Psalm 27: My ONE Thing
A couple months ago, I was listening to a podcast in which Rich Villodas—a pastor and author—was being interviewed. At one point, he mentioned that Psalm 27 was the first Psalm (or maybe even first long passage of Scripture—I don’t quite remember) that he memorized.
I was washing dishes as I was listening to this conversation, but I stopped mid-scrub, dried my hands, and walked to the other room to grab my Bible. I opened up to Psalm 27, read it, and decided right then that I, too, was going to memorize those 14 verses written by David.
How is it going, you ask?
Well, it’s been a long time since I have intentionally memorized anything of this length. I’m realizing it is a muscle I have to develop again. I’ve got the first 3 verses down. When I get to verse 4, I get all emotional—every single time.
The one thing I ask of the Lord—
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in His Temple.
Psalm 27:4 NLT
The ONE thing I ask, the thing I seek MOST
King David wrote these words (like most of the Psalms we have looked at so far in this series). I think it is fair to say he probably experienced all the highest highs life had to offer at the time. He defeated Goliath at a young age, which catalyzed his reputation as a warrior. And he further lived up to that reputation while King Saul was on the throne by winning and conquering countless wars and enemies. The people literally sang songs about his military prowess.
We can’t forget that he was chosen by God as the new king even though he was the youngest and smallest of all his strong, successful, and handsome brothers. Eventually he became king—the king all other Israelite kings were compared to. He lived the royal life, enjoying all the amenities and perks available. He was so successful that he even gave all his money for the building of God’s permanent Temple—He personally financed the build! (He didn’t build it, though. That privilege went to his son, Solomon.)
There were many highs for David. Just as there were many lows. But of all the things he could ask of the Lord, he sought after His presence the most. At the end of the day and amidst all the other blessings and privileges, he wanted God more than anything.
To be in the house of the Lord, to dwell there all the days of his life—that is what he wanted most. He wanted to live in the Temple, or at this time it more accurately would have been the tabernacle—the fanciest tent you could ever imagine that housed the very presence of God.
In the Old Testament, the presence of the Lord was confined to this tabernacle. Actually it was confined to a very small portion of it. Not because His presence was less than or small in any way. This was God’s devised plan for being able to dwell among His people. His presence was kept in the ark of the covenant for their safety.
David wanted to be there, in the midst of His presence. But there was a limit, a boundary that he could not cross no matter how much he sought after it.
I can picture David sitting as close as he could, inching slowly closer as much as he dared. Did he have a particular spot where he would spend hours thinking about his God, meditating on what he knew and experienced to be true of Him? Were there marks worn in the ground from his knees after years of kneeling before his Lord?
Think about all that he must have experienced as king…and yet, these humble moments of solitude and reverence and worship were what he wanted most. Being with God—as close as he could get—was better than life. Better than anything else.
Help me keep You as my ONE THING
Let’s look forward, beyond David’s words written during the Old Covenant—a time when God’s presence did not freely live among His people. We now live in the New Covenant. What does that mean? Well, because of Jesus—His life, His death, and His resurrection—we now have access to the presence of God unlike David could have ever imagined.
Remember how His presence was limited to one area within the Temple? There was a curtain, a veil, separating the Holy of Holies, where the presence of the Lord was, from the rest of the Temple. A quick google search just told me that the veil was probably 4 inches thick and anywhere from 30 ft to 60 fit in length. Suffice it to say, no human or amount of animals could have torn this veil apart.
Until Jesus.
In the Gospels, we are told that as Jesus died on the cross the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom—something that would have been humanly impossible (Matt. 27:51). Why is this such a big deal? It signified that Jesus made a way for us to enter that Most Holy Place! Jesus crossed that boundary for us and became the bridge we needed but could never build.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19-22 NLT
We can BOLDLY come to the Lord, BOLDLY enter that Most Holy Place! In a very real sense, we can now actually dwell in the presence of the Lord all the days of our lives!
The one thing David asked and sought for most is now available to us—you and me, here and now. It’s something we don’t have to wait for or work up to. It’s available for us now. Just as we are. Because Jesus—and only Jesus—has made a way for us!
Stop and think about that. You—with all your flaws and sin, with all your mistakes and mess—YOU can dwell in the house of the Lord, in His presence without fear of being turned away or kept at a distance. You can live the life David so desperately sought to live.
I probably don’t even have to say what I’m going to say next. I hope your thoughts have gone where mine go every time I read this verse.
Is God my ONE THING? Am I seeking to dwell in His presence more than anything else? Would I choose Him over anything or anyone else in my life?
Does the way I live my life reveal Him as my ONE THING? Looking at how I live, would anyone else guess that He is my ONE THING?
David prayed for access to His presence. Maybe on this side of Jesus, our prayer is a little different. Maybe our prayer sounds more like this:
Lord, would You help me seek Your presence more than anything else? Would You help David’s words to be true of me? May the ONE THING I ask—the thing I seek MOST—be to live forever in Your presence, knowing You are nearer than the breath in my lungs. Lord, help me keep You as my ONE THING. In the name of Jesus, amen.
DIGGing DEEPER:
Psalm 84 (one of my favorites!)
Hebrews 9 + 10
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