DAILY READINGS: Deut. 14:22-15:23; Song 5:2-6:9; Luke 10:25-42
Even the sparrow has found a home…where she may lay her
young, even thine altar, O Lord of hosts. Psalm 84:3
The psalmist is envious of the sparrow who is able to build her nest so
close to the presence of God. But there is something else here. She lays
her young in the same place. The Lord sometimes asks that we lay
our young on His altar, that we give back the dearest gift s He has entrusted
to us. Let me be willing like Abraham to bring my dearest and
best to Him with open hands, so my fi ngers do not have to be pried
off any treasure God has given me. Harold St. John wrote, “The altar
is the only safe resting place for the heart’s dearest aff ection. Only
completely yielded are they completely safe.” —M. MacMullen
O we never can know, what the Lord will bestow
Till our body and soul, He doth fully control, and our all on the altar is laid.
—Anon