Right off that statement sounds like a bit of a stretch or exaggeration. What could be a thousand times better than anything else? Is Earls that much better than McDonald's? Is a Lexus that much better than a Ford? Is a Maytag a thousand times better than an Inglis? Not likely! Yet David made the statement without reservation that "better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere”. That many times better than Disney, hockey, baseball, or any form of entertainment?
Was David exaggerating when he said that? Was he overstating something? Not really, because when you consider that when in the courts of the Lord you are in the presence of the King of kings and the Creator of the universe, any comparison does not even come close. You cannot compare the finite with the infinite or the eternal with the temporal. There is just no comparison. So when you consider that alone, David was not exaggerating at all when he said "better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere".
Besides those comparisons nothing can change a life, bring healing and wholeness like the presence of the Lord and being in His courts. When in the presence of the Lord, we are lifted into the eternal realm and placed beyond time. So like David, we long for and value His courts and presence more than anything else in this world. Nothing compares to being in His presence.