For this is not a song of pilgrims making their way up to Jerusalem for one of the three annual feasts, as many commentators argue. There are other psalms that do that (Psalms 120–134). Nor is it an allegory in which the sparrows and swallows of verse 3 represent the psalmist, even less their “young” referring to his children, which others have suggested. It is not even a psalm of a person who has been separated from the temple, as David was on at least several occasions, though it would be appropriate