Even the sparrow

“Even the sparrow has found a home,
 and the swallow a nest for herself,
 where she may have her young—
 a place near your altar,
 Lord Almighty, my King and my God.” –           Psalm.84:3

 

There’s a place where everyone calls home

A dwelling place where they can thrive and grow

All of creation even swallow and sparrow 

To nest and rest their young 

Beneath the sun and shield 

Of Your grace and glory my God 

 

So I find my heart Lord

As it longs and even faints

For Your dwelling place and courts 

So it gathers all of its strength

Even through the valley of Baka 

Your grace is always sufficient 

When my heart is set on pilgrimage 

To find You in Your altar

 

I have become a wanderer on earth

Until I find Zion

Praising You with all Your saints 

In whom my heart delights 

Even if it’s one day in Your courts 

With Your blessed is where my heart rests! 

 

Called by name!

So… one thing upset me recently and considering that it was small it really made me think as to why it bothered me a lot. It’s been almost 2 months since I started working, a colleague still doesn’t call me by my name. I noticed this last time when she shouted “Excuse me! Excuse me!” pointing towards me and later on referred to me as “this lady”. Such things don’t usually bother me, but I only understood why when I came across this verse today:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.” – Isaiah.43:1b

Name is your unique identity that says a lot about you. And if someone calls you by your name it shows that they care about your identity, who you are as a person. I think that’s why it hurt when this lady I worked with for almost 2 months didn’t refer to me by my name.

The beautiful thing is, the Bible tells me that the God who flung the stars in the universe, the One who created the world we live in with all it’s beauty, the One created our most delicate and complicated body also knows me not just as a physical being with motion, but as a person, calling me by my name.

Psalm.139, one of my favourite chapters in the Bible puts it beautifully:

“You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.” – Psalm.139:1-4