When troubles come we are prone to look for help in something or from someone. That something maybe is our financial resource, which always isn’t much, or our skills and talents, which are not always reliable.
In most cases, we would be looking for help from someone in our family or from relatives or friends. Some may seek the help of those in authority or experts.
King David, however, fixes his eyes on God in times of trouble. In Psalm 27 he says, "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. For in the days of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling." (vv. 4-5, NIV).
When evil men attacks him, David's focus is on the LORD, upon His uncreated beauty, His undeserving favor, His unfailing love, and His awesome power and majesty.
When he is troubled, David thought of one thing: to find a way to break free of routine entanglements that he might dwell in the presence of God; to avoid trivial activities that might divert his eyes from beholding His LORD; to clear his mind of unnecessary details that he might meditate upon the beauty and splendor of God; to set aside less important tasks that he might bask in the light and glory of everything that makes God an object of his affection, delight, and adoration.
I admit that aside from reading the Bible, I also enjoy (as I always do) reading J. I. Packer's “Knowing God.” I've read the book several times but every time I read it I'm always fascinated of God. I'm amazed at how He reveals Himself through Jesus Christ in the pages of the Holy Scripture. And it gives me that longing to know Him more.
Lately, I was given a book on the Lord Jesus Christ which is an excellent companion to Packer's "Knowing God." The book is "Knowing Christ." It is a rich devotional reading on the focal figure of the whole Scripture. It helps me in centering on the one thing that really matters in life: knowing God.
“One thing have I asked of the Lord,” says King David, “that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord...to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.”
In Psalm 145:5, David also makes the same point declaring, “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.”
I desire for this unitary, single-minded resolve. Note in Psalm 27:4 how the future tense "I shall seek" is combined with the past progressive tense "I have asked" to express an ardent longing which extends out of the past and into the future and therefore runs through David's whole life.
Thus one writer says, “How utterly, absolutely, and incomparably practical this is! Nothing brings greater peace to the troubled soul than meditating on the majesty of God!"
He adds saying, "Nothing puts life and its competing pleasures in greater spiritual perspective than a knowledge of the surpassing greatness of God as revealed in the face of Jesus Christ! Nothing empowers the will to make hard choices, often painful choices, to forego the passing pleasures of sin than does a view of the superior reward of knowing and enjoying the fellowship of our triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit!”
It is my prayer that God will enable us to gaze upon His beauty as we seek to know Him in Christ through the Word. May we taste and see His goodness in our daily walk with and service of Him! And may the knowledge of God embolden us to face every trial that comes along our way in this life!
PRAYER:
Oh, Father of glory, make us a people of one thing! Give us one heart, one mind, one all-consuming passion for Your name!
May we find You to be our life-giving light in the midst of today’s darkness. May we, like Your servant David, find comfort in You as our light, salvation, and stronghold.
You grant sanity and peace in the midst of trouble and chaos. Bring us to Your presence by Your Spirit where our faith is strengthened and our fears are stilled. Bless our souls with Your life-giving Word, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.
Posted with permission from Ptr Vic Bernales, Pastor, Davao Covenant Reformed Church
Original from a Facebook post here.
Amen. “How utterly, absolutely, and incomparably practical this is! Nothing brings greater peace to the troubled soul than meditating on the majesty of God!"