taken from spurgeon's treasury of david...
'one thing'...
the man of one book is eminent, the man of one pursuit is successful.
let all our affections be bound up in one affection and that affection set upon heavenly things.
(note: God Himself)
'have i desired'...what we cannot at once attain, it is well to desire.
God judges us very much by the desire of our hearts.
he who rides a lame horse is not blamed by his master for want of speed,
if he makes all the haste he can and would make more if he could.
God takes the will for the deed with His children. (really?..)
'of the Lord'...this is the right target for desires,
this is the well into which to dip our buckets,
this is the door to knock at,
the bank to draw upon;
desire of men and lie on the dunghill with lazarus;
desire of the Lord and be carried of angels into abraham's bosom.
our desires of the lord would be sanctified, humble, constant, submissive, fervent
and it is well if, as with the psalmist, they are all molten into one mass.
under david's painful circumstances we might have expected him to desire
repose, safety and a thousand other good things, but no.
he has set his heart on the pearl and leaves the rest.
'that will i seek after'...holy desires must lead to resolute action.
the old proverb says, 'wishers and woulders are never good housekeepers'
and 'wishing never fills a sack'.
desires are seeds which must be sown in the good soil of activity or they will yield no harvest.
we shall find our desires to be like clouds without rain, unless followed up by practical endeavours.
'that i may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life'...for the sake of communion with the King,
david longed to dwell always in the palace
so far from being wearied with the services of the tabernacle,
he longed to be constantly engaged in them, as his life long pleasure.
he desired above all things to be one of the household of God,
a home born child, living at home with his Father.
'to behold the beauty of the Lord'..
(note: can happen reading,
better yet when falling into meditation over a passage/verse/phrase/word
best when meditation is mingled with talking with, inquiring of Jesus how to.... or seeking grace to imitate
full of glory when Jesus is sweetly present and His essence is in a thought, a word, an action...)
'and to enquire in His temple'...
(note: am i relating to God as an It, a docile genie or inanimate vending machine
dedicated to doing my every desire?
or am i asking Him about every blessed and cursed thing...what Lord? how can You be seen..known..loved?
spurgeon
verse 4...some interpreters vary concerning what the psalmist aims at;
i understand thus much in a generality, which is clear that
he means a communion and fellowship with God, which is that one desire...john stoughton
one thing...the first thing, then, is david's choice, summarily described in the word, 'one thing'.
so Christ confirmeth the prophet's word while He called mary' choice (of sitting at His feet listening)
'one thing' in luke 10.42 ('but only a few things are necessary,
really only one,
for mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.') ...william struther 1633
...'changes, great changes and many bereavements there have been in my life.
i have been emptied from vessel to vessel.
but one thing has never failed-one thing makes me feel that my life has been ONE;
it has calmed my joys,
it has soothed my sorrows,
it has guided me in difficulty,
it has strengthened me in weakness.
it is the presence of God-a faithful and loving God.
yes, brethren, the presence of God is not only light, it is unity.
it gives unity to the heart that believes it
-unity to the life that is conformed to it.
it was the presence of God in david's soul that enabled him to say,
'One thing have i desired of the Lord'
and in st. paul's soul that enabled him to say,
THIS ONE THING I DO, forgetting those thing that are behind
and reaching forth to those things which are before
I PRESS TOWARD THE GOAL
for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. philippians 3.13-4
george wagner, in the 'wanderings of the children of israel' 1862
'one master passion in the breast,
like aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest. alexander pope
'that i may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life'...
to approach continually unto the temple and thither continually to repair
was the dwelling, no doubt, here meant;
to dwell, to reside continually there, not to come for a spurt or a fit...
and thus dwelt hannah, the daughter of phanuel, who is said, in..luke,
(note: all these examples during times when copies of the bible were not readily available)
for a space of four score and four years not to have gone out of the temple.
not that she was there always, but often, saith Lyra and the venerable bede to the same purpose...
and the same luke, speaking of our saviour's disciples,
after they had seen Him ascended into heaven-
'they returned..to jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple,
praising and blessing God.'.
thus st. austin's mother, in her time too, might be said
to dwell in God's house...that she, in Thy scriptures, saith st. austin,
might hear o God, what Thou saidst to her and Thou, in her prayers, what she said to Thee'.
in another place whom he calleth the emmets (ants) of God.
'behold the emmet of God, saith he, it riseth early every day,
it runneth to God's church,
it there prayeth,
it heareth the lesson read,
it singeth a psalm,
it ruminateth what it heareth,
it meditateth thereupon
and hoardeth up within itself the precious corn gathered from that barn floor
john day's 'david's desire to go to church', 1609
'the house of the Lord'...it (the tabernacle, the sanctuary), is called the house of God
because he is present there, as a man delights to be present in his house.
it is the place where God will be met withal.
as a man will be found in his house and there he will have suitors come to him, where he reveals his secrets.
a man rests, he lies and lodgeth in his house.
where is a man so familiar as in his house?
and what other place hath he such care to protect and provide for as his house?
and he lays up his treasures and his jewels in his house.
so God lays up all the treasures of grace and comfort in the visible church.
in the church he is to be spoken with as a man in his house.
there he gives us sweet meetings;
there are mutual, spiritual kisses..'let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth cant. 1.2
a man's house is his castle, as we say, that he will protect and provide for.
God will be sure to protect and provide for His church.
therefore He calls the church of God, that is, the tabernacle (that was the church at that time),
the house of God. richard sibbes
'the beauty of the Lord'...in connection with these words, we would try to show that
the character of God is attractive and fitted to inspire us with love for Him
and to make us, as it were, run after Him. ..
1. some of the elements of the beauty of the Lord.
God is a Spirit. hence His beauty is spiritual and its elements must be sought for in spiritual perfection.
one of the elements of this beauty is holiness.
but the elements of the divine beauty on which we intend at this time to dwell,
are those which are included under the general description of God's mercy and grace.
the attractiveness of God's mercy and grace.
the attractiveness of these is more easily perceived and their influence is sooner felt
by persons in our fallen condition.
it is mainly through the instrumentality of these that sinners are won over from their enmity against God
and that the Holy Ghost sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts.
another thing , which we may call an element of beauty in God,
is the combination of his various attributes in one harmonious whole.
the colours of the rainbow are beautiful, when taken one by one;
but there is a beauty in the rainbow, which arises not from any single tint;\
there is a beauty in it which would not exist if the several hues were assumed in succession
-a beauty which is the result of their assemblage and collocation
(to set or place together, ie. especially side by side)
and consists in their blended radiance.
in like manner do the several perfections, which co exist and unite in the nature of God,
produce a glorious beauty.
holiness is beautiful;
mercy is beautiful
truth is beautiful.
but over and above, there is a beauty which belongs to such combinations and harmonies
as the psalmist describes, when he tells us, 'mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other'.
Thy mercy, o Lord, is in the heavens and Thy faithfulness reacheth the clouds.
Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgments are a great deep' etc.
2. we are next to inquire where the beauty of the Lord may be seen.
it may so far be seen in the natural world.
the throne of nature, although in some respects clouds and darkness are round about it,
is not without its rainbow of beauty, any more than the throne of grace.
the beauty of the Lord may be seen in the moral law. in the law! even so.
in the unbending law, with its terrible anathema, his beauty and amiableness shine forth.
the law is full of love.
the duties of the law are duties of love.
love is the fulfilling of the law. the curse of the law is designed and employed for the maintenance of love.
obedience to the law and the reign of love, are but different aspects of the same state of things.
and one of the sublimest lessons of the law is the fact that God is love.
again, the beauty of the Lord may be seen in the gospel.
we see it, as it were, by reflection, in the law; in the gospel we see it directly.
the law shows us the hearts of men, as god would have them to be;
the gospel shows us God's own heart.
again, the beauty of the Lord is seen in Christ.
it is seen in Christ, for he is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person
and he that hath seen Christ, hath seen the Father.
the beauty of the Lord is seen in Christ, when we consider Him as the Father's gift,
and when we look to His offices (prophet, priest, king) and to His character.
the character of Christ was the finest spectacle of moral beauty which men or angels ever set their eyes on.
3. we conclude by noticing some traits of the beauty of the Lord.
a. it never deceives
2. it never fades
3. it never loses its power
4. it never disappoints condensed from andrew gray 1805-61, in the 'gospel contrasts and parallels
to enquire in His temple...the more grace the more business ye will find ye have to do with God
in His ordinances;
(arrangement in regular sequence or proper relative order...in this case, speaking of God's attributes
-that which is attributed to a person...characteristic, quality)
little grace hath little to do
and much grace hath much to do;
he hath always business with God, special earnest business
to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His temple.
oh i have somewhat to enquire after;
i am to do something by this duty and therefore cannot trifle.
he that comes to visit his friend in a compliment,
he talks, he walks, he trifles and goes home again;
but he that comes upon business, he is full of it;
he is like abraham's honest and faithful servant. gen. 24.33
'and there was set meat before him to eat:
but he said, i will not eat, until i have told my errand'.
i have great business with the Lord, about the church and about my soul
and i will not eat nor talk nor think nor dally about anything,
till i have told mine errand or heard my Maker's errand unto me.
and for this end it's a rare thing to carry somewhat always on the spirit,
to spread before God, a heart pregnant with some needful request or matter
whereof to treat (deal) with God.
psalm 45.1 my hear overflows with a good theme;
i address my verses to the king
my tongue is the pen of a ready writer....richard steele's antidote against distractions, 1673
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