A Word from the Word

Homesick

 

Psalm 84:2–4

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, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.     NIV

Every human soul longs for one thing, a home. A homeless person is an unhappy person. The psalmist cries out in agony in a sense of loneliness, a sense of being cut off. He says, “Lord, even the sparrow’s found a home, the swallow a nest for herself. I need a home too.” He says, “They found a place near Your altar” and that’s where the home of the soul is. Even though we may not have much of a home in this world, there’s a home for the soul, a place where the soul belongs, a place where it finds rest and ease and peace, where it’s at home, a place near God’s altar. The altar is the place of yielding, sacrifice, dedication, self-surrender, and when our soul comes to that place, it’s come home.

There is a beautiful homecoming for each soul that will turn from sin and rebellion, turn back to God and come to the place near the altar.