One thing have I asked of the Lord that will I seek after, then 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 inquire in his temple.
– Psalm 27:4
Wow, that’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible. And at the same time, one of the most convicting verses in the Bible to hear David, the psalmist say here, “One thing I’ve asked the Lord.”
Psalm 27:4 Tells of the Psalmist’s Request to Dwell in God’s Presence
I think of all the things you would want to ask God for. David says, this is the one thing that I want most, that I will seek after. When I think about it, what is the one thing you are seeking after today in your life? If you had to sum it up, what’s the one thing you want most in a way that’s evident in how you spend your time and money and energy?
What excites your affections? What’s the one thing you want that you’re seeking after? And David says, it’s this, and I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life that I may just be with God and gaze upon his beauty. I want to do all these things for God. The one thing I want most, the one thing I’m seeking after is just to look at him, just behold God and to inquire in his temple. So this picture of inquiring before God, God, as I look to you, I inquire of you. I ask for things from you.
God, I share my heart with you. I seek direction from you. Lord, I just want to be with you, to see you, and to call out to you. That’s the one thing I want. And so I just ask, what would it look like in your life if this was the one thing you wanted, that you were seeking after? How would it look like if the one thing you wanted was just to be with God and look at God and inquire of God, and then ask the question, why not start living like that?
Psalm 27:4 Is a Challenge to Rethink Our Priorities
What needs to change in your schedule? Or in your priorities? What needs to change in your heart, in your mind, in your affections, in order to live for this one thing? Oh God, we know that this is where life is found and being with you and seeing and beholding you and calling out to you that life is not found and more and more and more and more stuff in this world and things this world offers us, and oh God, so many things we want.
We pray that we would lay them all down and that the one thing we want more than anything else would be just to dwell with you, God, alone, that we would prioritize in our lives concentrated time alone with you on our knees, on our faces, in your word, just gazing upon you in all of your beauty, worshiping you for who you are.
God, make this the priority of my life, of our lives. The one thing we’re seeking after every day, just being with you and inquiring in your temple, seeking you, your direction, your guidance, your help. God, we pray that our lives and everything we do would be the overflow of this one thing. Even as we praise you for this one thing, for this privilege of communion with you, God, help us not take this privilege lightly or for granted. Help us to live the fullness of this privilege that we get to dwell in your house and we get to gaze on your beauty into inquire in your temple.
Praying for the Ouargla People
Yes, God, make our lives consumed with this one thing, we pray. And we pray that you would help us to lead others to this kind of communion with you around us and around the world. God, we pray for the Ouargla people of Algeria, 23,000 of them, a few followers of Jesus among them. God bless those few followers of Jesus, we pray. May they gaze upon your beauty, enjoy dwelling with you, and we pray that you would multiply their number and you would send laborers to help them for the spread of the good news of your grace, your love, your glory, your beauty among the Ouargla people of Algeria. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to this picture of one thing in Psalm 27:4. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
