Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 84:7

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 84:7. They go from strength to strength — They proceed from one degree of grace to another, gaining Divine virtue through all the steps of their probation.

Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. — This is a paraphrase, and a bad one, but no translation. They shall proceed from strength to strength, יראה אל אלהים בציון yeraeh el Elohim betsiyon, "The God of gods shall be seen in Zion." God shall appear in their behalf, as often as they shall seek him; in consequence of which they shall increase in spiritual strength.

Some think there is a reference here to companies of people going up to Jerusalem from different parts of the land, blending together as they go on, so that the crowd is continually increasing. This meaning our translators have put in the margin.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 84:0 Joy in God’s house

On account of the difficulties and dangers people faced in travelling from remote areas to Jerusalem, some Israelites could visit the temple only once or twice each year. The present psalm reflects the joy and satisfaction of one such traveller as he comes to the temple to worship (1-2). Even the birds who make their nests in the temple courtyard have meaning for this man. As they find rest in their nests, so he finds rest in God’s house (3-4).
The traveller is so pleased to have arrived at the temple, that the troubles he experienced on the journey now seem nothing. Although he was faint and weary in a waterless country, God strengthened him to go on (5-7). As he offers praise to God he does not forget to pray for the king (8-9). He finds such joy in worshipping in God’s house, that he would gladly put up with any difficulties, no matter how tiring the journey, just to stand at the door. He would rather go through hardships and be at the temple than remain at ease but be far away from God. The almighty God alone is the source of all true blessing (10-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; In whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs; Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings. They go from strength to strength; Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion. O Jehovah God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob. (Selah)"

"In whose heart are the highways to Zion" This is the verse that is seized upon by some writers as an excuse for calling this psalm a pilgrimage hymn; but the translation, even in our version is strongly suspect. The words "to Zion" is in italics, indicating that they are not in the Bible at all but have been added by translators.

The current popular opinion that makes this psalm a pilgrimage song is founded upon a single word in Psalms 84:5 ("ways") which never means pilgrimage but is constantly treated as if it did.

"Highways" These are not roads, in the ordinary sense; they are "in the hearts" of those who love God; "These `ways' are being pondered (in men's hearts); and they refer to `directions,' or `courses of action' that should be followed in specific situations."H. C. Leupold, p. 605.

"Passing through the valley of Weeping" Of course, this passage also is alleged to refer to some actual valley on one of the `roads' to Zion, but we cannot believe there ever was such a literal valley. We appreciate the great big "if" that appears in Addis' comment in speaking of it. He wrote: "Possibly there was such a valley."W. E. Addis, p. 388. Maybe so; but there is no such valley on any of the maps of ancient Palestine that are available to us.

The truth is, this is not a reference to any kind of literal valley. "The valley of Weeping" is any period of loss, sorrow, grief, deprivation, or disaster through which God's child must pass during his earthly sojourn; and the glory of God's service is that it enables the worshipper to change even sorrows into springs of praise and thanksgiving. The rains mentioned in the same context are a reference to God's blessing upon those who suffer.

"They go from strength to strength" The faithful worshipper of God finds his faith strengthened and increased day by day.

"Hear my prayer, O God of Jacob" Constant prayer is an element in the life of every faithful soul. Prayer has been called the "breath of the saints"; and when one stops praying, he is either spiritually dead, or soon will be.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

They go from strength to strength ... - Margin,” company to company.” The Septuagint and Vulgate, “They go from strength to strength; the God of gods is seen in Zion.” Luther, “They obtain one victory after another, that one must see that there is a righteous God in Zion.” DeWette, “Going they increase in strength, until they appear before God in Zion.” This last is doubtless the true idea. As they pass along, as they come nearer and nearer to the end of their journey, their strength, their ardor, their firmness of purpose increases. By their conversation; by their songs; by encouraging one another; by seeing one difficulty overcome after another; by the fact kept before their minds, and increasingly apparent, that they are constantly approaching the end of their journey - that the distance to be traveled is constantly diminishing - that the difficulties become less and less, and that they will soon see the towers and walls of the desired city - they are invigorated, cheered, comforted. What a beautiful illustration of the life of Christian pilgrims - of the bands of the redeemed - as they journey on toward the end of their course - the Mount Zion above! By prayer and praise and mutual counsel, by their songs, by the fact that difficulties are surmounted, leaving fewer to be overcome, and that the journey to be traveled is diminishing constantly - by the feeling that they are ever drawing nearer to the Zion of their home, until the light is seen to glitter and play on its towers and walls - they increase in strength, they become more confirmed in their purposes, they bear trials better, they overcome difficulties more easily, they walk more firmly, they tread their way more cheerfully and triumphantly.

Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God - literally, “He shall appear to God in Zion.” The meaning evidently is, that they who are referred to in the previous verses as going up to Zion will be seen there, or will come before God, in the place of worship. There is a change of number here, from the plural to the singular - as, in Psalms 84:5, there is a change from the singular to the plural. Such changes are frequent in the Scriptures as in other writings, and the one here can be accounted for on the supposition that the author of the psalm, in looking upon the moving procession, at one moment may be supposed to have looked upon them as a procession - a moving mass - and then that he looked upon them as individuals, and spake of them as such. The idea here is, that they would not falter and fall by the way; that the cheerful, joyous procession would come to the desired place; that their wishes would be gratified, and that their joy would be full when they came to the end of their journey - to Zion. So it is of all Christian pilgrims. Every true believer - everyone that truly loves God - will appear before him in the upper Zion - in heaven. There their joy will be complete; there the long-cherished desires of their hearts will be fully gratified; there all that they ever hoped for, and more, will be realized.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

7They will go from strength to strength. In this verse the same sentiment is repeated. Mount Zion being the place where, according to the appointment of the law, the holy assemblies were observed, after the ark of the covenant was removed thither, it is said, that the people of God will come to Zion in great numbers, provoking one another to this good work. ⁽⁴⁶⁷⁾ The word חיל, chayil, seldom signifies a troop, or band of men, but most commonly power, or strength. It will therefore be more in accordance with the ordinary use of the term, to translate, They will go from strength to strength; ⁽⁴⁶⁸⁾ implying, that the saints are continually acquiring fresh strength for going up to mount Zion, and continue to prosecute their journey without weariness or fatigue, until they reach the wished-for place, and behold the countenance of God. If the word troop is preferred, the meaning will be, that not a few only will come, but numerous companies. The manner in which God manifested himself to his servants in the temple in old time, we have spoken of elsewhere, and especially on the 27^th psalm, at the 4^th and 5^th verses. No visible image of God was there to be seen; but the ark of the covenant was a symbol of his presence, and genuine worshippers found from experience, that by this means they were greatly aided in approaching him.

(467) “Horsley reads, ‘from wall to wall;’ Merrick, ‘from station to station;’ others, ‘from virtue to virtue,’ in the military sense. All come to the same effect; they persevere through all difficulty or opposition, having their hearts set on reaching Zion’s hill.” — Williams. “I think with Gejerus that the Hebrew may be translated from strength to strength, (answerably to the wordsfrom faith to faith, Romans 1:17, and from glory to glory, 2 Corinthians 3:18,) and signify, that whereas other travelers grow more and more weary as they travel, each of the pious persons here described shall, by the refreshments administered to them, proceed from one degree of strength to another, viresque acquiret eundo . As Jerusalem is represented in the New Testament as a type of heaven, I see nothing irrational in supposing that the inspired writer might, in describing the ascent to Jerusalem, have in view also that spiritual progress which leads to the city which is above, the mother of us all. The words before us are certainly very applicable to the advances made in this progress, from strength to strength, from one stage of Christian perfection to another.” —Merrick ’s Annotations.

(468) “Ailleurs .” This supplement is not in the Latin version.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 84:1-12 is a beautiful psalm of the tabernacles of God.

How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, even faints for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God ( Psalms 84:1-2 ).

Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" ( Matthew 5:6 ). What a beautiful expression this is of the psalmist. "My heart, my flesh cries out for the living God." Dr. Henry Drummond in his book, The Natural and the Supernatural, says there is within the very protoplasm of man little tentacles that are reaching out for God. My heart, my flesh crying out for Thee, O Lord. And then he said,

Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee ( Psalms 84:3-4 ).

So he had noticed that the swallows had returned to Capistrano and made their nest in the house of God and he is excited over this. No, they're in the tabernacles. They didn't first come to San Juan, they came to the tabernacle and there in the altars of God they made their little nest to lay their young. We don't have swallows, thankfully, around here, because they are dirty. But we do have sparrows that make their nest in the eaves over here, and every time I walk past and I hear the little sparrows and I see them going up in the eaves and all, carrying grass up in there, I think of this particular psalm of David, how that the birds, the sparrows have made their nest and all there at Your altar.

Oh, how blessed it is to be there in the place where praises are going up to God continually. How blessed it is to dwell in the tabernacle and the sanctuary of the Lord and just a place where praises are being offered.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee ( Psalms 84:5 );

Now the word blessed is happy. "Happy is the man whose strength is in the Lord." The man who has learned to draw his strength from the Lord.

in whose hearts are the ways of them. Who through passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; and the rain also fills the pools ( Psalms 84:5-6 ).

The valley of Baca is a phrase that we don't quite understand. It would appear to be sort of a dry place. Who even when he passes through dry places it becomes a well and the rain fills the pools.

They go from strength to strength, every one of them that appeareth before the Lord in Zion. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob ( Psalms 84:7-8 ).

And then the final thought:

Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of your anointed. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness ( Psalms 84:9-10 ).

Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. "A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand anyplace else. I'd rather be a doorkeeper, Lord, in Your house, the lowest place in the house of God than the highest place in the house of Baal."

For the LORD God is a sun and a shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly ( Psalms 84:11 ).

Isn't that a beautiful promise? I love that promise, "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."

O LORD of hosts, blessed [or happy] is the man that trusts in thee ( Psalms 84:12 ).

So happiness to the man whose strength is in the Lord. Happiness to the man whose trust is in the Lord. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 84

This psalm, like Psalms 42, 43, expresses the writer’s desire for the Lord’s sanctuary. It is one of the pilgrim or ascent psalms that the Israelites sang as they traveled to the sanctuary to worship God (cf. Psalms 120-134). In it, the unknown writer declared the blessed condition of those who go to the temple to pray to Yahweh. The sons of Korah were those who arranged and or sang this psalm in Israel’s public worship.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Travelling to the temple 84:5-7

The person who sets his or her heart on finding strength in the Lord experiences great blessing. Such a person looked forward to travelling to Mt. Zion to worship Him there. The word "baca" means "balsam trees." The Valley of the Balsam Trees was evidently an arid region that the writer used as an example of a spiritually dry state. The pilgrim whose heart anticipated temple worship joyfully found spiritual refreshment in situations others found parched. His spiritual experience was similar to the coming of the early spring rains on that valley’s waterless ground. Such a person becomes stronger and stronger spiritually as he or she draws closer and closer to God.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

They go from strength to strength,.... Whose strength is in the Lord, and in whose heart are his ways, and who pass through the valley of Baca, and find a well of supply, and pools of blessings there; they renew their spiritual strength; they grow stronger and stronger every step they take; the way of the Lord is strength unto them: or "from army to army", or "from company to company" d, as Kimchi, alluding to the companies in which they went up to the feasts; see Luke 2:44 when those who were more zealous, or more able to undergo journeys, would outgo the rest, and first overtake one company, and then another, and get to Zion first: or from victory to victory: first overcoming one enemy, and then another, as sin, Satan, and the world, being more than conquerors through him that has loved them: or "from doctrine to doctrine" e; being led first into one truth, and then into another, as they were able to bear them; and so following on to know the Lord, and increasing in the knowledge of him: or "from class to class" f; from the lower to an higher form in the school of Christ; so Jarchi interprets it, from school to school; and the Targum, from the sanctuary to the school; compare with this Romans 1:17

everyone of them in Zion appeareth before God; three times in the year, but not empty, Exodus 34:20 so the saints appear before God in his church below, presenting their persons, souls and bodies, prayers and praises, as holy and spiritual sacrifices unto him; than which nothing is more desirable to them. This is the wished for happiness, and the issue of their travel, toil, and labour; see

Psalms 42:2, and they shall appear before him, and in his presence, in the, church above; when Christ shall appear, they shall appear with him in glory, and be like him, and see him as he is; even everyone of them, not one shall be wanting; because he is great in power, not one of them shall fail; and he will present them to his Father, saying,

lo, I and the children thou hast given me: some render the words, "the God of gods will appear", or "be seen in Zion" g; there Jehovah manifests himself, and grants his gracious presence; this is the mount of the Lord, in which he is and shall be seen, Genesis 22:14.

d מחיל אל חיל "de exercitu in exercitum", Pagninus; so Piscator, Junius Tremellius "de turma ad turmam": Vatablus, Cocceius. e "De doctrina ad doctrinam", so some in Vatablus. f "Ex cohorte, vel classe rudiorum et infirmiorum, ad classem adultiorum", Gussetius, p. 725. g יראה אל אלהים בציון "videbitur Deus deorum in Sijon", Pagninus Montanus; "videtur Deus deorum in Sion", Musculus; so Sept. and Eth.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician upon Gittith. A psalm for the sons of Korah.

      1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!   2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.   3 Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.   4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.   5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.   6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.   7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

      The psalmist here, being by force restrained from waiting upon God in public ordinances, by the want of them is brought under a more sensible conviction than ever of the worth of them. Observe,

      I. The wonderful beauty he saw in holy institutions (Psalms 84:1; Psalms 84:1): How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! Some think that he here calls God the Lord of hosts (that is, in a special manner of the angels, the heavenly hosts) because of the presence of the angels in God's sanctuary; they attended the Shechinah, and were (as some think) signified by the cherubim. God is the Lord of these hosts, and his the tabernacle is: it is spoken of as more than one (thy tabernacles) because there were several courts in which the people attended, and because the tabernacle itself consisted of a holy place and a most holy. How amiable are these! How lovely is the sanctuary in the eyes of all that are truly sanctified! Gracious souls see a wonderful, an inexpressible, beauty in holiness, and in holy work. A tabernacle was a mean habitation, but the disadvantage of external circumstances makes holy ordinances not at all the less amiable; for the beauty of holiness is spiritual, and their glory is within.

      II. The longing desire he had to return to the enjoyment of public ordinances, or rather of God in them, Psalms 84:2; Psalms 84:2. It was an entire desire; body, soul, and spirit concurred in it. He was not conscious to himself of any rising thought to the contrary. It was an intense desire; it was like the desire of the ambitious, or covetous, or voluptuous. He longed, he fainted, he cried out, importunate to be restored to his place in God's courts, and almost impatient of delay. Yet it was not so much the courts of the Lord that he coveted, but he cried out, in prayer, for the living God himself. O that I might know him, and be again taken into communion with him! 1 John 1:3. Ordinances are empty things if we meet not with God in the ordinances.

      III. His grudging the happiness of the little birds that made their nests in the buildings that were adjoining to God's altars, Psalms 84:3; Psalms 84:3. This is an elegant and surprising expression of his affection to God's altars: The sparrow has found a house and the swallow a nest for herself. These little birds, by the instinct and direction of nature, provide habitations for themselves in houses, as other birds do in the woods, both for their own repose and in which to lay their young; some such David supposes there were in the buildings about the courts of God's house, and wishes himself with them. He would rather live in a bird's nest nigh God's altars than in a palace at a distance from them. He sometimes wished for the wings of a dove, on which to fly into the wilderness (Psalms 55:6); here for the wings of a sparrow, that he might fly undiscovered into God's courts; and, though to watch as a sparrow alone upon the house-top is the description of a very melancholy state and spirit (Psalms 102:7), yet David would be glad to take it for his lot, provided he might be near God's altars. It is better to be serving God in solitude than serving sin with a multitude. The word for a sparrow signifies any little bird, and (if I may offer a conjecture) perhaps when, in David's time, music was introduced so much into the sacred service, both vocal and instrumental, to complete the harmony they had singing-birds in cages hung about the courts of the tabernacle (for we find the singing of birds taken notice of to the glory of God, Psalms 104:12), and David envies the happiness of these, and would gladly change places with them. Observe, David envies the happiness not of those birds that flew over the altars, and had only a transient view of God's courts, but of those that had nests for themselves there. David will not think it enough to sojourn in God's house as a way-faring man that turns aside to tarry for a night; but let this be his rest, his home; here he will dwell. And he takes notice that these birds not only have nests for themselves there, but that there they lay their young; for those who have a place in God's courts themselves cannot but desire that their children also may have in God's house, and within his walls, a place and a name, that they may feed their kids beside the shepherds' tents. Some give another sense of this verse: "Lord, by thy providence thou hast furnished the birds with nests and resting-places, agreeable to their nature, and to them they have free recourse; but thy altar, which is my nest, my resting-place, which I am as desirous of as ever the wandering bird was of her nest, I cannot have access to. Lord, wilt thou provide better for thy birds than for thy babes? As a bird that wanders from her nest so am I, now that I wander from the place of God's altars, for that is my place (Proverbs 27:8); I shall never be easy till I return to my place again." Note, Those whose souls are at home, at rest, in God, cannot but desire a settlement near his ordinances. There were two altars, one for sacrifice, the other for incense, and David, in his desire of a place in God's courts, has an eye to both, as we also must, in all our attendance on God, have an eye both to the satisfaction and to the intercession of Christ. And, lastly, Observe how he eyes God in this address: Thou art the Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Where should a poor distressed subject seek for protection but with his king? And should not a people seek unto their God? My King, my God, is Lord of hosts; by him and his altars let me live and die.

      IV. His acknowledgment of the happiness both of the ministers and of the people that had liberty of attendance on God's altars: "Blessed are they. O when shall I return to the enjoyment of that blessedness?" 1. Blessed are the ministers, the priests and Levites, who have their residence about the tabernacle and are in their courses employed in the service of it (Psalms 84:4; Psalms 84:4): Blessed are those that dwell in thy house, that are at home there, and whose business lies there. He is so far from pitying them, as confined to a constant attendance and obliged to perpetual seriousness, that he would sooner envy them than the greatest princes in the world. There are those that bless the covetous, but he blesses the religious. Blessed are those that dwell in thy house (not because they have good wages, a part of every sacrifice for themselves, which would enable them to keep a good table, but because they have good work): They will be still praising thee; and, if there be a heaven upon earth, it is in praising God, in continually praising him. Apply this to his house above; blessed are those that dwell there, angels and glorified saints, for they rest not day nor night from praising God. Let us therefore spend as much of our time as may be in that blessed work in which we hope to spend a joyful eternity. 2. Blessed are the people, the inhabitants of the country, who, though they do not constantly dwell in God's house as the priests do, yet have liberty of access to it at the times appointed for their solemn feasts, the three great feasts, at which all the males were obliged to give their attendance, Deuteronomy 16:16. David was so far from reckoning this an imposition, and a hardship put upon them, that he envies the happiness of those who might thus attend, Psalms 84:5-7; Psalms 84:5-7. Those whom he pronounces blessed are here described. (1.) They are such as act in religion from a rooted principle of dependence upon God and devotedness to him: Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, who makes thee his strength and strongly stays himself upon thee, who makes thy name his strong tower into which he runs for safety, Proverbs 18:10. Happy is the man whose hope is in the Lord his God,Psalms 40:4; Psalms 146:5. Those are truly happy who go forth, and go on, in the exercises of religion, not in their own strength (for then the work is sure to miscarry), but in the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, from whom all our sufficiency is. David wished to return to God's tabernacles again, that there he might strengthen himself in the Lord his God for service and suffering. (2.) They are such as have a love for holy ordinances: In whose heart are the ways of them, that is, who, having placed their happiness in God as their end, rejoice in all the ways that lead to him, all those means by which their graces are strengthened and their communion with him kept up. They not only walk in these ways, but they have them in their hearts, they lay them near their hearts; no care or concern, no pleasure or delight, lies nearer than this. Note, Those who have the new Jerusalem in their eye must have the ways that lead to it in their heart, must mind them, their eyes must look straight forward in them, must ponder the paths of them, must keep close to them, and be afraid of turning aside to the right hand or to the left. If we make God's promise our strength, we must make God's word our rule, and walk by it. (3.) They are such as will break through difficulties and discouragements in waiting upon God in holy ordinances, Psalms 84:6; Psalms 84:6. When they come up out of the country to worship at the feasts their way lies through many a dry and sandy valley (so some), in which they are ready to perish for thirst; but, to guard against that inconvenience, they dig little pits to receive and keep the rain-water, which is ready to them and others for their refreshment. When they make the pools the ram of heaven fills them. If we be ready to receive the grace of God, that grace shall not be wanting to us, but shall be sufficient for us at all times. Their way lay through many a weeping valley, so Baca signifies, that is (as others understand it), many watery valleys, which in wet weather, when the rain filled the pools, either through the rising of the waters or through the dirtiness of the way were impassable; but, by draining and trenching them, they made a road through them for the benefit of those who went up to Jerusalem. Care should be taken to keep those roads in repair that lead to church, as well as those that lead to market. But all this is intended to show, [1.] That they had a good will to the journey. When they were to attend the solemn feasts at Jerusalem, they would not be kept back by bad weather, or bad ways, nor make those an excuse for staying at home. Difficulties in the way of duty are designed to try our resolution; and he that observes the wind shall not sow. [2.] That they made the best of the way to Zion, contrived and took pains to mend it where it was bad, and bore, as well as they could, the inconveniences that could not be removed. Our way to heaven lies through a valley of Baca, but even that may be made a well if we make a due improvement of the comforts God has provided for the pilgrims to the heavenly city. (4.) They are such as are still pressing forward till they come to their journey's end at length, and do not take up short of it (Psalms 84:7; Psalms 84:7): They go from strength to strength; their company increases by the accession of more out of every town they pass through, till they become very numerous. Those that were near staid till those that were further off called on them, saying, Come, and let us go to the house of the Lord (Psalms 122:1; Psalms 122:2), that they might go together in a body, in token of their mutual love. Or the particular persons, instead of being fatigued with the tediousness of their journey and the difficulties they met with, the nearer they came to Jerusalem the more lively and cheerful they were, and so went on stronger and stronger,Job 17:9. Thus it is promised that those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength,Isaiah 40:31. Even where they are weak, there they are strong. They go from virtue to virtue (so some); it is the same word that is used for the virtuous woman. Those that press forward in their Christian course shall find God adding grace to their graces, John 1:16. They shall be changed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18), from one degree of glorious grace to another, till, at length, every one of them appears before God in Zion, to give glory to him and receive blessings from him. Note, Those who grow in grace shall, at last, be perfect in glory. The Chaldee reads it, They go from the house of the sanctuary to the house of doctrine; and the pains which they have taken about the law shall appear before God, whose majesty dwells in Zion. We must go from one duty to another, from prayer to the word, from practising what we have learned to learn more; and, if we do this, the benefit of it will appear, to God's glory and our own everlasting comfort.