Ask of the Lord

“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” (Psalm 27:4).  What do you and I ask of the Lord?  Do we ask anything, do we take the time to even talk to Him?  Life is busy, and sometimes time is short, I get that, but don’t we have a few minutes to spend with our Creator… our Savior… our Father?  Do we ask of the Lord?  Our Father already knows what we need before we even ask him, so why not ask away, David did here (Matthew 6:8).  David just had on tiny, well maybe three, things to ask of the Lord in this verse.  These are worth a closer look.

The first thing he “seeks” is to “dwell in the house of the Lord” all of his life.  That’s no small request, he is asking for a place in the Master’s house, a place at the dinner table, a bed and most importantly, a close relationship with the Master.  Wow, wouldn’t we all do well just to ask for that one thing each day?  Lord let me be so close to you that you are my sustainer … my provider … my everything.  David wants to be so close to god that it is as if he is living with him.  God has said he will do that for us, did you know that?  “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you” (Psalm 55:22).  So whatever it is, ask God to take it and He will not only take it, but sustain you through it all. 

David continues with his “one thing” he is asking here.  He wants to “gaze on the beauty of the Lord”.  Now that’s a bold request, because you may remember that the Jewish people, who David was, believed that if you saw the face of the LORD you would die.  They had a pretty good reason to believe this too, God said so.  “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20).  It seems that David is so in love and so comfortable with his relationship that he is willing to take that chance.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to feel that close to God?  So close that you could touch His face, bask in his glory and “gaze upon His Beauty”.  It’s nice to know that we can get that close to God.  James tells us in James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”  So we just need to snuggle up to God in His house and he will snuggle right back.

Lastly, David wants to “inquire” of the Lord, and in His temple, the most holy place on earth to a Jew.  So David wants some answers.  It’s ok to ask … we should ask … we should expect God to answer.  I think we sometimes kind of waste prayer, if we even pray.  We pray the small things.  Help me to get through today.  Help the doctors who are taking care of Aunt Sally so she can get better.  And so many other small prayers like that.  Why not ask GOD sized prayers.  Let me have the best day ever today.  Heal Aunt Sally.  Ask God to do what only He can do. James again puts it like this.  “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).  Jesus told us in Matthew 7:7 to “ask, and it will be given to you”.  Ask expecting to receive (James 1:6-7).

If we look on down to Psalm 27:5 we get a glimpse of what God wants to do when we ask of Him.  “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.”  Get close to God, so close that you can feel His presence, live with Him each and every day of your life and ask big, bold prayers that only He can answer.  See what might happen in your life. 

God bless!