Sparrows and Swallows

“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!”-- Psalm 84:3,4

When I was in elementary school I had to do memory work. This consisted of memorizing stanzas from the Psalms. In my years at our Christian school, I learned a large portion of the Canadian Reformed Book of Praise. To this day, most of it still sticks in my mind. They say these memorized songs never leave you, and that often times people on their death beds will remember the psalms and hymns even after memories of everything else have departed. Maybe that's part of the rationale behind the practice.  Regardless, it's always good to have God's Word close to our hearts and lips. At the same time, I know that as a youngster I often did my memory work without understanding what I was memorizing. That's how it often is with us at that age. But now I often reflect upon what I memorized when I was in school. Psalm 82 was one of those memory work Psalms.

The first two verses of this Psalm of the sons of Korah expresses a deep desire to be in the courts of Yahweh. The sons of Korah were most likely a guild of temple singers, which means they were probably never far from the temple themselves. This has led some to suppose they wrote this as a pilgrimage Psalm, a song for those who’d make the journey up to Jerusalem. What’s important here is how the writer eagerly wants to be close to Israel's covenant God.His soul is longing, even fainting so he can be there in the dwelling place of Yahweh. This man isn't satisfied unless he can spend time in worship with God. As Spurgeon says, "He had a holy lovesickness upon him."

This is where the sparrows and the swallows are introduced. The Psalmist is thinking about the temple, that place where God dwells on earth. In his mind's eye, he goes there and looks around. You'd think he might mention the beauty of the gold, the elaborate ornamentation, or some other captivating element of the temple complex. There’s so much to see and hear there, so much that could be said in a psalm about the temple. But instead his eyes wander to something so easy to take for granted:the birds which live there.

These are just common birds. The sparrow in all likelihood is just your common House Sparrow. If you look outside on any given day, eventually you're bound to see a House Sparrow. Sometimes you can even see them inside shopping malls. You see them everywhere in the world, including in the Middle East. There's nothing special about this bird, but yet the Psalmist gives this bird special attention.

And then there are also the swallows in the temple. These birds are definitely more spectacular than the House Sparrows, but no less common. The Barn Swallow so commonly seen in North America is also found in Palestine, and so is likely meant here. Swallows perform incredible aerobatics.  These birds seem to fly on the high end of the Mach scale and this in no way affects their maneuverability. They roll, loop, and turn on a dime -- and in perfect orchestration with a thousand other swallows. Since they're so common, they're easy to take for granted, but if you pay some close attention you soon become filled with awe at the power of God's creative genius.

The Psalmist has seen these birds before and he brings them to our attention. He says the sparrow has found a home there in the temple .Sparrows build their nests in a variety of places, but more often than not they do so in trees. This fits well with what we know about the temple. Psalm 52:8 suggests there were olive trees in the temple courts. Here we can imagine sparrows making their nests. Not only would they have a comfortable home where they could raise their young, there would also be a steady source of food nearby. With all the people going in and out of the temple, there would inevitably be food for the birds. As we read in Matt. 6:26, God himself feeds them and cares for them. The sparrows have it made there in the temple, not a worry in their lives. How the Psalmist (and we with him) long for that carefree type of existence!

The Psalmist has also seen the swallows building their nests. Swallows and their nests can be a real nuisance.T hey industriously pick up pieces of grass off the ground and a little dirt and place them in their mouths. There the grass and dirt mixes with the swallow's saliva to produce what will eventually be a rock-hard building material. They then cement the mixture to any open wall they can find.

There’s evidence this was also the case at the temple in Jerusalem. Josephus and some rabbinic literature mention various efforts to discourage birds from making their homes in the temple. Undoubtedly, this included the notorious nest-building nuisance-making Barn Swallow. Then what’s really surprising is how the Psalmist gives these little annoyances a positive spin. They're no longer desecrating the Temple with their droppings or their nests. They're the object of the Psalmist's envy.He wishes that just like the sparrow and the swallow, he could spend all of his time in God's presence at the Temple. He wishes he too could build his home next to the altars of the LORD of Hosts, a place where he could raise his children.Reading this, you really get a feel for how eager this writer is! Others might consider cursing these little birds in the temple. But the writer of Psalm 84 considers these birds to be greatly blessed, for they have the opportunity to spend all of their time in the presence of the King. Those singing this Psalm, also today, can share this overwhelming craving to be near to God. How much do we anticipate and eagerly look forward to the weekly oasis of the Lord's Day? Have you given it much thought this week? Sure, we've all been busy with our work, but we really should feel a longing for the day on which we have the great blessing of meeting with our God in worship.

The Psalm goes on to call those blessed who can dwell in God's house. This would seem to have reference first of all to the sparrows and swallows just mentioned. They dwell in God's house and that's a great blessing for them. They'll be praising their Creator in his house. They're not just free-loaders there in the temple. They have a special God-ordained task. Someone once said that man is the only creature not praising God continually. Especially when you hear the birds singing, it's difficult not to think that these birds are praising their Creator. The House Sparrow and the Barn Swallow both have long twittering songs; they're not quiet birds. You could say they're continually praising God with a song which extends from before the temple to us, many years afterwards.

Of course, more than sparrows and swallows dwelt in the temple. Others praised God there as well. Priests and other officials also had the privilege of dwelling in the temple. They would also be continually praising God. The Psalmist wants to be among them.He too wants to be praising God in God's house.

How does all this apply today? Christ is the fulfilment of the Old Testament temple (John 2:21). Today all Christians are so enormously blessed that they can dwell in him. We’re in Christ by faith and by his Holy Spirit. And Christ also dwells in us by his Holy Spirit. That truth leads Scripture to say that both individual Christians and the church constitute today the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16 and 6:19). Now we can spend our lives in praising God through our service to him. As the Puritan John Trapp so fittingly commented on this verse:"As having hearts full of heaven and consciences full of comfort. There cannot but be music in the temple of the Holy Ghost." Our lives must be characterized by praise.Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in negativity and complaining about all kinds of different things, but as temples of the Holy Spirit we’re to be people of praise.

We praise God in our individual day-to-day service, but there’s also the corporate worship of the Lord's Day. There in the communion of saints, we unite with God's people in singing praise to our Mighty Bulwark. This God who gave us his Son, as his covenant people we ought to be overflowing with our enthusiasm to get together to worship him. Psalm 84 can and must be sung by us as a God-given expression of the desire which should be moving the Christian to worship the Creator of all things, the much-envied sparrows and swallows included.

Moreover, we can also sing this Psalm in joyous anticipation of what we read about the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21: "But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." The New Jerusalem will find us dwelling with God in perfect happiness. In a world spoiled by sin where we’re daily confronted with our own wretchedness, this is really something to look forward to, to have a holy lovesickness for. There we'll truly be like the sparrows and swallows in Psalm 84, ever praising our magnificent God.