"One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."
{Psalm 27:4} (NIV)
David echoes the prayer of Moses and the desire of the Israelites. If I can’t have YOUR Presence I don’t want anything. If I can only ask one thing, I ask for YOU. My 9 year old daughter told me yesterday that this verse is about praying for heaven. I told her that she was right, that the LORD’s temple is in heaven, that is the place where we will truly see Him and that a prayer to dwell there all the days of my life is a desire for heaven. And yet, there is more to this verse than heaven.
This verse is about approaching the LORD in His tabernacle. David uses the word 'temple', but David is speaking in faith, for he was not allowed to build the LORD’s temple. David’s corporate worship experience took place in the tabernacle. Notice that David uses the Name 'LORD' three times, just as the Name 'LORD' is used three times in the priestly blessing of Numbers 6. This verse is about the desire in God’s children to gather together in the place where His Presence is manifest. An equivalent prayer in our day of grace would be, “One thing I ask O LORD, is that I would be able to be in church all the time.”
In this day of doing our own thing, meeting God by ourselves, “attending” the so-called “invisible” church that the boomers have created, this prayer is an affront. We look for reasons as to why people don’t value church; much discussion and hand wringing takes place. David wanted to go to church because He would meet God there in a special way. God was with him in the shepherd’s field, God was with him on the battle field, God was with him in his palace, but David yearned to meet Him in the midst of His people! For church is the place that the LORD has promised to meet us.
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