DAY 2

"Funnel" by Kip Loades
The Fens, United Kingdom

Psalm 84
Sparrows/Swallows/Starlings

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A Greeting
My soul longs, indeed it faints
   for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
   to the living God. 
 (Psalm 84:2)

A Reading
Even the sparrow finds a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
   my King and my God. 
(Psalm 84:3)

Music

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Meditative Verse
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
   give ear, O God of Jacob!
(Psalm 84:8)

A Reflection 
As a man created in the image of God, [the psalmist] loves God as no bird can; yet he cannot be close to Yahweh's temple as these birds are. The domestic imagery of birds' nests suggests the peace and tranquility that reign at the Jerusalem temple; the simple picture underscores the peace that comes with God's reign over his people. The psalmist envies the birds their proximity to Yahweh's temple. What a moving picture of the depth of the psalmist's love for the Lord, that he should notice the birds' nests in the temple and reflect on his desire to "dwell" there too! In all these ways, the psalmist transforms the simple imagery of birds' nests in the temple of God into his intense longing to be with God.

- from Encountering God in the Psalms
by Michael E. Travers 

Verses for the Day
Happy are those who live in your house,
   ever singing your praise.
(Psalm 84:4)

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A detail from this mystery painting will
appear each day, and the entire image on the
last day.

 
Sparrows, swallows and starlings were among the bird species of the ancient world that were not directly subject to scriptural and customary prescriptions. Leviticus 11:13 describes the birds which are clean and unclean, mostly for the purposes of eating and for sacrificial offering. Birds that were forbidden, like the hawk and the osprey, were driven out of communities and lived among ruins. Their presence was seen as a bad omen to whomever came upon them. On the other hand, doves and pigeons were clean and acceptable creatures, though their lives often ended in sacrifice on the altar. 
To be a bird in ancient times meant either frequenting the forgotten places where food was scarce, or living in communities and becoming sacrificial offerings. (We will visit one or two of each before we're done.) Some species, however, like the passerine birds, were not mentioned at all. Neither banished nor raised for sacrifice, they lived freely (though sparrows were sometimes the sacrificial offering of the very poor). In ancient times, birds who had managed to nest in the temple were considered sacred.

"A pair of house sparrows at Biligiri Ranganathaswamy Temple,
BR Hills, Karnataka, India" by Ameen Ahmed
found on Call of the Hill Myna blog

LC† Psalms in the Stable is a project of
Lutherans Connect / Lutheran Campus Ministry Toronto.
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