One Thing I Desire

One Thing I Desire – (Missions emphasis -Van Klingerman, Building Hope Ministries)

Psalm 27:4 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.

So moved was I by what the Lord shared with us on Wednesday night from this passage that I felt the need to re-visit it this morning.

Wednesday night was more about Seeking God. This morning it will be more about the One Desire of you heart.

Looking just at verse 4 (maybe) – “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.”

The word Desire is used 62 X in NT / 119 X in OT = 181 times over all.

What does the Bible have to say about Desires?

· Eve saw the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as something to be desired – Genesis 3:6.

· Because of the fall of man, the woman’s desire now is to rule over her husband – Genesis 3:16.

· We are commanded not to desire our neighbor’s spouse and yet many do – Deuteronomy 5:21.

· We are commanded not to desire silver and gold, and yet many do – Deuteronomy 7:25.

· The children of Israel desired a King, a leader other than God – 1 Samuel 12:13.

· Job desired to reason with God – Job 13:3. (I make the same mistake)

· In the Psalms, “Desire” appears 25 times in 24 verses in the KJV. (15 times in Proverbs).

o Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. Psalm 38:9. That speaks of our character – we groan when we don’t get what we desire.

· God Himself desires mercy over sacrifice – Hosea 6:6.

· The Pharisees and the Sadducees desired signs from heaven – Matthew 16:1.

· James and John (as well as their mother) desired to be first – Mark 10:35.

· Jesus desired to eat the last Passover with His disciples = Luke 22:15.

· The crowd desired Barabbas over Jesus – Luke 23:25.

· Paul desire that all of Israel would be saved – Romans 10:1.

I suppose the list could go on and on. Furthermore, our desires seem to be always changing. Ecclesiastes 6:9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

Let’s look at the One Thing David desired.

What the One Thing Was Not:

· It is not Lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, nor the Pride of life. Affair with Bathsheba covered those.

· It was not an earthly object. He had a kingdom.

What the One Thing Was:

· It is a heartfelt desire to have a close and intimate relationship with God.

o Draw neigh to God and He will draw neigh to you

· To dwell, to live in the house of God all the days of his life.

· He desired a never-ending fellowship with God – not a once-a-week fellowship!

Psalm 27:4 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.

Why He Sought This One Thing:

1. To behold the beauty of the Lord

o As a man, “he had no form nor comeliness” about Him. (Isaiah 53:2). As Lord, “He is altogether lovely” (Song of Solomon 5:16).

o Pearl of Great price was something to be desired. – Matthew 13:45-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Jesus is that One Pearl and He is to be greatly desired if only because of His love and sacrifice for us.

o Zechariah 9:17 For how great is he goodness, and how great is his beauty! David wanted to see it.

2. To Inquire in His temple. “That will I seek after”

o Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; The word “enquire” (with and “e”) means to ask.

§ Enquire also means to inspect, look after, and to consider. Thus this may mean ‘to serve in His temple.

o Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

How He Sought This One Thing:

3. He sought earnestly

4. He sought it determinately

5. He sought it successfully – Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Even as I asked Wednesday night, what is your one thing in regard to God that you are diligently pursuing? What’s your ‘one thing’? It is an evil thing or a good thing; an earthly thing or a heavenly thing; an ungodly thing or a godly thing?

Is it His love, His grace, His mercy?

· All of the above maybe?

· Are you actively pursuing a relationship with God?

· Are you pursuing righteousness, holiness, or even godliness?

Perhaps you are more guilty of pursuing earthly things.

Nonetheless, how is it that we are to pursue after God?

· Through the reading of His word, of course.

· Through the preaching of His word, again of course

· But ultimately, to pursue God and to have any hope of ever finding Him we must pursue Him in prayer.

The only thing we should be desiring is a close and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you have one?