Psalm 27:4-6 - March 21, 2009

Ps 27:4-6 "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. 6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD." NIV

The power of a focused life, this is what David is imparting to us in this psalm! One thing is the passion of David’s life! One thing is the consuming thought and source of strength that drives David’s choices and determines how he spends his thoughts. Consider the things that you ask of the Lord, consider what you spend your time seeking after. Is your life being empowered by such a passion for the Lord? David’s longing becomes our invitation to live with transformed desires. David’s passion is our challenge to examine what we are spending our lives in pursuit of!
David’s sole desire was to spend his life in the house of God, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. We spend out days in pursuit of so many things and so often completely miss those things that matter the most. Lord please capture our hearts with the knowledge of your beauty! Lord fix our eyes on that which truly matters. There is power in living with sanctified desires. There is strength that comes from being free from the want of many things. David lived an extraordinary life that flowed out of having desires that were God centered and not man or possession centered. Those times when history records David’s darkest actions were all moments when his eyes slipped off of beholding the Lord to the things of this earth. Paul clearly stated this principle when he wrote in Col 3:1-2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” When David’s heart was properly set he lived in such a way that attracted God’s presence and blessing, but when his vision drifted to the things of the earth he demonstrated the brokenness of fallen man as completely as anyone who has ever lived. It is such a demonstration of the distinct difference that can be found in a person’s life when they are walking in the Spirit and when they are walking in the flesh. Paul stated the problem so clearly when he said, “live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature,” Ga. 5:16.
David fully grasped the power and benefit of staying “in the Spirit.” He knew what it was to be sheltered in the presence of God. He understood the refuge that God becomes to the righteous. There is such a parallel between the works of David in the psalms and the principles that Paul teaches in the Epistles. Paul states this same truth in New Testament terms by declaring in Col 3:3, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” To be a man or woman of the Spirit is to be hidden in God, the world no longer has any power or legal right over a man who is no longer living, whose very life has been consumed in God. Even though he was living before the cross David understood the shelter that God becomes to those who place their lives in His.
This place of abandonment to a life of beholding the Lord is rich with benefits. David is not naïve to the reward that comes from such a consecrated life. In fact he is counting on it. Even Jesus himself was partially motivated by the knowledge of the reward that was awaiting him. Heb 12:2 speaks of Jesus’ willingness to be our sacrifice by saying, “for the joy set before him endured the cross.” He was able to face hardship and suffering because he recognized a greater reward that was waiting on the other side of the cross. Hebrews 12 calls us to be strengthened by his example and to “fix our eyes” upon him. When we see the Lord in the beauty of who he is and what he has done our lives are filled with confidence to trust in the Lord through any circumstance. Choose right now to take you eyes off of this world and firmly place them on the beauty of Christ!