David's Prayer for One Thing
DAVID’S PRAYER FOR ONE THING
David was a shepherd boy, an anointed musician, a giant killer, the king of Israel but more importantly he was considered a man after God’s own heart. He was an absolute model of faith, courage, obedience, integrity and devotion to god. He is one of the characters in all of scripture that most every person can relate to. The largest book of the Bible that speaks to every season in life was written mostly by David, and this Psalm was written near the end of his life.
He had leaned on his position, popularity and people and they all failed him. As he prays, he doesn’t ask God to restore his position, his influence, his favor, nor does he even ask God to heal his relationships with family or friends.
It’s one thing that David desires and it is that he will seek, only to dwell with God in His presence, to behold His glory and to call upon His name in God’s holy sanctuary. David’s one thing can be broken up into three desire:
#1. A DESIRE TO BE IN GOD’S PRESENCE
There are two aspects to God’s presence, His omnipresence which is a theological understanding that nothing gets passed God. He is everywhere all the time regardless of our awareness, senses or experience. Another aspect is His manifold presence which is based on an experiential trust that God will choose at times to show that He is always with us. Consider the night time wrestler with Jacob, or the burning bush with Moses, the shadowy figure in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abendago. Jesus Himself was the manifested presence of God, the Word who became flesh who dwelt among us, only so that we would know that God had not left Israel even after 400 years of silence. Everyone of us will go through times when God feels distant, when He seems silent but that shouldn’t keep us from trusting in His omnipresence but rather drives us to seek His manifold presence.
#2. A DESIRE TO BEHOLD GOD’S BEAUTY
HG Wells coined the phrase, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. This phrase illustrates beauty as subjective and boxed in by the differing opinions of others about what is truly beautiful. When we view beauty like this, we lose the intrinsic quality and value of beauty that goes beyond the eye of the beholder. The beauty of the Lord is not based on our opinion nor the amount of pleasure that comes from seeing Him. He is intrinsically beautiful, but His beauty is skewed when it enters into the eye of the beholder. Isaiah 33:17 states “your eyes will behold the king in His beauty.” In a fallen world we can lose our view of God’s beauty through inattention, self-absorption and suffering. David wanted a clear vision of God’s beauty, one that is not foggy or fainted, or skewed, but one that could see God in His fullness.
#3. A DESIRE TO CALL UPON HIS GRACE
In the day of trouble, you’re going to call on someone or something to save you and there is this great temptation to think that God is destroying everything you love in that moment, when in fact the enemy is destroying your trust in the One who can protect you from everything. God is not just good when you’re winning, but he’s good in the struggle. Fear not, for I am with you…be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand (Isaiah 41:10). David knew where his help came from, the Maker of heaven and earth. He knew his prayers would be heard and answered in a way where God’s goodness would be revealed. So, he prayed, God let me call upon you in my day of trouble.
The one thing that keeps running constant through these desires, is that God’s presence is beyond your feeling, beyond your understanding and beyond your perception. God does not change, but when you encounter Him, you change. This is the one thing David prays. God let your presence reformat and transform what I’m feeling right now…fear is not my future, you are hope. God let your beauty transform my perception of everything around me, let me see things beautiful again, remove the fog, remove the blinders…God let me call on you — and stop running things myself, jumping to conclusions, but just trust that you got me, you’re with me, you’re for me!