by Micah Nicolaus
March 15, 2019

Psalm 27
Transforming My Desires: 

If I am honest, I am a person with a lot of interests… ok hopes… no really desires…deep desires.  I desire to have the Milwaukee Brewers win the World Series.  I desire to see both my sons graduate, find jobs, marry, and live full lives.  I desire to see my church grow – often for the wrong reasons.  I desire to amass enough to retire in comfort.  I confess that often my desires are very selfish, misguided, and lack a relationship to the will of God.  Frequently my desire is motivated by comfort, personal passion, and privilege.  God help me desire You. 
 
David reminds us to turn not just our words, but our desire to God in Psalm 27.  In verse 4 we hear the desire of an undivided heart.  
 
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. 
 
The language and images of dwelling and Temple cannot be ignored.  They recall the nature of creation and relationship in the Garden of Eden while pointing to the yet to be revealed New Jerusalem.  All this while David desperately desires to build a Temple to Yahweh during the course of his lifetime.  It never happened.  It wasn’t until his son Solomon reigned in Jerusalem that the Temple was constructed. 
 
I imagine David loved spending time with God.  He wasn’t perfect.  He certainly made his share of mistakes, but as we read in Psalm 27 his greatest desire was to dwell with God and revel in the beauty of the Lord.  This was David’s most important work.   
 
The season of lent is a great time for reflection.  We spend time wrestling with the ethical weight of sin.  The goodness of God is that He became the propitiation of our sin, and in His grace invites us to dwell with Him.  His desire is abundant life for His children, our desire must be to dwell with him. 
 
If you are like me, we have a lot to learn about dwelling and desire.  Today is the time to start.  Pray with an undivided heart.  Search the scriptures.  Practice piety and mercy.  Walk humbly with God in the means of grace.  As David said in the closing of Psalm 27, remain confident because we will see the goodness of the  Lord in the land of the living.