LEARNING DAILY

Psalm 27:4, One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek; 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 inquire in His temple.

If you take a moment to read Psalm 27, you will see David is declaring great faith in the Lord. David does not fear because the Lord is his light and salvation. The Lord is his protector when the wicked come against him. Because of this, David does not fear and is confident in the Lord. David’s priority is his relationship with the Lord! He follows this declaration with verse 4 above. David does not seem to be where he could go to God’s temple to seek God; yet, his heart’s desire was to be there seeking God. Perhaps this was a time David was hiding from those who pursued him, and it was just that sort of trouble that drove him to seek God.

 This blog has often encouraged the reader to be like David, to seek God continually. Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock and it will be given to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened”. The three commands are spoken with the idea to do this continually. Each command is shown with a response from God. His people who do this receive, find, and have the door opened to them. Let the words fill you, encourage you to have the same desire as David – to “seek; 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 inquire in His temple”.

David desired to seek God in the temple. Jesus met a woman in Samaria, beside a well and told her that a day was coming when, “true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth” (John 4:5-30). He meant the place of worship was not important to Him; He desired the worship of those who followed Him to be from their heart because he lives there when He saves and changes a person. Is that not what Psalm 27:4 points us to? Believers worship God from their heart. My brother-in-Christ, Don, wrote a few days ago that worship is not just singing but includes what Believers read, the message given by the pastor, and the lifestyle Believers live each day. Believers are to follow the Lord as David did, from his heart.

Students of the Word might point to verse nine of this Psalm. David asks God to not turn His face from him. Why is David asking after telling the Lord he has no reason to fear anything? This is for those reading who might have been thinking “Sure, but….” David’s expressing of having nothing to fear did not mean He was immune to some anxiety. To ask that the Lord not turn His face from David meant David did not want the Lord to be displeased with him. David understood that he was far from perfect and knew he did things that did not please the Lord. That knowledge was well aware that he deserved to be rejected by Him. Even though from verse 3, David knew God was with him, David still experienced fears and anxieties all Believers experience in their walk on the narrow way. (Just a note, the verses from Matthew 7 precede the verses about choosing the narrow way to live our lives. We walk on it, seeking, asking, knocking!) Believers are to respond to these emotions as David did – he placed his trust in the Lord by worshipping God. When they do, He lifts their hearts. That is God’s expectation for every Believer – complete worship and devotion to following and trusting in Him!