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.
Psalm 84:2–4
God has made every individual with a longing to belong to His family. We run in many different directions looking to fulfill our lives with broken promises that the world offers and we end up empty. Everyone must consider what they are chasing in life and if it will last. The world offers dry wells from which people seek fulfillment. But Father God who is the fountain of living water offers an oasis in a very dry and desolate world.
A lonely 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.