Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinto his body, that is, it manifested itself in the utterance of the mouth, the languor of the eyes, andthe action of the hands. The reason why he longed so intensely to have access to the tabernaclewas, to enjoy the living God; not that he conceived of God as shut up in so narrow a place as wasthe tent of the ark, 458 but he was convinced of the need he had of steps, by which to rise up toheaven, and knew that the visible sanctuary served the purpose of a ladder, because, by it the mindsof the godly were directed and conducted to the heavenly model. And assuredly, when we considerthat the sluggishness of our flesh hinders us from elevating our minds to the height of the divinemajesty, in vain would God call us to himself, did he not at the same time, on his part, come downto us; or, did he not at least, by the interposition of means, stretch out his hand to us, so to speak,in order to lift us up to himself.3 The sparrow also hath found a house for herself, and the swallow a nest for herself. Someread this verse as one continuous sentence, conveying the idea that the birds made their nests nearthe altars; 459 from which it might the more evidently appear how hard and distressing his conditionwas in being kept at a distance from them. This opinion seems to be supported from the circumstance,that immediately before the Hebrew word for altars, there is the particle , eth, which is commonlyjoined with the accusative case. But as it is also sometimes used in exclamations, the prophet, Ihave no doubt, breaking off in the middle of his sentence all at once, exclaims, that nothing wouldbe more grateful to him than to behold the altar of God. David then, in the first place, with the viewof aggravating the misery of his condition, compares himself with the sparrows and swallows,showing how hard a case it was for the children of Abraham to be driven out of the heritage whichhad been promised them, whilst the little birds found some place or other for building their nests.458 “Comme estort le pavillon de l’Arche.” — Fr.459 This is the sense given in our English Bible; to the accuracy of which Dr Adam Clarke objects. “It is very unlikely,” sayshe, “that sparrows and swallows, or birds of any kind, should be permitted to build their nests, and hatch their young, in or aboutaltars, which were kept in a state of the greatest purity, and where perpetual fires were kept for the purpose of sacrifice, burningincense, etc.” He proposes to read the words beginning at the third verse and ending with her young ones, within a parenthesis,and to explain the remaining part of the verse as the conclusion of the sentence commencing at verse 2d; or to read the parenthesisas the close of verse 3d: “Even the sparrow hath found out a house, and the swallow (ring-dove) a nest for herself, where shemay lay her young; but I have no place either of rest or worship.” But though it cannot be reasonably supposed that these birdswould be permitted to nestle about the altar itself, before which the priests were continually serving; yet it is not improbable thatthey were permitted to construct their nests in the houses near the altar. “The altar,” says Dr Paxton, “is here by a synecdocheof a part for the whole, to be understood of the tabernacle, among the rafters of which, the sparrow and the swallow were allowedto nestle; or rather for the buildings which surrounded the sacred edifice where the priests and their assistants had their ordinaryresidence.” — Paxton’s Illustrations of Scripture, volume 2, pages 310, 355. Dr Morison, after quoting the criticism of Dr Clarke,observes, “I confess I see a great beauty in adhering to the sense given in the common version. Though the sparrow and ring-doveare represented as finding a nest for themselves at the altars of the sanctuary, it does not follow that the inspired writer intendsany thing more than that, while he was exiled from the house of his God, these familiar birds had a home near that sacred spotwhere he had associated his chief joys.” Parkhurst considers, that a comparison is intended; and that though the particles ofsimilitude “as” and “so” are not in the Hebrew text, they are to be understood. And in the Hebrew Scriptures, there are manyinstances in which they are omitted, but where it is necessary to supply them to make an intelligible version. He translates asfollows: “Even (as) the sparrow findeth her house, and the dove her nest, where she hath laid her young, (so, should I find,) thyaltars, O Jehovah of Hosts! my King, and my God.” According to this exposition, the Psalmist illustrates his vehement longingafter the sacred tabernacle, and God’s public worship, by the natural affection of birds, and by that joy and delight with whichthey return to their brood after they have been absent from them. (See Parkhurst’s Lexicon on ,2.) Walford takes the sameview. His version is: —“As the sparrow findeth a house, and the swallow a nest,Where she may place her offspring,So may thy altars be my abode, O Jehovah of Hosts!My King, and my God.”214