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David misses the fellowship of worship.
He misses the connectivity found on sacred grounds.
Psalm 84 portrays “the deepest sentiments of every child of God who, deprived of the privilege of communion with fellow Christians, has ever longed for fellowship with his brethren in the corporate worship of God.” It is significant that David uses the term “living God” to describe Jehovah (v. 2). He longs to worship the one and only true God, the Lord of hosts, the Living God! Note this amazing imagery: “Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God” (v. 3). “The general meaning of the verse, whose conclusion the poet only implies, is that even the birds have free access to the sacred precincts of the sanctuary, they make their homes there undisturbed, while the psalmist is exiled from the source of his joy, is denied the privilege of worshiping within the sacred enclosure. The nostalgic appeal of this verse is one of the most delicately beautiful expressions of homesickness in the whole realm of literature.” Pilgrims, coming to worship in Jerusalem, often rejoiced to see familiar landmarks and grew increasingly glad as they approached their destination (vv. 5–7).
“Here is a lovely illustration of the life of Christians journeying together to the New Jerusalem—by their praise, prayer, and mutual comfort, cheering one another along the way, strengthening their faith in God, and making the way less difficult as they approach the city.” David’s desire to spend time in the sanctuary is even more poignant when we realize he wrote these words while in exile. He would rather spend one day in the house of the Lord than enjoy a thousand elsewhere (v. 11). We may always worship in spirit and truth (see John 4:20–24) by trusting God completely (Psalm 84:12). “How pleasant, how divinely fair, / O Lord of hosts, Thy dwellings are! / With longing desire my spirit faints / To meet th’ assemblies of Thy saints.”