SPARROW
by Dr. Joe
Temple
Bird
watchers are usually presented as people who don't have it all quite
together and can't do anything other than what they are doing.
In the light of that statement, I wonder how
many of you would be willing to say that you are bird watchers since you are
supposed to be a little bit different if you bird watch?
I am going to suggest that we learn about
scriptural bird watching. Four years ago the Lord gave me a verse to rest on
when I needed some special strengthening from Him. That verse was Isaiah,
chapter 40, verse 31:
Isaiah 40
| 31 |
But they that wait
upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall
walk, and not faint. |
After He gave me that verse and I began to
study what the Scriptures had to say about eagles, my appetite was whetted
to see what the Bible had to say about birds. I was amazed at the number of
men in the Bible who were bird watchers. The thing that amazed me as I
examined this in the Word of God is the number of times birds are mentioned,
not as factual information, but presented to us in the Word of God on the
basis of lessons that these individuals learned from their bird watching.
For example, the eagle is mentioned
twenty-eight times in the Bible. Twenty-six of those times, it is mentioned
as teaching some lesson. To me, that is significant, and that is the reason
I think we should do some bird watching.
To encourage you to do some bird watching in
the Scripture, let me remind you that Job said we ought to do it. Turn in
your Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 12. As you turn to that portion of
the Word of God, you will keep in mind that Job had three friends who really
loved him, but he felt that they knew more about his situation than he did
himself. When I read the book of Job, I am impressed with the fact that
Job's friends were much harder to endure than his boils. His friends were
much harder to endure than his suffering because they thought they had the
solution to his problem, and he had to listen to them spout off when he knew
very well that they didn't know what they were talking about.
Job answered one of his friends in chapter 12,
and I have always appreciated the contempt or the disgust that was in these
words:
Job 12
| 2 |
No doubt but ye are
the people, and wisdom shall die with you. |
That was about the most withering thing I think
he could say after his friends produced the eloquent speeches they
presented. In verse 3, Job says:
Job 12
| 3 |
But I have
understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who
knoweth not such things as these? |
| 4 |
I am as one mocked
of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the
just upright man is laughed to scorn. |
| 5 |
He that is ready to
slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that
is at ease. |
| 6 |
The tabernacles of
robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose
hand God bringeth abundantly. |
All of these men are wise in their own conceit
is what Job is saying, and then he said:
Job 12
| 7 |
But ask now the
beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and
they shall tell thee: |
| 8 |
Or speak to the
earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall
declare unto thee. |
| 9 |
Who knoweth not in
all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? |
The chapter goes on to say what you will be
taught if you observe these creatures of nature; namely, God is in control
of everything. He knows what is going on.
Reason for Spiritual Bird
Watching
For the purposes of our discussion, the reason
we can do some scriptural bird watching, glance again at the last part of
verse 7:
Job 12
| 7 |
…and the fowls of
the air, and they shall tell thee: |
The word
tell here is
a translation of a Hebrew word that involves the idea of an explanation by
way of illustration. He is saying, “Study the birds. They can tell you a lot
of things that you can't be told any other way,” obviously spiritual lessons
in the light of how the Word of God deals with birds.
Job, in the Old Testament, said that we ought
to be bird watchers. The Lord Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, said that
we ought to be bird watchers. Turn to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, and
notice a portion of the Word that I am sure you have noticed many, many
times; you probably have quoted a portion of the paragraph at some time or
other, but in doing so, missed the real suggestion that the Lord made. I
know I did. For any number of years, I have quoted some portion of this
paragraph and yet have missed how the paragraph opened. Notice, Matthew,
chapter 6, verse 26:
Matthew 6
| 26 |
Behold the fowls of
the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
than they? |
The rest of the paragraph is what we usually
think about, but I would like for us to zero in on the statement of the Lord
Jesus Christ: “Behold the fowls of the air.” This word
behold
is from a Greek word that speaks of doing more than taking a passing glance.
It involves the idea of studying the fowls of the air.
Because men in the Word of God were bird
watchers, we wrote down a number of lessons just in relation to fowls or
birds in general, and I would like for us to notice a few of those general
lessons. Turn to Psalm 11, and as we look at these passages of Scripture,
let me emphasize what I have suggested any number of times when I am
teaching the Word—that I believe you need to learn to read the Word of God
with what I call a
sanctified imagination . You need to
be able to look behind the word and see actually what was said.
The Lord is In Charge
Notice what David said in Psalm 11:
Psalm 11
| 1 |
In the LORD put I my
trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? |
| 2 |
For, lo, the wicked
bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that
they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. |
What is David talking about? He said, “One day
I was out watching the birds. I saw some men with their bows and their
arrows aimed at a little bird, and that little bird flew away to the
mountain and escaped being killed by the archers.”
No, it is not there just like I said it, but it
is there if you read the words with a sanctified imagination. What lesson
did David give us from that? You don't need to flee like a helpless little
bird to a mountain retreat to escape the arrow of the enemy because you have
the Lord. “Don't tell me to flee like the little bird to the mountain. I
have put my trust in the Lord. True, people are shooting at me and making it
difficult for me, but even if the foundations of the earth are destroyed,
the Lord is in His holy temple. He is still in charge of things. I don't
have to run.”
Turn, please, to Psalm 124, and these are just
a few of the illustrations that David has recorded in the Word concerning
his bird watching experiences. In Psalm 124, you will notice he is talking
about the difficult times he had with his enemies. The Psalm begins:
Psalm 124
| 1 |
If it had not been
the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; |
| 2 |
If it had not been
the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: |
| 3 |
Then they had
swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: |
| 4 |
Then the waters had
overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: |
| 5 |
Then the proud
waters had gone over our soul. |
| 6 |
Blessed be the LORD,
who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. |
Then he remembered one time when he was
watching the birds and he saw a bird caught in a snare. He watched that bird
flutter around, trying to get loose from the snare, and he realized the bird
was not going to get loose, so he went and let the bird out of the snare and
then he broke the snare. As he thought back on that experience, he said,
“You know, that is exactly what has happened in our lives.” Look at verse 7:
Psalm 124
| 7 |
Our soul is escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and
we are escaped. |
Nobody could like that if they had not seen a
bird ensnared, helpless, fluttering, trying to get loose and then released,
soaring off up into the sky; and because he was a lover of birds and it was
unfair to snare them, he broke the snare. He said, “You know, that is what
has happened to us.”
Do you realize that is what has happened to
every one of us who has been redeemed? Every one of us who has found Jesus
Christ as our Savior has escaped from the snare of the fowler. To me, the
wonderful thing about it is that the snare is broken. I am glad that the
Scriptures say that sin shall not have dominion over us. Of course, if you
know the Word, you know that that is not teaching us that you will never sin
after you are born again; but it does teach you that the snare is broken.
You do not have to be a slave to sin. You do not have to let Satan direct
your life.
It would be a sad thing, indeed, if we had
escaped only to fall prey to the enemy again. I am grateful that the Word of
God teaches us that the wicked one cannot touch us because He Who is
begotten of God keeps us. The One Who is begotten of God is the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Solomon's Observation
David must have passed on to his son his
interest in bird watching, because he did it, too. If you will turn to
Proverbs, chapter 27, you will notice an observation that Solomon made
concerning lessons he had learned in relation to bird watching. Notice verse
8:
Proverbs 27
| 8 |
As a bird that
wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place. |
You will want to compare that with what you
find in Isaiah, chapter 16. The best way to understand the Word of God is to
compare Scripture with Scripture, and in Isaiah, chapter 16, the prophet is
speaking of the trouble that is going to come upon Moab because she dared to
oppose the people of God. He said in Isaiah, chapter 16, verse 2:
Isaiah 16
| 2 |
For it shall be,
that, as a wandering bird… |
You see, Solomon saw a wandering bird. Isaiah
saw a wandering bird. The reason that I wanted you to turn to this passage
of Scripture is that Isaiah tells us why that bird was wandering: “…a
wandering bird cast out of the nest.” Literally, it was a wandering bird
which had fallen out of the nest. There is nothing quite so helpless as a
little bird that has fallen out of the nest. Perhaps the mother bird knew
nothing about it, and there it was, on the ground, absolutely helpless.
One day Solomon was thinking about men who did
not keep their place, about men who did not remember their high and their
holy calling, and he said, “Do you know what that reminds me of? A little
bird that has fallen out of its nest and is absolutely helpless.” When he
saw the bird that had fallen out of its nest and was helpless, he was
reminded of men who forget God and leave the place that God has given them
and are wandering helplessly about.
The Speckled Bird
Turn with me, please, to the book of Jeremiah,
chapter 12, and notice another man. We have notice several of them, but even
this is only a sampling, actually. We see several of them who were bird
watchers and profited from their watching of birds and wrote down the
lessons that they learned. In Jeremiah, chapter 12, verse 9:
Jeremiah 12
| 9 |
Mine heritage is
unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her;
come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. |
We don't have time for an exposition of this
chapter, but put very briefly, the nation of Israel had been in such
constant disobedience to God that the enemies all around were turned against
them at the hand of God. “Mine heritage” here refers to the nation of
Israel. This is God speaking. God says: “Mine heritage is as a speckled
bird.”
Jeremiah had been bird watching, and he noticed
how often when a speckled bird was hatched and eventually the feathers came
so they knew that it was a speckled bird, all the other birds in the nest,
even the mother, refused to accept it. They all pounced upon that bird from
every corner and pecked it to death. Jeremiah says that is the way the
nation of Israel is. Because of Israel's disobedience and willfulness, God
has permitted all the nations of the world to come and peck at her as a
speckled bird.
Let's take that out of the national level and
put it down to a personal level and let me ask you, “Has there been a time
in your life when you felt like a speckled bird, and you felt like
everything and everyone was against you? Have you felt like nobody cared
anything about you, when you felt like every turn that you made there was
someone there to oppose you? That is a speckled bird, and God is interested
in speckled birds.”
Do you know what God said in the book of
Deuteronomy? He said that if you were walking down the road and you saw a
bird's nest, you shouldn't disturb it. If you need to plow around it, plow
around it, but don't disturb it. Why do you suppose He said that? Because He
is interested in birds and because if He is interested in birds, He is
interested in you.
The Sparrow and the Swallow
I would like for us to think specifically about
a particular kind of bird. I want us to think about the sparrow and the
swallow. The reason that I am putting these two together is that the
Scripture often combines them and Scripture often uses the two words
interchangeably.
The sparrow is not the sparrow that we know
about, though it could be included in that. The Hebrew word for
sparrow
simply means “a very small bird.” That is the main thrust of this particular
lesson in bird watching. We are going to talk about those small birds and
the lessons that can be learned from them.
Let me begin by saying that the sparrow, the
kind in the Word of God, is a lonely bird. You never see the sparrow in
groups; you see him alone. One day David noticed that. Turn in your Bibles
to Psalm 102. David is speaking here about the difficult situation in which
he was. He began the Psalm by saying:
Psalm 102
| 1 |
Hear my prayer, O
LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. |
| 2 |
Hide not thy face
from me in the day when I am in trouble… |
The Sparrow is Lonely
That indicates the theme of the Psalm. David
was in trouble, and he felt like even God had turned His back on him. He
felt utterly alone. In verse 7, he said:
Psalm 102
| 7 |
I watch, and am as a
sparrow alone upon the house top. |
How often had he seen a lonely sparrow sitting
on the top of the house and had said to himself, “My what a lonely looking
bird that is.” Then he had this deep, spiritual exercise of soul when he
felt utterly alone, and he said, “I am like that sparrow—alone on the house
top.”
Have you ever been lonely? Notice what I say:
Have you ever been lonely—not alone, but lonely? You know, you can be in the
midst of a whole crowd of people and be lonely because you can be impressed
with the fact that nobody really cares about you; nobody is really
interested in you, and you are alone. Some of us have been, in the wisdom of
God, called upon to live alone. I have been living alone for four years. My
wife went to be with the Lord four years ago, in the wisdom of God, because
God never makes a mistake. I know what David is talking about here when he
said, “I feel like a sparrow alone upon a house top.” Not because I am not
around people all of the time. I am doing this sort of thing all of the
time. I am around people, and I love to be around people; but there is a
loneliness that some people are called upon to go through that makes you
think about this sparrow upon the house top, and I have felt that way many,
many times.
We must recognize that sometimes when we feel
alone, we don't need to. Turn in your Bibles to Romans, chapter 11.
Sometimes we feel like that sparrow—alone upon the house top because we are
more interested in ourselves and in our own sorrows than we are in fact. In
chapter 11 of the book of Romans, Paul is emphasizing the fact that God is
not through with the nation of Israel, that He still has another plan; but
he says, “Sometimes you people feel that way.” Notice in verse 2:
Romans 11
| 2 |
God hath not cast
away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture
saith of Elias
? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying, |
| 3 |
Lord, they have
killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left
alone, and they seek my life. |
Sometimes, because we are lopsided in our view
of things, we can feel that we are alone, that nobody else is interested in
the things of God or living for Him. Of course, you know the rest of the
story. Look at verse 4:
Romans 11
| 4 |
But what saith the
answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand
men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. |
Let's recognize that it is possible for us to
feel like we are alone when we are not; but having stated that and
eliminated that possibility, let me remind you of a passage of Scripture
found in Hebrews, chapter 13. Just as certainly as I am sharing the Word of
God with you at this moment, I can say that there will come a time in your
life when you will be like a sparrow—alone upon the house top. This is not
to discourage any one and it is not to frighten anyone; it is simply to
prepare you for that time that is going to come, because it will come. You
do not need to become pessimistic like Elijah and say, “I would rather die
than live.” Rather, as Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 5, says, “Let your life be
without covetousness.”
Covetousness is usually related to money and
things, but in the light of the text that is before us, I think it is
referring here to a life situation that you would like to be different. You
covet what some other person has as far as life situations are concerned.
Notice the verse again:
Hebrews 13
| 5 |
Let your
conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. |
If he had been talking about the accumulation
of goods, it seems to me it would have been better for the Scripture to have
read, “…for he hath said I will supply all of your needs,” but that isn't
what it says, is it? It says, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Notice verse 6:
Hebrews 13
| 6 |
So that we may
boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man
shall do unto me. |
If God has permitted you to be in a situation
that is comparable to that sparrow alone on the house top, don't complain;
rest on the Word of God. Sometimes when you have time, read verse 6 in the
original text and notice grammatically how the emphasis is placed. We do not
have time to go into it in detail, but let me paraphrase it for you rather
roughly. It reads, “I will never, never, never leave you nor let you down.”
Did you ever have someone let you down, somebody you trusted, somebody that
you counted on? I think that we have all had an experience similar to that,
and God has said in the Word of God, “You can count on Me. I am never going
to let you down.”
The Sparrow is Wise
Let me suggest something else to you about the
sparrow. The sparrow is not only a lonely bird, but the sparrow is a wise
bird. Turn, please, to Psalm 84. In this Psalm, David is describing his
longing to be with the people of God. At the particular time that he wrote
this, he was a wanderer; he was a fugitive. He was not able to be in a place
where he could have fellowship with God or other people, and he wrote Psalm
84. Notice verse 1:
Psalm 84
| 1 |
How amiable are thy
tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! |
| 2 |
My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh
crieth out for the living God. |
Have you ever felt that way for fellowship with
the Lord? That is what it meant to David. Then, he remembered one of his
bird watching experiences. He remembered how, at one time when he was in the
house of God, he looked up toward the altar and he noticed some movement.
When he looked closer, he found a sparrow building her nest, so he wrote in
verse 3:
Psalm 84
| 3 |
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. |
He said, “I wish I could be like that sparrow.
I wish I could be like that swallow that is able to build its nest at the
very altar of God.”
What David is saying here is, “Can you think of
anything better than to have your home in the altar of God in the
sanctuary?”
Here is something, because I am always so
vitally interested in the family, that I cannot pass over. Did you notice
this swallow chose the altar of God to build a nest for her family? She
could have chosen any place to build a nest, but she chose the altar of God.
Build Your Nest In the
Sanctuary
I believe that things are put here for
application and for instructions, so I am going to suggest to you if you
want your family to be all that God wants it to be, build your nest,
figuratively speaking, at the altar. Build your nest in the sanctuary
because in the sanctuary is the answer to every question that you have.
Surely you understand that I am not talking about a church building. Surely
you understand that I am talking about your fellowship with God.
Let's go back to Psalm 77 for just a moment to
see why I say that the sparrow is such a wise bird. In Psalm 77, we have the
story of Asaph. Asaph is very much like us. He was in trouble, and he
describes his trouble. He couldn't sleep at night because of his trouble,
and when he thought about God, he didn't get any comfort; he felt more
miserable. He reached the place where he said, in verse 7:
Psalm 77
| 7 |
Will the Lord cast
off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? |
| 8 |
Is his mercy clean
gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? |
I hope you haven't had to go through
experiences like this, but if you live very long and live very deep, you
will. There is nothing wrong with you when you go through that phase of your
life, when you wonder if God has forgotten to be gracious. That is what
Asaph was saying. If you haven't reached a place like that, you just haven't
been tried enough. When you are tried enough, you will say, “I wonder if God
has forgotten to be gracious.”
He answers his own question in verse 10:
Psalm 77
| 10 |
And I said, This is
my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the
most High. |
| 11 |
I will remember the
works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. |
| 12 |
I will meditate also
of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. |
He is saying, “No, of course God has not
forgotten to be gracious. God hasn't passed off forevermore. That is my
weakness. That is my lack of faith. I will remember all of these answers to
prayer that I have had in times past.” Then notice verse 13. This is the
reason for my drawing your attention to this passage of Scripture:
Psalm 77
| 13 |
Thy way, O God, is
in the sanctuary… |
It is when you are in unbroken communion with
Him that you understand His ways. Did you notice what he said? As soon as he
said, “Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary,” he said, “…who is a great God
like unto Thee?” A little bit before he thought God didn't care; now he
says, “God is great. God is good.” Where did he learn that? The same place
the sparrow built her nest. It might be wise to learn a lesson from the
sparrow.
A Sparrow is Valuable
One last thing about the sparrow. The sparrow
is a valuable bird. As I make that statement, you have every right to
question it. A valuable bird, yes, but [listen closely] not to man, but to
God. Turn, please, to Matthew, chapter 10, and notice what the Lord Jesus
Christ has to say about sparrows. I am sure the Lord Jesus Christ did bird
watching out in the open, but this particular incident that He records is in
the temple. As He went into the temple one day, He saw a whole pile of
sparrows (keep in mind we are talking about a small bird. It could have been
turtledoves, pigeons, or whatever) with their legs tied together, and they
were being sold for a sacrifice in the temple. As He looked at those
sparrows, He said, in verse 29: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?”
That was the least expensive offering that anybody could make.
If we were to stop there, we would say what we
ordinarily say, “What is a sparrow? They are not worth anything at all,” but
the Lord Jesus Christ said, in the last part of verse 29:
Matthew 10
| 29 |
…and one of them
shall not fall on the ground without your Father. |
That is how valuable they are. Not one sparrow
falls to the ground without God knowing about it.
What do you think when you see a dead sparrow?
Do you just kick it out of the way and go on? That would be a fairly normal
reaction, but evidently when the Lord Jesus Christ saw the sparrow, He said,
“My Father knows about that sparrow, and My Father cares about it.” Then
notice what He says:
Matthew 10
| 30 |
But the very hairs
of your head are all numbered. |
| 31 |
Fear ye not
therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. |
A sparrow is so important to God that it
doesn't fall to the ground without God's knowing about it, and you are of
more value than many sparrows.
Go back to Matthew, chapter 6. We glanced at it
a bit earlier, and we suggested to you that the Lord Jesus Christ suggested
that we do some bird watching in the sense that in verse 26, He said:
Matthew 6
| 26 |
Behold the fowls of
the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better
than they? |
The word
fowls here
is the Greek word for “sparrow.” Notice verse 27:
Matthew 6
| 27 |
Which of you by
taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? |
| 28 |
And why take ye
thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: |
| 29 |
And yet I say unto
you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. |
| 30 |
Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is
cast into the oven, shall he not much more
clothe you,
O ye of little faith? |
| 31 |
Therefore take no
thought ,
saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal
shall we be clothed? |
| 32 |
(For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that
ye have need of all these things. |
| 33 |
But seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you. |
| 34 |
Take therefore no
thought for the
morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. |
The next time that you see a sparrow, remember
God is interested in that sparrow. An eloquent preacher said one time that
there is never a sparrow dies but that God goes to its funeral. I am not
that eloquent, so I don't usually talk like that, but it impressed me—not a
sparrow dies, but that God goes to its funeral.
God is interested in you. The next time you see
a sparrow, remember God cares about you so much more than about that
sparrow.
SOURCE:
Birds of the
Bible #1: Sparrow
Matthew 10:28-30, “And fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your
Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
“When the last helper has fainted, the
last cure has failed, faith's last leaf has withered and your last
friend has faltered, there is a God in Heaven Who answers prayer Who
will care for you and provide for your needs.”
SOURCE: Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the
book,
EXPLORING PRAYER WITH JACK HYLES, chapter 50.
How To Be Saved!
The
Bible says that God cares and watches every bird. Jesus said in Luke 12:6
that NOT ONE OF THEM IS FORGOTTEN. Jesus tells us this so that
we will realize the extent to which God cares, for even the number of hairs
on our head are numbered by God. Think about that!!! If God keeps track of
the number of hairs on your head, do you think He has missed the malicious
people who have hurt you, cheated you, lied about you, and done evil against
you? Not a chance! Hopefully you're not the abusive and evil one. Jesus said
in Matthew 12:36 that men will give account on Judgment Day even for the
words they speak. God doesn't miss anything and nothing is a small matter to
God. The Bible tells us not to fear mankind; but rather, to FEAR God Whose
eyes are upon the evil and the good. 