02.084. Psalm 84

Psalms 84:1-12 To the chief Musician upon Gittith,
A Psalm for the sons of Korah. This psalm is much like Psalms 27:1-14, Psalms 42:1-11, Psalms 43:1-5, and Psalms 63:1-11, and may have been composed on the same occasion with the former, when David was banished from Jerusalem by Absalom his son, 2 Samuel 15:1-37, 2 Samuel 16:1-23. We have here, (1.) David’s ardent affection towards the public ordinances of God, and sense of their happiness who enjoyed them, Psalms 84:1-7, Psalms 84:10. (2.) His heart-burning desire to the God of ordinances, Psalms 84:8-9. (3.) His assured faith of God’s kindness, and persuasion of the happiness of such as trust in him, Psalms 84:11-12. So let my heart cry out for God, the living God. So let me covet earnestly intimate fellowship with him in his ordinances. So let me praise his name, and hold on in his way, till I arrive at the Zion above. So let God be my friend, my protector, my supplier, my store, and the everlasting rock of my rest.

* To me it is inconceivable, how sparrows or swallows could fix their nests in the altars of God, which were of brass or rough stones, and had a fire perpetually burning upon them, and multitudes of priests and Levites crowding around them. God did not allow of any trees to be planted near them; and I cannot believe God’s tabernacle or temple was polluted with the nests and ordure of birds, in the manner of our ruinous churches. Nor can I see this idea answerable to the context, or scope of the psalm. Might not the verse be rather translated, "As the sparrow findeth the house, and the swallow the nest for herself, where she hath put her young ones, my soul findeth thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God" ­ i.e. with inexpressible ardour I long for, and desire them; and with ineffable pleasure I approach them, in order to intimate fellowship with my God. Compare Psalms 84:1-2, Psalms 84:10 of this psalm, with Psalms 42:1-2; Psalms 43:3-4.