If you have read Psalm 84 you have noticed the sweet feeling and the poetical expressions of the psalmist concerning the house of God. Verse 3 says, “At Your two altars even the sparrow has found a home; and the swallow, a nest for herself, where she may lay her young…”
We as the sparrow find our home at the golden altar, where we are accepted by God in Christ in peace, and we as the swallow find a nest where we can lay our young at the cross of Christ, our refuge! How lovely and how sweet!
Making our nest at the cross as the bronze altar
We are just like a swallow – small, weak, frail, and troubled by storms and many other things. But we can make our nest, our refuge, in the cross of Christ, and it is here that we can “lay our young”.
When we come to the cross of Christ, all our problems are terminated and we enjoy sweet refuge and comforting rest.
Also, we can bring others, “our young”, the new ones, the gospel contacts, to the cross of Christ through our preaching of the gospel. They will also find their nest there, and they will take the cross of Christ as their refuge!
Isn’t this so sweet and so real to us in our experience? At the bronze altar – a type of the cross of Christ – all our problems before God are solved through the crucified Christ as the sacrifices offered to God.
This qualifies us to enter into the enjoyment of all that God is – and this makes us feel safe, at home, at rest, just as a swallow feels when she makes her nest.
We love coming to the cross, finding our refuge here, even running away from things, people, situations – to the cross! Hallelujah for the cross of Christ, typified by the bronze altar, which is our refuge and our nest!
Finding our home in Christ at the golden altar
We don’t just “stay in our nest” at the bronze altar – we go on to call on the name of the Lord, enjoy Him, experience Him as all the furnishings in the tabernacle, and find our home at the golden altar.
A sparrow is a “travelling bird” – we travel and experience and enjoy Christ, and we find our home in rest and acceptance before God at the golden altar. At the golden altar of incense in front of the Holy of Holies, the resurrected Christ in His ascension is the incense for us to be accepted by God. We offer Christ to God and we have peace and acceptance toward God.
With our young it is the same – we want them not only to enjoy the sweet nest and refuge at the cross of Christ as the bronze altar, but we teach them to call on the name of the Lord, enjoy and experience Christ as the bread of life and the light of life, and bring them to offer prayers to God at the golden altar.
At the bronze altar we are hiding under the cross to find refuge, and at the golden altar we contact the Christ in the heavens, the ascended Christ, offering Him to God for God’s satisfaction and unto our acceptance. Here we find rest.
The two altars are related in our experience
We can now clearly see that the two altars are related in our experience. Paul says in 1 Cor. 2:2, “I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified“.
What we want to know is only Christ and His cross – the cross is our refuge and our hiding place, and Christ Himself is our acceptance and our rest.
Day by day we need to come to these altars – we need to come to the cross, where we find our refuge and deliverance from all the troubles and the problems, and we need to further come to Christ at the golden altar, where we rest and are at home in God.
The first altar deals with and terminates all our problems, qualifying us to enter into the Holy Place, and the second altar allows us to enter into the Holy of Holies, our mingled spirit, where God’s shining and His speaking is!
Here we are being transformed from glory to glory! Here God can gain us for us to become Him in life and nature but not in the Godhead, and in an experiential way, we are being incorporated with the Triune God into the tabernacle to become the universal tabernacle of God for His expression!
Hallelujah for the two altars in our experience!
Thank You Lord for the two altars where we find our refuge and our home. Keep us coming to Your cross every day so that all the negative things would be terminated, and we would make our nest for ourselves here! May we bring our young here – bring the saints, the unbelievers, and everyone, to the cross of Christ as their refuge and nest! Also, keep us going on to the golden altar where we can make our home, where we offer Christ as the sweet smelling savor to God for His satisfaction and our acceptance!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from the Life-study of the Psalms, msg. 32, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 14.
- Footnotes recommended: Psa. 84:3 (footnote 1 and 3);
- Hymns on this topic:
# How lovely is Thy dwelling-place! / Within Thy courts I long to be; / Thy presence, Lord, my spirit craves, / For this my heart cries out to Thee.
# Thy dwelling-place, O Lord, I love; / It is Thy Church so blessed, / It is Thy joy and heart’s delight / And where Thy heart finds rest. - Picture source: even the sparrow finds a home.
A song that I was reminded of is #851 – very similar to this sharing, and on the same topic. Here are some of the words to this hymn – which can be found online here – http://www.witness-lee-hymns.org/hymns/H0851.html
1. How lovely is Thy dwelling-place!Within Thy courts I long to be;Thy presence, Lord, my spirit craves,For this my heart cries out to Thee.2. At Thy burnt-offering altar, Lord,And at Thine incense altar blest,Even the sparrow finds a home,And swallow there prepares her nest.3. Men, as the sparrow, frail and small,When living in Thy house find rest,Relying on the altar’s blood,Enjoying there the incense blest.4. How blessed are those men indeed!Trusting in Thee they are made strong;Highways to Zion in their hearts,The way they care not, rough or long.5. Passing the weeping valley theyMake it a place of springing wells;The rain with blessings covers itAnd in the way God’s mercy tells.6. From strength to strength they go, and allBefore the Lord in Zion meet;Thus ever seeking Thine own self,They need Thy care and grace replete.7. Better a day within Thy courtsThan days a thousand I would tell;I’d rather at Thy threshold standThan in the wicked’s tents to dwell.8. Thou art a sun, Thou art a shield,Thou grace and glory wilt supply;Thy presence and Thy very selfMy need in fulness satisfy.9. Not one good thing wilt Thou withholdFrom those who walk in uprightness;Bless’d is the man that trusts in TheeWith grace and glory measureless.
Praise the Lord! We as sparrows and frail little birds can find our rest and our refuge here, in God's house, at God's altars!
This is wonderful for our experience.lord cause us to be those who come to this altars everyday.lord make us the cross bearers everyday.lord thank u for you are our refuge and rest.you are our offering complete
A song that I was reminded of is #851 – very similar to this sharing, and on the same topic. Here are some of the words to this hymn – which can be found online here –
http://www.witness-lee-hymns.org/hymns/H0851.html
1. How lovely is Thy dwelling-place!
Within Thy courts I long to be;
Thy presence, Lord, my spirit craves,
For this my heart cries out to Thee.
2. At Thy burnt-offering altar, Lord,
And at Thine incense altar blest,
Even the sparrow finds a home,
And swallow there prepares her nest.
3. Men, as the sparrow, frail and small,
When living in Thy house find rest,
Relying on the altar’s blood,
Enjoying there the incense blest.
4. How blessed are those men indeed!
Trusting in Thee they are made strong;
Highways to Zion in their hearts,
The way they care not, rough or long.
5. Passing the weeping valley they
Make it a place of springing wells;
The rain with blessings covers it
And in the way God’s mercy tells.
6. From strength to strength they go, and all
Before the Lord in Zion meet;
Thus ever seeking Thine own self,
They need Thy care and grace replete.
7. Better a day within Thy courts
Than days a thousand I would tell;
I’d rather at Thy threshold stand
Than in the wicked’s tents to dwell.
8. Thou art a sun, Thou art a shield,
Thou grace and glory wilt supply;
Thy presence and Thy very self
My need in fulness satisfy.
9. Not one good thing wilt Thou withhold
From those who walk in uprightness;
Bless’d is the man that trusts in Thee
With grace and glory measureless.
Praise the Lord! We as sparrows and frail little birds can find our rest and our refuge here, in God’s house, at God’s altars!