Psalms 84:2,3 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow, &c.— Or, My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God: Psalms 84:3. (Yea, as a sparrow, till she finds a house, and a swallow a nest for herself, where to lay her young) for thine altars, &c. See Nold. 873. Green observes, that from the longing to approach the courts of the Lord, expressed in the second verse, it is natural to think that such a comparison was intended as that of our Lord's; The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. Thus perhaps the Psalmist: "The sparrow findeth herself a house, and the ring-dove a nest; but when shall I find access to, what I far prefer to a house of my own—the House of God?" He then breaks out, Happy are they who dwell in thy house. Thus, or in nearly the same manner, the passage is understood by various expositors. Dr. Delaney, however, observes upon it thus: "The author of this psalm speaks of the altars of God in a manner that shews them to be then comparatively desolated. There were at this time two altars erected in the kingdom of Judea to the true God, but neither of them in the place of his own appointment; that at Hebron not attended by any appointed number of priests, which we know of, as was that of Gibeon, although but slenderly, and by a few: so little crowded, that the birds of the air might build unmolested in them. We hear only of one altar after the building of the temple: therefore this psalm was written before that period. The author of this psalm speaks of the tabernacles of God; there were two tabernacles now extant; we hear of no tabernacle after the building of the temple, therefore this psalm was written before that period. The author of this psalm wishes eagerly for the courts of the Lord: The tabernacle had but one court; therefore his wishes must be for the courts of the temple, which were many; and as the temple was not yet extant, these wishes could only mean the author's eager desire to see that temple erected." The following appears a just and easy exposition of the passage: "Even as the sparrow, i.e. with the same joy and delight as the sparrow findeth her house, and the swallow (or wild pigeon דרור deror) her nest, where she שׁתה shathah, hath laid her young; so should I find thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God."