119:20 I desperately long to know 1
your regulations at all times.
84:3 Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow 2 builds a nest,
where she can protect her young 3
near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,
my king and my God.
1 tn Heb “my soul languishes for longing for.”
2 tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.
3 tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”
sn The psalmist here romanticizes the temple as a place of refuge and safety. As he thinks of the birds nesting near its roof, he envisions them finding protection in God’s presence.