One Thing

One Thing

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

Read Psalm 27:1-4.

At first glance we may read verse 4 of this psalm and wonder of all the things to say is the one thing that we will seek you really choose dwelling in the house of the Lord all your days?

Most people are seeking after somethign and asking God for it.  For some it is a child.  For others it is a life-partner.  Still others are seeking professional success.  And many are looking for permanent financial stability.  A host of people are simply seeking after pleasures and desire.

The Bible consistently reminds us that few are seeking after the Lord.  One of the reasons the scriptures have to remind us to “seek the Lord while he may be found” is because our natural inclination is to seek after the desires and wants of our own heart regardless of when they are good desires or foolish.

Psalm 27 picks up a theme that is introduced in the psalms in the very first chapter.  Happy (or blessed) are those who walk in the way of the Lord.   True happiness and contentment are not found in the things that we naturally seek after.   Money, love, pleasure, power, and all the other sources of strength and happiness that we can possibly think of are ultimately empty pursuits.  In proverbs we are told that the way that seems right to a person leads to death.  Jesus said that the way that led to destruction was easy with a wide gate than many people enter.

Psalms are poems or songs.  They are written by artists.  The songwriter who wrote psalm 27 was wise.  Seeking after the house of God all the days of your life is a much better course of action for happiness and contentment.  A more modern sosngwriter captured the spirit of this with a different well-known hymn: “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these thigns shall be added unto you.”

Jesus said that the way to life was straight with a narrow gate.  We often avoid narrow, straight, difficult paths.  Jesus also promised us that this particular straight path led to abundant life and a peace that passes all understanding.

Remember the movie City Slickers?  Jack Palance’s hardened cowboy tells Billy Crystal that the secret of life is one thing, but dies before he reveals it.   Psalm 27 reveals the one thing: seeking after God to dwell in the house of the Lord. 

Take the time to read the whole psalm.  At the end you will find one of the joys that comes from seeking the Lord first: 

       I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Eyes of faith, see the Lord and his goodness at work in the world around them.  The one who seeks after God develops such a vision through the Holy Spirit.

The final words of the psalm are an admonition to everyone, but could also be the whole theme of Advent:

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.