THE NEST
How lovely are your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! (Psa. 84:1 NASB)
Yesterday morning, while on my morning walk through the golf course into the university, a large bird flew right over my head with something long in its mouth, over the trees and landed on the other side. I thought it was a hawk with a snake to eat for breakfast…cool! I ran to see where it had landed and saw that it had perched atop one of the floodlights at varsity field, where people play soccer and baseball. As I walked toward the location, I could see that it was an osprey building its nest one stick at a time for it had deposited the one stick and was returning with another. I have seen osprey nests before. They are huge…up to five feet in diameter! This osprey, or river hawk (fish hawk also), as they are known, had just started her nest, so it was rather small. She had a lot of work to do, building a nest for her young…one stick at a time. It would take her hours of flying and finding the right stick to put in the right location so that this nest could withstand the winds and rain of our April showers. As usual on my walks, I listen to expository sermons on random topics. This morning I just happened to be listening to some teaching on the words of Jesus, “I will build my church” from Matthew 16. Well, this was no coincidence that at the moment the preacher was really preaching on the topic, I see an osprey building her nest one stick at a time. Perseverance, patience, dedication to the task, fixed on the goal of building a place where the next generation could be raised and sent out into the vast world to live out their calling. The message was clear…I think. The role of the nest was not to keep the young ones in the nest, but to raise them to a point where they could fly away and live their own reproductive lives.
At this point, I had so many thoughts going through my head. The nest is a rough place. High atop the light standard, all the elements would be assaulting it – the wind, the rain – sticks would be dislodged, the nest would be compromised; repairs and adjustments would have to be made. And in some cases, the little ones might even want to leave the nest too soon and fall to their death. Every nest has its strengths and its challenges. That is just life in the nest. Yet…one thing is sure. That nest is a dwelling place for that bird family. It is where they will eat and sleep and live their lives until their appointed time is over. Strategically chosen near the river for a constant food supply of fish, that nest represents safety, nourishment, comfort and life.
I had been meditating on Psalm 84 earlier in the morning, as one of the worship songs we were doing in church later that day was based on this psalm. The sons of Korah, the worship leaders in the house of the Lord wrote,
“How lovely are Your dwelling places, Lord of armies!
My soul longed and even yearned for the courtyards of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
The bird also has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may put her young:
Your altars, Lord of armies,
My King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are ever praising You.” (Psalm 84:1-4 NASB)
The psalm writer is writing his song while looking at the birds that had nested in the “house of the Lord”, near the altars of the Lord of Hosts (armies). Listening to the birds singing their praises to the God who created them, he is moved to contemplate the “dwelling place” where he is come to praise his God. All of creation is created to praise God! This is the lesson Job learns at the end of his suffering, when God finally speaks,
“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south?
Is it at your command that the eagle flies high,
And makes his nest on high?
He dwells and spends his nights on the cliff,
On the rocky cliff, an inaccessible place.
From there he tracks food;
His eyes look at it from afar.
His young ones also lick up blood greedily;
And where the slain are, there he is.” (Job 39:26-30 NASB)
God is to be praised! His creation is created to praise Him simply by being and doing that for which they were created. When a hawk catches its prey, builds a nest for its young, and reproduces the next generation to repeat the process, it is bringing God glory, because it is doing that for which it was created. The church is created to praise Him (1Pet. 2:9). We are the dwelling place where God resides to have His glory on display. Some think it is the actual building, “the nest” that deserves all the attention, and they spend tons of money to make “the nest” the most important thing. God is not interested in “the nest”, which perishes at the mercy of the elements. It is what is inside “the nest” that God has come to inhabit – His people – “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14). We are the “lovely dwelling places” of God, to be inhabited by the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is in us that the glory of God shines. The church is the people, created to praise Him. Our role is to raise up the next group of worshippers who will continue the task of bringing glory to our creator: “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Pet. 2:5). Think about this…there is a point where all the birds leave the nest, and then it is vacant, maybe to be used again next year; maybe not. We don’t marvel at an empty nest. We marvel at the hawk that soars effortlessly through the sky as it puts its Creator on display! Likewise, we should never marvel at an edifice that people have created to worship God, but rather at the people who have been so transformed by God, that they soar like eagles, when once they were weary, tired and weakened by a world of sin (Isa. 40). God be praised for saving, redeeming, sanctifying and inhabiting a people for His name’s sake. Let’s get out of the nest and display our God who causes us to soar!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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