Albert Barnes Commentary


Albert Barnes Commentary
"Jehovah, I love the habitation of thy house, And the place where thy glory dwelleth." — Psalms 26:8 (ASV)
Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house - I have loved to dwell in Your house. See the notes at (Psalms 23:6). The psalmist often refers to his delight in the house of God—the place of public worship; his love to be there united with the people of God in the solemn services of religion. Compare (Psalms 84:1–2), (Psalms 84:4), (Psalms 84:10); (Psalms 27:4).
And the place where thine honour dwelleth - Margin, “the tabernacle of thine honor.” This might indeed refer to the tabernacle, and the idea might be that he loved the place where that rested in its wanderings. But the more correct meaning is that he loved the place where the “glory” of God—the Shekinah, the symbol of His presence—rested; that is, the place where God was pleased to manifest Himself and where He dwelt. Wherever that was, he found pleasure in being there; and that he did thus love the place where God manifested Himself was, to his own mind, an evidence of true piety.
It is always an evidence of piety, for there can be no true religion where the soul does not find pleasure in the worship of God. A person who does not delight in such a service here is not prepared for heaven, where God eternally dwells.