to declaring the blessedness of those God draws into His courts.
The words — 'Ashrei (אַשְׁרֵי) is a fixed Hebrew formula declaring the blessedness of a particular person or state, not a general blessing. Nisbe'ah (נִשְׂבְּעָה, H7646) means "to be satisfied, sated," and it is the verb that carries the second line's claim about God's house.
The thread — The same 'ashrei formula appears in Psalms 84:4 for those who dwell in God's house, and Psalms 23:6 promises dwelling in the house of the LORD forever. The choosing motif echoes Ephesians 1:4, where election precedes the foundation of the world.
Why it lands — The verse presents access to God's presence as something received (chosen, brought near) rather than achieved, and the satisfaction is passive: "we are filled." It asks the reader to stop treating temple access as a right and receive it as what it is — a gift.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 1:4 For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
- Psalms 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
- Psalms 84:4 How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah
- Psalms 106:4 Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people; visit me with Your salvation,
- Psalms 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His inheritance!
- Psalms 36:8 They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
- Revelation 3:12 The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
- Psalms 4:3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him.
- Psalms 63:5 My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
- Jeremiah 31:25 for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.”