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One Thing


              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. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.  Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. (Psalm 27:4-6)

                One thing. Again, nothing tells us when he wrote this. Was he hiding in a cave to keep from being killed by Saul? Was he sitting on his throne? Did he have nothing and no hopes for anything? Was he unemployed and looking across the table at one of his wives and wondering how long before they’d be homeless or starve? Was this pie in the sky, by and by thinking because he had nothing, or was it that he had everything else, and dwelling in the house of the Lord was the only thing withheld from him. Was this all he wanted at that moment, and for most of the rest of the moments in his life, he wanted other things too, or instead? 
                While that question may seem important to us, I suspect it’s an attempt to dodge the real issue, which is the question of where our priorities lie. Yes, ouch. When we pray “Thy kingdom come” do we mean, right here, right now in my life? Or do we mean over there so we can come and go as we please, and enjoy the benefits but not the interruption of our own agendas? I know someone who has repeatedly told me that I am too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. My response is the question of whether he might be too earthly minded to be any heavenly good. Which is worse? 
                If it comes to a question of “The house of the Lord or ______?”  what would my answer be? What would yours be? The house of the Lord or your kids? The house of the Lord or safety from COVID-19? The house of the Lord or the Superbowl, or the new season of whatever show you just can’t miss?  The house of the Lord or Christmas with the family? Now there’s a conundrum, but there are churches that have cancelled their service because it happened to be on Christmas day. One of the things that makes me say, “Huh?”
                I listen as people talk about growing up in a family in which, if the church doors were open, they were there. There doesn’t seem to be that expectation anymore. It’s more important to take the kids to T-ball games, or soccer practice. That’s not entirely new, when I was growing up, it as more important to be camping away from phones that could summon Dad to work. But, in my life, in  your life – where does being in the house of the Lord fall? Where does spending time with God fall? I have to admit, my blog-writing time is my Bible study for the day. My dog-walking time is my prayer time. And certainly, that’s better than nothing. It might be enough, but does that make it the one thing that we ask? 
                And how does that fit with the passage that we looked at yesterday, in which we are told to make our requests known to God? Jesus taught us to pray “Your kingdom come,” but also “give us this day, our daily bread.” David sang the song above, but also spent a week on his face before God asking for the life of his son to be spared. Dallas Willard wrote in several books about the infinite neediness of our souls. Those other needs and wants are natural, and as long as God remains on the throne.

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