One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I 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.
"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after." One thing, not a list. Most of us are juggling a dozen competing priorities at any given moment — security, approval, comfort, achievement — and calling that a full life. This verse describes someone who narrowed it all down to a single pursuit.
And what he asked for wasn't rescue from his enemies, even though he had plenty. It was simply to be near God — "to dwell in the house of the Lord... to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord." Not a request for God to fix his circumstances, but a request to stay close to God regardless of them.
That's a strange kind of clarity to have. Most of us would ask for the crisis to end before we'd ask for closeness. It's worth wondering what it would take to want nearness to God more than you want your problems solved — and whether that's even possible before you've experienced what that nearness is like.
If you've never wondered what it would feel like to simply be near God, that curiosity alone is worth following.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.