“How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you. “
Psalm 84:1-4

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Revelation chapter 4 isn’t the only place where the Bible offers imagery to help us imagine what God’s throne-room might look like. Earlier this week we remembered that there have been a few times in history where a place on earth and a place in heaven overlapped and united in some intangible way: Eden, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the Incarnation (and in the future, when God dwells fully with us here again!).

In this Psalm, the writer is yearning to be in God’s courts. Perhaps they meant the temple courts, or perhaps they were imagining the throne-room itself. Either way, this imagery is lovely—and it, too, compels us to worship with our bodies, minds, and hearts.

Here, again, we find that those who dwell in God’s presence are always, day and night praising God. It is so wonderfully desirable that the Psalmist is longing to the point of fainting to be there.

But here is my favorite part: even the sparrow has a home, here in God’s dwelling place. Even the swallow has found a place near the altar where she can safely build a nest for her young.

What an evocative image this is of our Creator and Sustainer, of the Almighty—who does not wield power with violence and destruction but with a long, slow, nurturing process that will one day make all things new. That will one day have completed this creative, redemptive work such that all creation—even the tiniest and most vulnerable—can find a safe place to rest.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

  • What do you learn about God’s throne-room from this gently descriptive poem?
  • What do you learn about God’s character, and God’s work in the world?

Church Reading Plan: Isaiah 7; James 1