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.
The psalmist teaches us that separation from the house of God causes the deepest distress, yet nothing, no obstacle whatever, can break the longing of the godly to seek Him. They will find a way where none exists. Better one day in God's tabernacle than a lifetime among the ungodly.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 84:1-12
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house. He envied the sparrows which lived around the house of God, and picked up the stray crumbs in the courts thereof; he only wished that he, too, could frequent the solemn assemblies and bear away a little of the heavenly food. And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young.
The psalmist here, being by force restrained from waiting upon God in public ordinances, by the want of them is brought under a more sensible conviction than ever of the worth of them. Observe, I. The wonderful beauty he saw in holy institutions (Psa 84:1): How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
Commenting on Psalm 84:1-7