Psalm Chapter 27 - A Psalm of David

Psalm 27: One Thing Have I Desired

This psalm contains what may be the single most clarifying sentence in all of Scripture for the distracted soul: "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." One thing. Not seven priorities, not a balanced portfolio of spiritual goals, but one desire that swallows all the others the way the sun swallows the stars at dawn. And notice what David wants — not safety, not victory, not even answers, but to behold beauty. He wants to look at God the way you look at something you cannot stop looking at. The rest of the psalm is full of enemies and wars and false witnesses, and yet none of it touches the center, because the center is occupied. When God says "Seek ye my face," David’s heart answers instantly, as if it had been waiting for the invitation all along. The final word — "Wait on the Lord" — is not passive. It is the fierce patience of someone who has already seen what he is waiting for.

00:00 The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation
00:20 One Thing Have I Desired
00:40 In the Time of Trouble He Shall Hide Me
01:00 Seek Ye My Face
01:30 Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord
02:00 Wait on the Lord