Irony Becomes Her

Just One Thing

Just one thing have I asked of Adonai; only this will I seek:
to live in the house of Adonai all the days of my life,
to see the beauty of Adonai and visit in his temple. [...]
Listen, Adonai, to my voice when I cry;
show favor to me; and answer me.
"My heart said of you, 'Seek my face.'"
Your face, Adonai, will I seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
don't turn your servant away in anger.

--from Psalm 27, Complete Jewish Bible, trans. David H. Stern

This is part of one of my favorite prayers "of David." He seems to be in a pretty rough spot. All of his "hopes," his ideas of what good things he wants in life, are not present realities, but placed somewhere in the future, in the unknown.

Toward the end of the Psalm, the supplicant gives the condition by which he is even able to make these prophetic requests: "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (NKJV). Even with all his enemies and wailings, David has an optimistic attitude, not for the afterlife but in earthly life. He holds to the conviction that, in the most literal sense, life is good. Though this conviction enables him to envision his hopes, he still finds himself calling on God to bring that goodness without delay.

He has several requests to make of God, but he prefaces them with "just one thing": he would like to live in God's house. This same idea comes up in several other psalms, and a couple years ago I was captivated by it. What does residence in God's house mean, and why is it so meaningful, for some, to sing "Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere" over and over again?

I don't think David means a physical temple. I think the house is a place of protection for one's spiritual core, a center in which circumstances and enemies have no admittance. When the spirit takes residence in God's house, the enemies so present throughout the psalms are ultimately powerless. A resident of the house is also much more likely than others to see the face of its owner, which is one of the corollaries to the "one thing" he first asks.

I want to see the face of God. I think I've smelled him in fresh humus, brushed his cheek on my Grand Canyon climb, and heard his voice in the thunder. Seeing his face would be, to me, the assembly of all of these pictures into a vision of goodness, beauty, and holiness incomprehensible to the human mind. Maybe that assembly won't come as a flash of lightning; maybe it will become more clear as I continue to receive sensory and extrasensory glimpses of the Almighty.

But for now, the only thing I can really ask is to live in his house--his refuge, his fortress. Only by faith can my bruisable self dwell there while my mind, body and emotions take dusty journeys through everyday life. God, protect my fearful heart and accident-prone psyche. I feel sheepish.

The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (NASB)

posted by Lynn @ 2:16 PM