One Thing

King David was called a man after God's own heart. He was a great king but he was not a perfect man. He had some anger issues (or might have been pride) and lust (which led to adultery) and fear of man (because he didn't want his sin known) and murder.

Yet for all this his relationship with God was pretty amazing. The prayers and songs he wrote that we have collected as part of the Psalms are some of the most beautiful praise songs and statements of faith anywhere. In Psalm 27:4 he writes: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after; 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 inquire in His temple."

David is not asking to live in the temple because we know that he built a magnificent palace for himself. David is asking God to give him a heart that longs for the Lord so that he might know God in a very personal way. In verse 8 of this same Psalm, David writes, "You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to You, 'Your face, Lord, do I seek.'"

Too often we think those we read about in the Bible were not ordinary men and women but they were. None of them were perfect but what they did have, as David did, was a desire to know God - not just know about God. Some situations in the Bible were unique, one time instances and some of the promises are just for Israel, but God did not give us the Bible to taunt us by showing us what He used to do. He gives us these examples of His love and faithfulness and power and relationship with man to show us what He wants to do in us and for us and through us as well.

God said David is "a man after my own heart, who will do all my will." One life, my life, surrendered to Christ and constantly seeking Him is not perfect but it is a life God can use to change the lives of others because that one will know and do the will of God.