Tuesday, March 13

Tuesday


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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.  - Psalm 27:4

David wrote this psalm, expressing his true hearts desire.  He says that he really only desires “One Thing” in life.  This is an amazing statement when you stop to think about it.  Think about all of the desires we have; the desire for love, the desire for significance, the desire for security, wealth, acceptance, achievement, etc.  Out of all of these competing desires in our hearts, David says that there is really only one that truly matters to him.  It sounds too idealistic, almost impossible, how can a person desire only one thing in life?  The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once wrote that, “purity of heart is to will one thing.”

When I hear that phrase about “one thing”.  I cannot help but think of the movie City Slickers.  There is a great scene in the movie where Billy Crystal's character (Mitch) is alone with an old western trail boss named Curly (played by Jack Palance).  In the scene Curly is giving Mitch some advice about life.

Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?

Mith: (shrugs and shakes his head)

Curly: ([holds up one finger)  This!

Mitch: Your finger?

Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean nuthin.

Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?" 

Curly: That's what you have to find out.

I doubt that Curly (or the screenwriters for the movie) knew that they were in agreement with the heart of king David in Psalm 27!  David has conditioned his heart to seek one thing above all else.  What is this “one thing”?  In David’s words, “to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.”  What does it mean to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD?

Jonathan Edwards is widely considered one of the greatest minds in American religious history, and he talks about this concept in many of his books and sermons.  Essentially, he says that a religious person finds God useful, but a genuine Christian finds God beautiful.

For example, a religious person will evaluate their prayer life by how many answers they have received in prayer.  They will say things like, “God isn’t answering me”, or “prayer just isn’t working for me”, because their prayers are mostly about them.  On the other hand, a genuine Christian does not evaluate their prayer life based on answers to their requests, because they find worship, praise and adoration the most satisfying part of prayer.

Timothy Keller uses the example of listening to Mozart to illustrate this idea.  He says that when he was in college, he was required to listen to Mozart for a music class he was taking.  He didn’t particularly care for classical music, but he listened to it because he wanted to get a good grade in the class.  He wanted to get a good grade in the class so that he could graduate with honors.  He wanted to graduate with honors so that he could get a good job. (etc., etc.)  In other words, Mozart was just a means to an end for him.  Keller says now that he is older he listens to Mozart for a different reason.  In fact he spends his own money to buy Mozart’s music.  Why?  He is no longer in a music class where it is required.  Keller says that now he listens to Mozart simply because he finds it beautiful.  Mozart is no longer a means to an end for Keller, it has become a end in itself.

This is what David is getting at when he says that his heart desires “one thing”.  For David, God is not a means to an end, He is the end!  Do you see God as means to your end? 

Do you worship God because He can give you comfort, joy, peace, direction, etc.?  Or do you worship God simply because you love Him and you want to be with Him?

 

Do you see God as useful or beautiful?

What's your one thing?

Jeff Frazier