How deep the joy, Almighty Lord — an adaptation in English verse of Psalms 84 by Sir Robert Grant

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Robert Grant

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4 April 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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19th century C.E., 56th century A.M., English poetry, English Romanticism, Prayers as poems, Psalms 84

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	How deep the joy, Almighty Lord, Thy altars to the heart afford! With envying eyes I see The swallow fly to nestle there, And find within the house of prayer A bliss denied to me!
	Compelled by day to roam for food Where scorching suns or tempests rude Their angry influence fling, O, gladly in that sheltered nest She smooths, at eve, her ruffled breast, And folds her weary wing.
	Thrice happy wand’rer! fain would I, Like thee, from ruder climates fly, That seat of rest to share; Opprest with tumult, sick with wrongs, How oft my fainting spirit longs To lay its sorrows there!
	Oh! ever on that holy ground The cov’ring cherub Peace is found, With brooding wings serene; And Charity’s seraphic glow, And gleams of glory that foreshow A higher, brighter scene.
	For even that refuge but bestows A transient tho’ a sweet repose, For one short hour allow’d;— Then, upwards we shall take our flight To hail a spring without a blight, A heaven without a cloud!

This paraphrase of a portion of Psalms 84 in English verse by Sir Robert Grant was first published posthumously under the title “Part of Psalm ⅬⅩⅩⅩⅣ. Imitated” by Robert’s brother Charles Grant (Lord Glenelg) in Sacred Poems by the Late Right Hon. Sir Robert Grant (1839), pp. 36-37.

Source(s)

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Robert Grant

Sir Robert Grant, GCH (1779 – 9 July 1838), born in Bengal, was a British lawyer and politician who had a distinguished public career as Governor of Bombay and as a member of the British Parliament. Of Scottish ancestry, his father was a director of the East India Company. His family relocated to England in 1790 where he later studied law at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1807, he passed the bar after which he became a Commissioner in Bankruptcy. Between 1818 and 1832, he was an elected member of Parliament for several different Burghs. He advocated for the removal of the "Jewish disabilities" (legal restrictions, limitations and obligations placed on British Jewry). and twice carried bills on the subject through the House of Commons. They were, however, rejected in the Upper House, which did not yield on the question until 1858, twenty years after Grant's death.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

How deep the joy, Almighty Lord — an adaptation in English verse of Psalms 84 by Sir Robert Grant

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