How lovely are Thy tents, O Lord

Verse 1
How lovely are thy Tents, O Lord, (Psalm 84:1)
Where’er Thou chusest to record
Thy Name, or place thy House of Prayer, (Ex. 20:24, Isa. 56:7, Matt. 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46)
My Soul outflies the Angel-quire, (Psalm 84:2)
And faints o’repow’rd with strong Desire, (Psalm 84:2)
To meet thy special Presence there.
My Heart and Flesh cry out for GOD; (Psalm 84:2)
There would I fix my Soul’s Abode,
As Birds that in thy Altars nest; (Psalm 84:3)
There would I all my Young ones bring,
An Offering to my GOD and King,
And in thy Courts forever rest. (Psalm 27:4)

Verse 2
Happy the Man, to whom ’tis given
To dwell within that Gate of Heaven, (Psalm 84:4)
And in thy House record thy Praise; (Psalm 84:4)
Whose Strength and Confidence Thou art, (Psalm 84:5)
Who feel Thee, Saviour, in their Heart,
The Way, the Truth, the Life of Grace. (John 14:6)
Who passing thro’ the mournful Vale (Psalm 84:6)
Drink Comfort from the Living Well (John 4:11-14)
That flows, replenish’d from above; (Psalm 84:6)
From Strength to Strength advancing here, (Psalm 84:7)
Till All before their GOD appear, (Psalm 84:7)
And Each receives his Crown of Love.

Verse 3
O Lord of Hosts, incline thine Ear, (Psalm 84:8)
Thou mighty GOD of Jacob hear, (Psalm 84:8)
Accept me in thy fav’rite Son; (Eph. 1:6)
O look on thy Messiah’s Face, (Psalm 84:9)
And grant me for His sake the Grace
To live and die to Thee alone. (Rom. 14:8)
Better a Day thy Courts within
Than thousands in the Tents of Sin: (Psalm 84:10)
How base the noblest Pleasures there!
How great the weakest Child of Thine!
His meanest Task is all Divine,
And Kings and Priests thy Servants are. (I Pet. 2:9, Rev. 1:6)

Verse 4
The Lord protects, and chears His own,
Their Light and Strength, their Shield and Sun; (Psalm 84:11)
He shall both Grace and Glory give, (Psalm 84:11)
Unlimited his bounteous Grant,
No real Good they e’er shall want, (Psalm 23:1)
All, all is Theirs who sinless live. (Psalm 84:11)
O Lord of Hosts, how blest is He
Who stedfastly believes on Thee! (Psalm 84:12)
He all thy Promises shall gain;
The Soul that on thy Love is cast,
Thy perfect Love on Earth shall taste,
And soon with Thee in Glory reign. (II Tim. 2:12, Rev. 20:4, Rev. 20:6)

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “Psalm 84.” This hymn was appears in the mid-to-late-1740s manuscript “MS Fish.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/566, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 2). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Introduced in Versions and Paraphrases of Select Psalms. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 8 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 165.
Publishing: Public Domain