“To seek God is the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.” —Augustine
The first three verses of Psalm 27 portray a battlefield. David imagines himself surrounded by an enemy encampment (v 3). The combatants he faces are ruthless, wanting to chew him up (v 2). But the Commander-in-chief is in residence, and David’s fear subsides. The next three verses present a very different scene. Notice the words, “house…temple…pavilion…tabernacle” (vv 4-6). He is grateful for his defense in the first scene, but now he declares his desire in life—not to win but to worship. He writes, “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” (v 4). This may seem like three things, but it’s really one. He wants to be at home in the Lord’s presence so he can gaze on His beauty and seek to know Him better. This is his whole objective, as the Lord Jesus said: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn 17:3). You might enjoy a study of four other “one thing” verses (Mk 10:21; Lk 10:42; Jn 9:25, 35-38; Php 3:13). They’re all the same thing, just as David expressed it—to be with Him, to behold Him, and to know Him. Is the Lord aloof or unresponsive? No! “When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek’” (Ps 27:8). There’s a day coming, thank the Lord, when we “shall see His face” (Rev 22:4), with nothing to interfere. But right now, like trying to keep your eye on a friend in a crowd, we must seek His face. But there’s no reason to lose heart! In pursuing this search for Him, amid many distractions, we are sure to “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps 27:13).