DAVID: BEING A PERSON OF ONE THING
I. DAVID A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART
4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of
my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. (Psalm 27:4)
A. Ps. 27:4 gives us insight into the heart of one that God declared to be a man after His own heart.
14 The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart… (1 Sam. 13:14)
B. The man after God’s own heart: 3-fold expression
1. To obey the commands of God's heart (David’s sincere intention to fully obey God)
2. To study the emotions of God's heart (intimacy in encountering God’s beauty and heart)
3. To contend for the purpose of God’s heart (full breakthrough of God’s power/promises)
C. David declared that the primary preoccupation of his heart was to seek God’s beauty. God’s beauty was the
powerful force that empowered and conquered David’s heart. The highest goal in David’s life was to know God and to
be in God’s house with 4,000 musicians and 288 singers worshipping God (1 Chr. 23:5; 25:7).
II. ONE THING I HAVE DESIRED OF THE LORD…TO BEHOLD HIS BEAUTY
4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek…to behold the beauty of the LORD. (Ps 27:4)
A. David wrote this Psalm sometime after he was he was 37 years old. David did not establish his tabernacle in Jerusalem
as a place to offer songs of praise until after he was made king of Israel when he was 37 years old. Also, this Psalm was
written before his parents died (v. 10), thus David (as the youngest of 8 brothers) could not have been too old or his
parents would not have still been living. My conclusion is that David was probably in his 40’s when he wrote Psalm 27
when he was the leader of the nation and the military, yet he prioritized seeking God’s beauty.
6 I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle…I will sing praises to the LORD. (Ps. 27:6)
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me. (Ps. 27:10)
B. The phrases, “I have desired” and “that will I seek” are significant in that they reveal what was in David’s heart
both in his youth and as an older man. In David’s teenage years, he sang love songs to God without any human
audience. He sought God’s beauty during his 20’s, as jealous King Saul chased him throughout all of Judah to kill him.
Then in his 30’s when he was king at Hebron and in his later years from his 40’s up until he died at age 70 as king
over all Israel.
C. Whether in a season of victory or testing, whether in a time of exhilaration or depression, the primary thing
David set his heart on was God’s beauty. David described it as, “the one thing he most desired and sought.”
D. It was the goal and focus of his life. He exerted energy and invested time in this. David was on a life long
treasure hunt to discover the beauty of God.
E. We must seek God’s beauty because God delights in hiding it. Thus, when He progressively unveils His beauty, it
subdues us and changes us emotionally as He makes us wholehearted lovers of God. God’s eternal beauty will be
progressively unveiled forever. He only unveils in this age to those who are hungry for it.
F. David wrote, “I’ve desired it.” It's the primary preoccupation of his life. David had many things that occupied his
time and mind at a secondary level. The secret of his life was in having one primary preoccupation with the beauty of God.
G. Jesus promised anyone who sought His kingdom first, that He would add “all these things” (financial, emotional,
social, etc.) to their life in His way and timing.
33 Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Mt. 6:33)
H. Many believers continue to seek “all these things” first without ever recognizing it. Our hearts are weakened
when “all these things” gain ascendancy in us as primary passions. Many good things designed by God to be secondary,
easily become primary in the Western culture which is founded on a sense of entitlement and idealism (fantasy) that is
produced by the media. Ask the Lord to reveal to your heart how much fantasy you are pursuing and how much you
really seek first the Kingdom of God from His point of view.
I. We were created and designed by God to be a people of one thing. Being out of alignment with seeking God and
His kingdom first results in bringing us great emotional fatigue to many even in the prophetic Church. There are many
spiritual and emotional implications in having only one thing as the very highest preoccupation of our life. It's an
important psychological principle that keeps our strength from being diluted. This was a life principle that David
tapped into.
J. David spent much time in prayer, fasting and the Scripture (Ps. 19:7-11; 35:13; 69:7-12; 109:24).
7 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the
fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to
be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Ps. 19:7-11)
7 For Your sake I have borne reproach…8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother's
children; 9 because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen
on me. 10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach. 11 I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, and I am the song of the drunkards. (Ps. 69:7-12)
III. DAVID’S FIVE PROPHETIC SEASONS
A. David’s life had five prophetic seasons that are easy to define. In each season, David had a specific city and a
specific lesson associated with it. The cities are: 1. Bethlehem; 2. Gibeah; 3. Adullam; 4. Hebron; 5. Jerusalem (Zion).
B. Bethlehem: tested with faithfulness in small things. This is when David received his call to be king of Israel. God’s
primary earthly goal for David was to make him a worshiping warrior king, being loved by God and being a lover of God.
C. Gibeah: tested with early promotion (1 Sam. 16:19–22). David moved to this city which was the capital of Saul’s
government (1 Sam. 15:34; 18:2). He lived there from age 17 until he was approximately 23. In this season, David had
his first experiences with earthly success.
D. Adullam: tested with difficulty. David escaped to the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1–2) where he was tested with
hardship for about 7 long years to establish his identity in God.
E. Hebron: tested with waiting for the fullness God’s promises. This season began with the death of King Saul. David
was thirty years old.
1 David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go up to…the cities of Judah?" The LORD said, "Go up." David said,
"Where shall I go up?" He said, "To Hebron." (2 Sam. 2:1)
1. David asked, “What if God doesn’t want me to be king of Israel in this season even though God had spoken that
David would be king of Israel (approx. 13 years earlier). This is one of David’s great prayers, “Shall I go up?”—meaning,
should he go to the capital city of Gibeah to replace Saul as king. There were 12 tribes of Israel. Hebron represented only
one. David found his identity in God, not in being king of Israel.
2. In Hebron, God only released part of David’s promised destiny. This surely disappointed David’s men who
interpreted the death of Saul as the indication that God had made a way for David to be king over all Israel. David
spent 7 years limited to Hebron. David did not find his identity in being king of Israel. David’s greatest agenda was
to be a lover of God.
F. Zion: Promises fulfilled. David reigned in Jerusalem when he was 37 years old. (2 Sam. 5:1–3)
G. God promised David a role as king in the Millennial Kingdom. The mystery of God’s government is that He binds
Himself in part to the decisions that His people make for righteousness and sin. For example, since Solomon sinned he
forfeited his place of authority that God offered him in the age-to-come.
6 He (Lord) said to me (David), “…I have chosen him (Solomon) to be My son…7 I will establish his kingdom forever, if
he is steadfast (perseveres) to observe My commandments…” 9 David said…"As for you, Solomon, know the God of
your father…if you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever." (1 Chr. 28:6-9)
IV. DAVID’S IDENTITY: BASED IN INTIMACY, MEEKNESS & REVELATION
A. David’s identity (value/success) was established in who he was spiritually in three core issues: his intimacy with
God, his meekness before people and the measure of the spirit of revelation that he cultivated. His identity or sense of
value (success) was found in his intimacy with God as being loved by God and in being a lover of God, then, in walking
in meekness with people and third, in having revelation of God’s Word (heart). David measured the success of his life
in context to how much he grew in the anointing of love, meekness and revelation.
B. The two main pillars in our intimacy with God are our confidence in God’s love for us and in our love for God
expressed in seeking to walk in 100-fold obedience.
21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…23 If anyone loves Me, he will keep My
word… (Jn. 14:21-23)
C. Our intimacy with God consists of who we are as “one that God loves” and then as “one who loves God” in return.
We cannot separate intimacy with God from our obedience and confidence in God’s mercy. The power of David’s life
was his confidence in love before God. David had confidence that God loved him, even in his weakness. David also had
confidence that God esteemed his love for God as genuine even when it was weak and imperfect. Confidence in love in
both dimensions is necessary if we are to enjoy intimacy with God.
V. DAVID SOUGHT GOD’S FACE EVEN IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLE
5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me…6 Now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle…I will sing praises to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with
my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your
face, LORD, I will seek." (Ps.27:5-8)
A. When David’s circumstances caused him great pain he cried, “Deliver me and give me mercy.” God instructed
David to seek His face when his trouble and enemies mounted up in his life. God’s strategy was to deliver David’s heart
before He changed David’s circumstance. God allowed pressure to be used to cause David to make time to cry out to
God and to open his heart to receive the revelation of God’s beauty as the necessary comfort to the pain of his heart.
B. Encountering God’s beauty empowered David to endure difficulty as it changed his emotions. Over time, David
realigned his heart thousands of times to the “one thing.” Difficult circumstances and our stumbling in our sinful
weakness are meant to drive us to God’s face.
C. Some promise God that if He first delivers them that they will then begin to gaze on Him. God says, “No, gaze at Me first
then I will deliver you.” God cares about our ministry, money, reputation, comfort, etc. He knows that to be preoccupied
with His beauty is the place of our greater and lasting deliverance. If God forgives us and changes our circumstance
without drawing us to His beauty, then our heart will again stumble in the next time of trouble. Trouble is one of God’s
tool to help us to determine to realign our heart. Do not waste a good trial.