Overview
Rev. Rico Magnelli examines “One Thing I Desire of the Lord” through Psalm 27, showing how lord, heart, because shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Transcript
Understanding One Thing I Desire of the Lord
Psalm 27, please. David was a man after God’s own heart, and he pursued a relationship with the Lord in his heart and desired the Lord above all things. And he saw his refuge and his protection and his wisdom from heaven.
And we’re going to take a look at this psalm because this psalm played out in David’s heart. It wasn’t just something that just he recorded by God’s guidance. The Lord allowed David to record it, but it played out in his heart.
And when we see David say something like in Psalm 27 verse four, one thing have I desired of the Lord, it arrests our attention. The one thing that he desired of the Lord and desire is to ask. He asked of the Lord.
He didn’t demand from the Lord. He asked of the Lord. That I will seek after and he would pursue it.
He would ask and he would pursue and he would seek it from the Lord that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. He wanted to be in God’s family, wanted to be in God’s household, if you will. He wanted to be in God’s circle, his people, to behold the beauty or the agreeableness, the pleasantness of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
There are things that he pursued. He wanted to behold the beauty, the agreeableness, the pleasantness of the Lord. God is not a wrathful God unto us and he wanted to inquire in his temple.
And when it’s referring to the temple here, it’s in reference to heaven. And this temple is often in the sense of where God dwells. And we know he actually dwells in heaven because that’s where God really resides, is in heaven.
To pick up some of the context, look at verse one. The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The light comes first and then the life that salvation comes next. And you see that pattern in the book of Genesis because in Genesis chapter one, the first thing that God does is he speaks light into being. Then he brings life on the earth and all life stems from the light of the sun, all of it.
The Biblical Foundation
Without the light of the sun, there could be no life on this planet whatsoever. And it’ll follow that pattern. To have that life that God wants for us, we need his light.
We need it. And it says, whom shall I fear? Well, if you got the light of the Lord and you’ve got his salvation and the light that he wants for us, both new and eternal, there’s nothing to fear. The Lord is the strength of my life.
He is the strength of your life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Well, the answer is nobody. No situation, no circumstance.
And again, this is all happening in David’s heart. And then God allows him to record it. Verse two, when the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh.
In other words, at times we are exposed in the physical categories of life. We have challenges in the physical categories of life. That’s right.
But the word says they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
Or in this is actually in spite of this, I will be confident. He will trust. He will have his expectation in the Lord.
And again, this is something that happened thousands of years ago in David’s heart. And then God had it recorded because he knew it would be an inspiration. It would be an encouragement to his people down through the centuries.
How many people have read this Psalm and contemplated and thought deeply about its truth? Untold numbers. But the key is, is that we’re doing this in our heart. So we’re not afraid.
We’re not afraid of our enemies that are round about us. We’re not afraid of the systems of the world and they try to manipulate and conform us. We’re not afraid of war.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
We’re not afraid. We’re aware of it. We’re not afraid of it.
Because our confidence, our expectation is in the Lord. Then one thing of I desire to the Lord that I will seek after, he’s going to pursue it. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
For us today, we have what’s called the household of faith. We have a family that we’ve been called to in Christ Jesus. And there’s a mutual respect in that family, in that community.
When it’s really on the Word, there is a mutual respect that we too can say, I want to dwell in the house of the Lord. And to dwell is interesting because it’s the Word of the Hebrew to sit, to sit. And the Hebrews were very expressive in the language that they used.
In other words, they would use a term and it had a lot of depth of meaning to it. Like when they sat, they sat. That means that they’re dwelling, they’re abiding, they’re not moving.
And again, this is not happening in a physical sense. This is happening in your heart. God’s people have to draw a line in our heart and not cross it.
We want to sit in the house of the Lord all the days of our life. To behold his beauty, his pleasantness, his delight, his agreeableness, all the days of my life. Behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
And this temple is often in the sense of where God dwells, and we know he actually dwells in heaven. Too many people inquire in different locations, in different sources, and that’s what gets them in trouble. They’re not inquiring in the temple of the Lord.
They’re inquiring of the world. They’re asking experts. They’re asking all these different things.
Faith in Action
Now, there’s nothing wrong with necessarily asking people questions and gathering information and all that. But the bottom line is you inquire in God’s temple. And when the children of Israel were called out through Abraham’s line, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Israel, and they got brought into Egypt for 400-plus years, and Moses delivered them out.
God made a covenant with them. He had the ark built. It traveled in the tabernacle, which was a portable tent, and eventually the temple was built in Jerusalem.
And God was saying, hey, listen, the earth is the Lord’s in the fullness thereof. I own everything, but I’m going to put my name on this building. I’m going to put my presence in this building, this temple.
He God exposed himself. See, that’s as far as God was going to go to really connect with his people. He was going to have a habitation and a man-made building.
That’s unbelievable. He cannot be contained by the heavens and the heavens. He’s so immense.
But yet he decided that he was going to have his habitation there and meet with God’s people in that temple. Now, we know that that temple is no longer existing these days, and we now are the habitation of God. But what’s so interesting is all this stuff is happening in David’s heart.
It says, for in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock, upon a firm foundation.
See, again, this is not a physical thing. This is happening in David’s mental capacity, his heart. This is the kind of thing that can happen in our heart.
So we are not moved to fear. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies. You know, I was a lifeguard, and when people are having trouble in the water, they do anything they can to keep their head above the water.
Walking in Love and Confidence
They’ll do anything. Well, sometimes life is like that. We feel like we’re drowning.
We’ll feel like we’re just being pushed under, and we can’t get the life-giving oxygen that we need. Well, God says that now shall my head be lifted above mine enemies. David’s seeking the Lord in the context of his enemies surrounding him.
Round about me. Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of what? Joy. Wow.
So even though we’re surrounded with enemies, we can have sacrifices of joy. Even though there might be war, even though there might be those that want to eat up my flesh, we can have sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yay, I will sing praises unto the Lord.
This is happening in this man’s heart all those thousands of years ago. And God thought it was so good that he told him to record it. Amazing.
Verse 11. Teach me thy way, O Lord. He’s not talking about teach me this scale or that scale.
He’s talking about teach me thy way, O Lord. The context is being surrounded by those enemies. The context is war.
The context is those that would eat up my flesh. Teach me thy way, O Lord. He is asking God for help, and it’s happening in his heart, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies.
Make it simple for me, Lord. I need it simple. A plain path, not an obscure path, not a path littered with obstacles.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
I need it to be plain. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies. For false witnesses are risen up against me and such as breathe out cruelty.
Well, that’s happening all the time on social media. That’s happening all the time all over the world. There are false witnesses that are rising up against Christ.
There’s false witnesses that breathe out cruelty. So what does David do? He goes to the sanctuary. He goes to the refuge of God’s care, his secret place, his pavilion.
And this is what happens in our hearts. I can’t emphasize that enough because if we’re going to help anybody, we need to have this kind of heart that David had. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
So that means that this is a venture that you and I can believe for, to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And what that’s talking about is seeing God’s goodness in an ordinary day. You got air right where you are.
That’s the goodness of the Lord. It is a skill to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. You look for it.
I look for it because or else what ends up happening is I can faint along the way. Unless I believe to see the goodness of Lord in the land of the living. God will show us what we need on a day by day basis, his goodness.
Now, when he displays, when he accentuates, when he points out his goodness to you, it might be a little different than me. Because what communicates to me may not exactly communicate to you. It could be getting a parking space.
It could be ministering deliverance to somebody. It could be an open door to speak the word. It could be all things coming together in a situation that previously had not come together.
It’s just infinitely amount of ways that God can demonstrate his goodness. But when his goodness is demonstrated to us, it lifts us up and out because we know he’s still there. It says wait on the Lord.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
And wait doesn’t mean like you’re sitting in a waiting room and like in a doctor’s office. That’s not what it means. It means set your expectation in the Lord because he has a timing for all the variables to come together that will be exactly what you need when you need it.
It may not be before, but it’ll be exactly when you need it. Wait on the Lord. Again, this is something that David rehearsed in his own soul, in his own heart.
Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. And he, God, shall strengthen by what heart? How’s he going to do that? Because he demonstrates his goodness to us.
He teaches us the way that we should go. He leads us in that way because of our enemies. He raises our head above our enemies.
That’s right. And we can inquire in his temple. We can go into his presence and seek out his wisdom.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. One thing have I desired of the Lord. And he continues to seek that relationship and the blessings that come from that relationship and recognizing that he needed to sit.
Remain dwell in the house of the Lord. And that’s where he would get his need met. I think there’s a lot of lessons here for us on a day by day basis.
But if you take away anything from this, understanding that this Psalm actually went through the mental processes of that wonderful man, David. And then God had it reported by revelation. What a great example to follow.
And that’s a man after God’s own heart in this context.
Key Takeaways
- I can’t emphasize that enough because if we’re going to help anybody, we need to have this kind of heart that David had.
- We’ll feel like we’re just being pushed under, and we can’t get the life-giving oxygen that we need.
- So even though we’re surrounded with enemies, we can have sacrifices of joy.
- He is asking God for help, and it’s happening in his heart, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies.
- It means set your expectation in the Lord because he has a timing for all the variables to come together that will be exactly what you need when you need it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “One Thing I Desire of the Lord”?
Rev. Rico Magnelli examines “One Thing I Desire of the Lord” through Psalm 27, showing how lord, heart, because shape a believer’s relationship with God, daily choices, and service to others.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from Psalm 27.
How can believers apply this teaching?
So even though we’re surrounded with enemies, we can have sacrifices of joy.
Scripture References
Psalm 27
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
