Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 84:3

"Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, My King, and my God." — Psalms 84:3 (ASV)

Yes, the sparrow has found a house - A home; a place where she may abide, build her nest, and rear her young. The word used here, צפור tsippôr, is a name given to a bird from its chirping or twittering. It is rendered "sparrow" in (Leviticus 14:4, margin) and (Psalms 102:7); and is often rendered "bird" (Genesis 7:14; Genesis 15:10, and elsewhere), and "fowl" (Deuteronomy 4:17; Nehemiah 5:18, and elsewhere). It may denote a bird of any kind but is properly applied here to a sparrow, a species of bird very common and abundant in Palestine, a bird that finds its home especially about houses, barns, and similar places.

That sparrows would be likely to gather around the tabernacle and even the altar will not seem improbable, given their well-known habits. “The sparrows which flutter and twitter about dilapidated buildings at Jerusalem, and crevices of the city walls, are very numerous. In some of the more lonely streets they are so noisy as almost to overpower every other sound.

Their chirping is almost an articulate utterance of the Hebrew term (צפור tsippôr), which was used to designate that class of birds. It may be taken for granted that the sparrows are not less numerous in other places where they have similar means for obtaining shelter and building their nests. The sparrows, in their resort to houses and other such places, appear to be a privileged bird. Encouraged by such indulgence, they are not timid—they boldly frequent the haunts of people. The sight of this familiarity reminded me again and again of the passage in Psalm 84:3, where the pious Israelite, excluded from the privileges of the sanctuary, felt as if he could envy the lot of the birds, so much more favored than himself.” —Professor Hackett, “Illustrations of Scripture,” pp. 94, 95.

And the swallow a nest for herself - A place where it may make its nest. The word used here, דרור d^erôr, properly denotes swift flight, a wheeling or gyration; it is applied to birds that fly in circles or gyrations, and the name is thus appropriately given to the swallow. It occurs in this sense only here and in (Proverbs 26:2).

Where she may lay her young - Where she may place her young. The word here is not used in the sense in which we now apply “lay” when we speak of “laying” eggs. It means to place them, to make a home for them, and to arrange them.

Even your altars ... - The altars where you are worshipped. The idea here is that the sparrows and the swallows seemed to have a happy lot, to be in a condition to be envied. Even they might come freely to the place where God was worshipped—to the very altars—and make their home there undisturbed. How strongly in contrast with this was the condition of the wandering, exiled author of the psalm!