I’m often astounded when I read King David’s writings in the Psalms (a book of songs and poems in the Bible) and today was no different. Here he is writing in Psalm 27.

The LORD is my light and my salvation —whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. Psalm 27:1-3

David was a man who knew what it was like to have war break out around him, he knew what it was like to be hunted and hounded. In fact for much of his life he had known what it was to be on the run and have to fight with all he had. He had a pretty eventful life all things considered! Given all of that I was blown away by what he writes in the next verse.

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

This really is amazing.

If I was being honest I’m not sure that if I was facing the hunting and hounding that he was that this would have been the one thing that I would have asked for! I might have asked for deliverance, protection, success, peace etc. I would have probably asked for anything that would have gotten me out of the difficult moment that I had found myself in. But not David.

David instead makes his one thing relationship with the Lord, he just wants more of Him.

Isn’t that incredible? Moments like this make me understand what the scriptures meant when they say that David was a man after Gods own heart. David literally was after God’s heart. He just wanted to be with Him, to look on Him, to adore Him. That’s really cool but there is a follow up question here;

Does this mean that all His problems went away?

I don’t think so, in fact reading about David’s life shows us that this wasn’t the case at all. So I hear another question forming in our minds.

So, what was the point? What did he get in return?

That would be missing the whole point. Escape from his circumstances wasn’t His motivation – relationship with God was. His circumstances were secondary to His relationship with the Lord. That is what makes it remarkable. So often we can view God as someone who we rub to make our lives better, a lucky charm who we can add into the mix so that it all works. Often to do that we worship harder, pray longer, read further. Whilst all of those pursuits are great and we will meet God in the middle, our motivation was actually seeking help within our circumstances, not meeting with God.

What does that mean for our relationship with God?

Usually what it means is that if our circumstances improve, our relationship with God is good. If our circumstances don’t improve, or they even get worse, then it’s quite likely that our relationship with God is bad or deteriorates. What we end up with is a relationship with God that is based on our emotion and whether our life is working out well or not.

That’s no basis for any relationship! In fact, not meaning to be too blunt, but if we saw those kind of parameters displayed in a human relationship we might call it abuse? It certainly wouldn’t be described as healthy.

Part of what makes this all the more confusing is that often when we do put our relationship with God first and at the centre, something often does seem to happen within our circumstances. It’s not that they disappear altogether, although this can happen, it’s more that they tend take on their correct size and space in our world. You see, when we look at our circumstances from our perspective they have feel so large, looming, and all encompassing. When we take a Gods eye view suddenly they appear to be less intimidating, less imposing, and more manageable.

If we were to ask God for one thing today, what might it be? I hope my answer would be different after thinking through this psalm and David’s request.