Psalm 84 says, “My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord... 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, O Lord...”
You know, a little bird like a sparrow will search high and low to find the safest, most secure place to make her nest... but isn’t it odd that the sparrow in this Psalm chooses to make her nest near the altar? The altar is a place where people offer blood sacrifices, a place of fire and testing, animal sacrifices... but it typified the cross where the Savior would one day give Himself as a blood sacrifice. Yes, that altar is a safe and it is the most secure place. And there’s room at that cross for you. Sing along...
(Joni sings)
Though millions have come, there’s still room for one.
Yes, there’s room at the cross for you.
And don’t you think it’s good of God in Psalm 84 to teach us that truth? It’s not original to me. My friend Judy Lavelle passed it on. It’s what she calls “the secret of the sparrow.” We could learn a lesson from that little bird. Because for us, the safest, most secure place... the place where all of that which is most precious to us is protected, whether our young (that is, our children or grandchildren) or whatever... just like that sparrow who lays her eggs in a nest... the place for us to build our nest, to offer our young, to dedicate those who are precious to us, is that place near the altar .It’s a place of sacrifice. But we, like the sparrow, fly to the shadow of the cross and we find safety and security.
The world doesn’t understand it, our human logic screams against it, our natural inclination is to go against it, run the other way... find any other place in the courts of the Lord, any other serene corner or quiet nook, any place besides — ick — the altar; but to the believer whose heart and flesh cry out for the living God (as it says in the Psalm)... to that believer, the cross is home base. The cross is a resting place. The cross is where a believer dwells in safety and security. Just like that little sparrow on her nest near the altar, the altar of Calvary.
And you know what? Just like this song says, there’s room at that cross today... “There’s room at the cross for you.”
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends