PSALM 27:4

The message I received today in my study.

If you were to ask God for just one thing, what would it be? Personal happiness? A peaceful family life? Physical or emotional health? Money to relieve your financial distress? Personal power and respect? Romance or a satisfying love life? Honestly, what is the ruling passion of your life? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What are you really seeking? What gives you hope in the life? King David gives his answer:

One thing have I desire of the LORD, that I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to envision the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his Temple.” Psalm 27:4

In this verse, King David says, “One thing I ask of the Lord; that is what I will seek.” Notice immediately that David asked for one thing-not many things. He did not come with a litany of requests. He was not double minded, wanting and hating the good. As Kierkegaard said, “purity of the heart is to will one thing.” David sought the best he could find. He wanted the “Pearl of great price.”

The verb translated “I will seek” (avakesh) comes from the verb bakash meaning “to desire.” The noun form, bakashah, means a request (in modern Hebrew the word bevakasha means “as you wish” or “you’re welcome”). The verse could therefore be read as, “The one thing I ask from the Lord is that which I will desire.”

This is a prayer for surrender. “Lord, I pray to you not as I understand you, but as you understand yourself…”The “one thing” that David wanted above all else was to know the Lord=to “behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His Temple.” This is what we need. We need eyes of wonder; we need eyes that are open to the glory and Presence of God-in everything.

Desire itself is a “neutral” thing, of course. “The flesh lusts against the spirit, and spirit against the flesh” (Gal. 5:17). Most of us desire things that do not ultimately satisfy us. This is the “default” mode. We settle for trifles. We yield to petty desires that do not quench the eternal thirst within us. We cheat ourselves of the eternal for the sake of temporal. Kierkegaard calls such boredom the root of all evil. It is the “spirit” of the flesh-the inner restlessness that leads to discontent.

Having spiritual desire is a great gift from heaven, because through it we first realize what we really want to need. Our eye becomes “single” (Luke 11:34). The mark of spirituality (ruchaniyut) is wonder and contentment. The “beauty of the Lord” is to be filled with glory and peace. If we consciously delight ourselves in the Lord, He has promised to give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). Seek first the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33).

David understood that seeking God required “all the days of my life”-as preparation for eternity. This life (olam hazeh) is a likened to a shadowy corridor leading to the world to come. David wanted to dwell or to abide before the Divine Presence all his days, so that he would be prepared for his promotion to come.

So again, if you were to ask God for just one thing, what would it be?

I would like to just add that, the LORD knows the deepest desires of our heart. We can say, out loud, what we think the Lord wants us to say hoping He will see past our heart, but the LORD always know when there is a motive behind our words or request. We have to really examine ourselves to see if there is a selfishness to the request we are making. I, even when I was writing down the lesson, was thinking that it's hard not to think about the other things mentioned on the top of the page when you have bill collectors down your throat and the kids aren't acting right and the love of your life is "getting on your nerves". But I love how the instructor explained that these are temporal things not eternal things that we are focused on. We should desire what is forever and eternal. Now it doesn't mean that we can't think on these things period. It's saying what is your deepest more desired thing of all. I Love the LORD and the LORD is most important in my life but, have my actions reflected that? Do I sometimes go off track when things get hard? Do I make those (temporal) things a deeper desire I am seeking or focusing on?  I have to be reminded that the LORD knows every single need that I have. But, what he wants from me is a relationship and a deep desire for Him. To love Him more then anything including my own life. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25. This lesson was very helpful for me and I pray that it will bless you.

As always, I love you and God bless you.

Angela R. Ingram