God makes space for sparrows

Describing the thrill of coming into the temple of Israel's God, Psalm 84 notices that:

Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O YHWH of hosts.

If you've ever imagined what it sounds like in God's throne room, the chirruping of sparrows probably wasn't the first thing you thought of, but here they are.

As if to highlight this, the song-writer calls God by one of His mightiest names: YHWH Sabaoth, Yahweh of Hosts/Armies. Israel's God rules a mighty army, a countless multitude of angelic beings, the presence of one of whom is enough to petrify people like you and me. It was with this name of God on his lips that David attacked and defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45) but here we are reminded that YHWH of Hosts also makes space for sparrows. So we who put our trust in God can sing Psalm 84 with the amazed delight of those who find themselves invited in.