One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
(Psalm 27:4 NIV)
If you could have just one thing that you receive from the Lord, what would it be? If you seek one thing in life, what is it?
Think on it for a minute.
What do you most want?
What Do You Most Want?
That question might make you squirm if you let an honest assessment run its course in your heart.
Or, it might force out a few tears as it resurrects longing for something you have desperately wanted.
That question might just make a small war break out in your spirit. Well, you think, I want to know God more! But if I’m honest, I also don’t—not enough, at least.
I imagine you’re a bit like me. You want God, but you also don’t want God.
If you have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, there’s a war constantly raging in your heart—a war between your own spirit and the Spirit of God, who has come to live in you (Romans 7:21-25).
Since God’s Spirit lives in you, you do want God. You want to know him and enjoy his presence. It’s what you were made for, and when you taste and see his goodness, it leaves you longing to know him more. Yet the sin that also resides in you tempts you to seek a thousand lesser joys in his stead. You want other things, and the more you want them, the more your want for God wanes.
Following Jesus means daily learning to surrender to the Spirit of God—to follow, heed, and seek to live according to his Spirit more so than your own, and thus, to want to want God’s presence more than other things.
What the Psalmist Most Wanted
Out of the Scriptures we hear a voice coming from the Psalms, and as we listen closely, we overhear one soul’s earnest and determined resolution.
One thing I ask from the Lord, he says, this only do I seek.
“What?!” we cry. What is it that he wants?
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple.
The psalmist wants to be where the Lord is, every day. He wants to see God as he truly is—beautiful, and worthy of worship. He wants to seek God, and not just stay in the general vicinity of where God dwells but he wants to go looking for God until he’s close to him.
What’s the one thing this poet seeks? Him—the Lord himself.
This person doesn’t just reflect on what he desires; rather, his reflection is in a way, a prayer. “One thing I ask from the Lord,” he says. This soul isn’t just expressing what he wants, he’s telling us that this is what he is praying for. The writer whose journal lies open to us already knows the God of the Bible. He already knows that he can make petitions of him. He already knows that God is approachable. In this way, he is already near to the Lord. Yet his earnest prayer is Lord, if I can have one thing, it’s to be where you are, see who you are, and stay near to you.
One Thing I Ask…
Rightly has this dear soul understood the revelation of the Bible—God is the greatest gift that God can give to us. Will we desire him? Will we ask him for himself?
I don’t know what your “one thing” is that you would ask of the Lord. I know mine—always lesser gifts than the One who would give me himself if I only asked.
Will you pray this Scripture with me today?
Lord, if I can have one thing, it’s to be where you are, see who you are, and stay near to you. Give me a heart that wants to seek you above all else.
May God give us himself in greater measure.