“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.”
Psalm 27 v 4
If we ask ourselves the question, “ what is the one thing that I desire in all of life? If out of all the things in life, I have to choose one thing, what is that one thing?” That one thing is the locus of our life, the focus of our being. It is what dominates our thoughts and emotions. It rules over us like a veritable god. This is the reason that the Lord expects singlemindedness in us. He exhorts us to seek Him with all our hearts. The Psalmist David after all his varied experiences of the high and low, the up and down of life answered that question by saying, “ The one thing that I seek is the Lord Himself.” Everything else is worthless without Him, everything else takes its value on account of Him. As Jesus told the ever busy Martha, “ Only one thing is needed and Mary has chosen the better part which will not be taken away from her.” When we seek the Lord with such a consuming passion, He undertakes to add all other things that we need to our lives. St Paul also exhibited such singlemindedness in his life both before he met the risen Christ and afterwards, with differing results in both halves of his life.
King David could have chosen many things- the power and majesty of his kingdom, the fame of his own name, the pleasures of royal life, the beauty of his wives, the grandeur of his palace, the loyalty and adulation of his subjects, the love for his offspring, the excitement of military conquest and victory.. But, he realized that all this is in vain except he spent eternity with God. He was entranced by the beauty of the character of the Lord. He was awed by the glory and holiness of God. When the Lord smiled at him, his own countenance lit up even as Moses’s face was radiant whenever he returned from the tent of meeting. He delighted in His love and fellowship. He sought a deeper and deeper intimacy with the Lord of his life. He loved to spend time in praise and prayer. As we spend time focussing on the beauty, power and glory of the Lord as revealed in His Word, we will be transformed degree by degree into His very image.
The close and personal relationship that David enjoyed with the Lord is expressed in the many songs or psalms he composed that covers the entire gamut of human emotions vis –a- vis God: faith, disbelief, self doubt, repentance, assurance, fear, frustration, joy, security, hope, despair, strength, weakness, love, devotion, gratitude, awe, compassion, worship, steadfastness, determination, zeal and so on. In every stage and predicament of his life, David enquired of the Lord and received answers to his questions. The Lord clarified his doubts and assuaged his fears. He quenched or satisfied all his other desires by satisfying his one desire for the Lord.
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