"One Thing I Desire”: The Single-Minded Disciple In A Distracted World Series

“One Thing I Desire”: The Single-Minded Disciple in a Distracted World — Psalm 27:4 (NLT)

Introduction: The Tyranny of Too Many Things

We live in an age of endless options and constant noise. Notifications never stop. News cycles never rest. Opinions shout. Screens glow. Souls starve.

The great battle of discipleship in the 21st century is not persecution — it is distraction.

Many believers are sincere, busy, active… and yet spiritually thin. We follow Jesus, but we are pulled in a thousand directions at once. Divided hearts lead to diluted devotion.

Into this fractured world, Psalm 27 speaks with holy clarity — not many things, but one thing.

David, a warrior-king surrounded by enemies, chaos, and responsibility, distils life down to a single desire. This verse is not written from a monastery but from the battlefield. And that is why it matters for us.

Psalm 27:4 (NLT): “The one thing I ask of the LORD—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

Psalm 27 is attributed to David, likely written during a season of intense threat — possibly during Saul’s pursuit or later political turmoil. The psalm moves between confidence and cry, bold faith and honest fear. That alone should comfort us — mature faith still wrestles.

Yet at the heart of the psalm is verse 4 — the centre of gravity.

David is not asking for safety, success, or victory. He asks for presence.

Theologically, Psalm 27 reveals a profound truth:

God Himself is the reward of faith.

Not blessings. Not breakthroughs. Not platforms. God.

SERMON OUTLINE

The Priority of One Thing

The Passion to Dwell with God

The Purpose of Beholding His Beauty

The Fulfilment of This Desire in Jesus Christ

1. The Priority of One Thing

“The one thing I ask of the LORD—the thing I seek most…” (v.4)

The Hebrew word for “one” (????? — achat) means singular, united, undivided. David is not multitasking spiritually. This is focused longing.

“Ask” (?????? — sha’al) speaks of humble dependence.

“Seek” (??????? — baqash) means to pursue earnestly, relentlessly.

This is not a casual prayer. This is a consuming pursuit.

We often add Jesus to our lives instead of ordering our lives around Jesus.

Discipleship is not Jesus plus everything else — it is Jesus first, Jesus central, Jesus supreme.

Think of a compass. You can have many interests, many responsibilities, many relationships — but only one true north. Lose that, and everything else becomes disorientated.

David’s north was God Himself.

John Piper: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

That is not poetic sentiment — it is discipleship reality. When God becomes our deepest satisfaction, obedience stops feeling like duty and starts becoming delight.

2. The Passion to Dwell with God

“…is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life…”

David could not literally live in the Tabernacle. Only priests served there. This is not about geography — it is about relationship.

The “house of the LORD” symbolised God’s manifest presence among His people.

Hebrew Insight - “Live” (?????? — yashab) means to dwell, remain, abide, settle down.

David is not visiting God occasionally — he wants a lived-in relationship.

Psalm 84:1–2 (NLT): “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heaven’s Armies. I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD.”

This psalm was written by the sons of Korah — worship leaders who understood God’s presence as life itself.

Modern disciples must resist a Sunday-only Christianity. God does not want visiting hours — He wants abiding hearts.

R.T. Kendall: “The secret of walking with God is walking with God.”

There is no shortcut. No substitute. No spiritual hack. Discipleship grows in daily, quiet, faithful communion with the Lord.

3. The Purpose of Beholding His Beauty

“…delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.”

Hebrew Word Study

“Delighting” or “beholding” (????? — chazah) means to gaze, to look attentively, to perceive with understanding.

“Beauty” (????? — no’am) refers to pleasantness, sweetness, graciousness.

David is captivated by who God is, not just what God does.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT): “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

Theological Truth

You become what you behold.

The world disciples us through constant exposure. Scripture disciples us through holy contemplation.

A child slowly begins to sound like their parents — not through instruction, but imitation. So too, the believer becomes like Christ by lingering in His presence.