If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Where would you choose to call home?

Would it be a mountain fortress with great vistas? How about a balmy beach spot with endless tropical sand?

Perhaps some sprawling land loaded with green pasture? Or maybe you’d choose urban energy and skyscraper living? Would you go domestic or international?

Got your answer locked in? (FYI, I might choose Lancaster, Pennsylvania.)

The authors of Psalm 84 declare they’ve found a better location, a great place to call home. Here’s the way they drop the pin …

BEAUTY: It’s truly lovely here. That means that the sights and smells are sweet and that color, shape and variety are all striking. It implies that order is evident and that great design and function are seen everywhere (Psalm 84:1).

COURTS: There are plenty. To sports-minded people like us, finding courts is essential. That’s where adventure and story and so many key relationships play out. We don’t live well without these three. Courts are essential. This location has game (Psalm 84:2,10).

POSITIVITY: Everyone who lives here is into proper praise. All love the same things. Harmony headlines everyone’s playlist. You can’t find negativity zapping the life out of people here. No downgrading, just uplifting (Psalm 84:4).

PERMANENCE: People don’t just visit. They stay. They dwell here. Too much good is found here (like love, peace, provision, refuge, rest, forgiveness and acceptance) to want to live anywhere else (Psalm 84:4).

FLOURISHING: Things grow. People grow. Strength and confidence grow. Bounty and abundance mark this location. There’s plenty of hydration here to water the soul (Psalm 84:6-7).

VALUE: A day lived here is better than a thousand lived elsewhere. That’s transcendent, surpassing worth. Satisfaction and significance are consistently found here (Psalm 84:10).

SUN: Nothing grows well without light. It energizes and illumines. Consistent confidence and sustained growth result. A home with light is alive, helping all who enter to find life too. This is living in Son City (Psalm 84:11, Hebrews 1:3, John 8:12).

SHIELD: By shield we mean both protection and leadership. A shield defends, bringing a crucial sense of safety. And it also leads the fight. The way a shield faces points to the battle, to where victory awaits. A good home provides both — refuge within and direction for finding wins in life (Psalm 84:11).

Yes, Psalm 84 points us to the best place to live in life. It’s wherever you find this combination: beauty, courts, positivity, permanence, flourishing, value, illumination and shielding. That one place is God! All these things are found in Him.

That’s why this psalm concludes with these words: “LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you” (Psalm 84:12). There is no better living than life with Him, in Him.

Reflect:  Where do you call home? How’s your life with God going? How comfortable are you in His presence?

A prayer to consider: LORD God Almighty, I want my home to be continually found in You. Keep showing me Your great worth. Don’t let me settle for less than the best or pay rent for other options. I want to see eternal value and reject everything else.

Thank You for providing better living, offering a better home. Being in Your courts, before Your beauty, flourishing in positivity, illumined and shielded, is where I want to live for good. Keep anchoring me here, O Lord. For Your great glory and my great joy in You, Amen.