Denver Seminary

In this amazing Psalm David says, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek.” In summary, David has lost everything. 

Calvin places this psalm’s setting in the midst of Absalom’s rebellion—the son usurping the father’s throne. As a result, David has nothing left except…one thing: a desperate desire for God. This is what it means to be a person after God’s own heart. 

Having lost everything, David doesn’t curse God. Instead, he wants God. 

Having been betrayed by family and friends, he doesn’t blame God. Rather, he seeks God.

Having been confronted by merciless human ugliness, he doesn’t forsake God. He longs for the beauty of God.

We must pause for a moment here and accept the reality that David was a real human person—more like us than different. In the context of this Psalm, David experiences betrayal. What must that have felt like for David? Surely, when he found out he must have been angry and hurt—the kind of hurt that can sting for a lifetime and screams for revenge. But David didn’t wallow in his pain, nor did he strike back in bitterness. He simply turned to the God he knew could not betray him.

What sort of a person had he become that he could “disregard all other interests” and seek God alone? How did he manage in the midst of absolute poverty to pray the absolute prayer? We must also pause to ask the question, “Is this the kind of person I would like to be?”