To the Christian Reader
Human beings in this world, especially since their fall away from God, remain at a distance from their happiness because they do not yet possess it fully. Therefore, it is no small part of their blessedness to be happy in expectation. Since everyone desires happiness, the desire for it is naturally planted in every person. It is the center of all the heart’s searching and all the turns a life may take. Yet most people, like the men of Sodom, grope about without finding the right door (Gen 19:11). Only to a true Christian, by supernatural light, are both the right object and the right way to happiness revealed. Through this revelation, the Christian recognizes that while here he is a stranger to his happiness. He desires to leave this earthly condition so that he may enjoy him who is “the desire of all nations” (Hag 2:7).
Although God distributes common blessings freely among both good and bad people, he keeps his best favors at a distance, as parents hold cherries or apples away from their children to sharpen their appetites for them. Indeed, a Christian’s highest perfection in this present condition of spiritual warfare consists in desire and expectation. This is enough for him because in it he has God’s acceptance. God knows what we are made of and how unable we are to bear full weight in the “balance of the sanctuary” (Dan 5:27), so he receives our best gold with grains of allowance.
The human soul is like a zero, whose value depends on what is placed before it. If it exhausts itself in the desire for earthly things, it is like the silkworm, which completes its work by destroying itself. But if the soul spends itself on things above, then when this earthly tabernacle has turned to ashes, a glorious phoenix will rise from them to immortality.
No marks distinguish a Christian better than inward ones. Hypocrisy, like goods made merely for sale, may present a fine outward appearance. A hypocrite may perform external works, but he cannot counterfeit inward affections. Among these inward marks, nothing reveals a Christian’s disposition better than the beating pulse of his desires. This worthy author, who did not depart this life without being greatly desired and no less lamented, has portrayed those desires most vividly in the following treatise. By holding it before himself like a mirror, a Christian may discern from these breathings whether he has spiritual life.
As for the object presented here, what could be more desirable than the highest good? As for the place, where could that good be more desired than in his house, where his presence is revealed? What better purpose could there be for entering that house than to behold God in the “beauty of holiness” (Ps 29:2)? What better duration of happiness could there be than “for ever”? This was the desire of the holy prophet David, and that it may also be your desire is the desire of
Your Christian friend,
H. I.
One Thing Above All
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; 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” (Ps 27:4).
This psalm is partly a prophecy. It was composed after some great deliverance from some great trouble. The blessed prophet David had experienced God’s goodness answering the trouble he was in. In the first part of this excellent psalm, he shows three things: his comfort, his courage, and his care.
David’s Comfort
His comfort was entirely in the Lord, whom he describes with all the beauty and excellence of speech he can command. He presents the Lord to himself through borrowed terms: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, the strength of my life” (Ps 27:1). In this way he draws comfort from God, the spring of comfort, “the Father of all comfort” (2 Cor 1:3-4). He labors to present God to himself in the sweetest possible way.
David sets God against every difficulty and distress. In darkness, he is “my light”; in danger, he is “my salvation”; in weakness, he is “my strength”; and in all my afflictions and troubles, he is the “strength of my life.” Here is the art of faith in every kind of perplexity: to be able to find something in God that answers every malady in ourselves.
David does not state this simply, but with holy triumph: “The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Ps 27:1). The question rises from a holy triumph that dares all other things to threaten him. “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps 27:1). This is one branch of his comfort.
The second branch and ground of his comfort is God’s goodness in the ruin and destruction of his enemies: “When the wicked, even mine enemies and foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell” (Ps 27:2). He describes his enemies first by their malice and then by their ruin.
First, his enemies were cruel enemies, bloodsuckers and devourers of flesh. We call such people cannibals. Indeed, when people without grace possess greatness and meet opposition, there is no approaching them. One person becomes a devil to another. Scripture calls them “wolves, that leave nothing till morning” (Zeph 3:3). Just as great fish eat up the little ones, great men make no more a matter of conscience of devouring other people than they do of eating bread. They have no more scruple about overthrowing and ruining people than about eating bread. “They eat up my people as they eat bread” (Ps 14:4).
Second, despite their cruelty, they were overthrown. David says, “When my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell” (Ps 27:2). Indeed, when God’s children are delivered, their deliverance is usually accompanied by the confusion of their enemies. God does two things at once because the particular troubles of his children come from enemies both inward and outward. He seldom, if ever, delivers them without also confounding their enemies. Thus David describes his own comfort in the Lord through the confusion of his enemies.
This will appear most clearly on the day of judgment. Then Satan and all who are led by his spirit, the whole malignant church, will be sent to their own place, and the church will be forever free from every kind of enemy. When the church is most free, its enemies are nearest to destruction. It is like a pair of scales: when one end goes up, the other goes down. When the church rises, down go its enemies. These, then, are the two branches of David’s comfort.
David’s Courage
His courage for the future appears in the third verse: “Though an host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.” He imagines the greatest possible danger. Though an army of men should surround him, “my heart shall not fear; though war rise against me, in this I will be confident” (Ps 27:3). Here is great courage for the future.
Experience produces hope and confidence. David was not so courageous by nature. But through experience of God’s former comfort and help, his faith broke out like fire from smoke or the sun from behind a cloud. His meaning is, “Though I have been in such great perplexities, my experience of God’s goodness gives me such confidence for the future that I will not fear.”
Whoever sees God’s greatness and power by the spirit of faith sees everything else below him as nothing. Therefore, David says that he is not anxious about any future opposition, not even the opposition of an army. “If God be with us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). He saw God in his power. Then, looking from God to the creature, he could say, “Alas, what is man?” When Micaiah had seen God sitting upon his throne, what was Ahab to him? Likewise, once the prophet David had seen God, he could say, “Though an host encamp against me, I will not fear,” etc. So we have seen his comfort in its two branches, along with his courage and confidence for the future.
David’s Care
What, then, is his care? That comes next. I will not analyze the psalm beyond the text before us. After setting out his comfort in the Lord and in the confusion of his enemies, and after expressing his courage for the future, he declares his care: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,” etc. This was his care.
David had enjoyed such sweet experience of God’s goodness and power as his light, salvation, and strength, particularly in God’s confounding of his enemies, that he considered how he might show his gratitude to God. He thought it most fitting to do this openly in the great congregation, in God’s church, among many others. Therefore, he says, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after still, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”
The words of the text first describe the holy prophet’s care and desire in general: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that I will seek after.”
Then he specifies that desire. What is the one thing he desired? It was that “I may dwell in the house of the Lord,” with the added circumstance of time, “all the days of my life.”
The desire is first presented generally through its supreme object: “One thing have I desired of the Lord.” Its frequency and fervency are also shown: “I will seek after it still.” I have desired it, and I will not cease seeking it. My desire will not be a flash that is quickly kindled and quickly extinguished. No, “one thing have I desired of the Lord, and that I will seek still.” I will not rest until my desire is fulfilled. This is the general desire and the degree of its intensity.
The particular desire is “that I may dwell in the house of the Lord.”
Next come the grounds and purposes of his particular desire to dwell in the “house of the Lord.” He desires it first because it is God’s house. This is a strong argument for dwelling there. It is good to live where God dwells, where his angels dwell, and where his Spirit dwells, “in the house of the Lord.” This is one argument that moved him: “I desire to dwell there because it is the house of God.”
This desire is also described by its duration: “that I may dwell in the house of God all the days of my life,” until I am housed in heaven, where I will no longer need the ordinances I need in this world. “I desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”
His second purpose is “to behold the beauty of God.” This was one reason he desired to dwell in God’s house. He did not want merely to feed his eyes with speculations and impressive sights, although there were indeed splendid things to see in the tabernacle. No, he possessed a more spiritual sight than that. He saw the inward, spiritual beauty of those spiritual things. The others were merely outward things, as the apostle calls them. His desire was, “I want to dwell in the house of the Lord to behold the beauty of the Lord,” especially the Lord’s inward beauty.
The third purpose of his desire is “that I may inquire in his temple.” He desired to dwell in God’s house because it was God’s house, to see God’s sweet and alluring beauty as it appeared in his ordinances, and to inquire more and more into God’s meaning. Divine things possess an unfathomable bottom and an endless depth of excellence. The more we know, the more we may know, and the more we seek, the further we may seek. These things do not merely satisfy our capacity but transcend it. Therefore, David desires to wade continually deeper into them, “to inquire in God’s temple.”
Thus we see the state of the verse. A general desire is presented: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after.” Then the desire is specified: to dwell in the house of the Lord, to see the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. These are its three purposes.
“One thing have I desired of the Lord,” etc.
Let us speak first of this desire as it is presented generally: “One thing have I desired,” etc. Then we will consider its increase, shown when he says, “I will seek after it still.” He desired it, and he would seek it more and more.
In this desire, consider first its object, “one thing,” and then the desire or seeking itself.
First, consider its object: “one thing.”
[Question:] Did holy David have only one thing to make the object of his desire? Was only one thing necessary? Alas, this poor life of ours is a life full of necessities. How many things our bodies need! How many things are needed for the dignity appropriate to our condition! How many things our souls need! It is a life of necessities. How, then, can he say, “One thing have I desired”?
[Answer:] He means that, by comparison, this is the one thing. I seek other things in their proper order and rank, insofar as they are consistent with the main thing, but I principally seek this one thing. All the rest will follow. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all the rest will be cast on you” (Matt 6:33). The best way to obtain all other things is to seek one thing first. Therefore, in heavenly wisdom, he says, “I desire one thing with an undivided desire.” I desire that more than everything else.
From this we may see that things differ in degree. God has established degrees among things in the world. Some things are good and some evil by his permission. Among good things, some are greater goods and others lesser goods. There are spiritual goods and outward goods. Among spiritual goods, some are means leading to spiritual good, while others are spiritually good in their own essence and nature.
The things that lead and prepare us are the means of salvation: the word, the sacraments, and membership in the visible church. The true spiritual good, the good we receive through these things, consists in faith, love, and inward spiritual strength. The prophet implies that things have different degrees when he says, “One thing have I desired.” That is, among this whole variety of things, he desired the best, which includes all the rest within it.
God has placed differences among creatures in order to exercise the wisdom he has given humanity, and he has given us a faculty for making a right choice among those differences. A person chooses rightly when he chooses as God chooses. God judges spiritual things to be the best things, and he gives them to his best friends. He knows they will make us good, supply every outward need, sanctify every state and condition to us, and last eternally. They are also suited to the spiritual nature of our souls. God knows this perfectly. Therefore, God has established spiritual things as the one essential thing, and when the soul has been made spiritual and bears God’s image, it chooses as God chooses.
“One thing have I desired.”
[Question:] But it may be asked again, why does he say “one thing”? He desired not only to live near the tabernacle but also to hear and see, to have the word read, and through it to receive grace. He desired a closer communion with God through grace, greater communion here, and fuller communion in heaven. Here is more than one thing.
[Answer:] I answer that it is all one. A chain has many links, yet it is only one chain. In the same way, all these things are one. David says, “I desire one thing.” What is it? I desire to live in God’s church and enjoy God’s ordinances. These will bring faith, fear, and the other graces. The Spirit accompanying the ordinances will be a spirit of faith, repentance, and grace. Through the graces of faith and the others that accompany the ordinances, I will have closer communion with God here and eternal, everlasting communion with God in heaven. All these are one because they are links in one chain. Therefore, when David says, “One thing have I desired,” he means the one thing that will bring all the others with it.
This is the aim of a gracious heart when it attends upon the means of salvation and lives within the church. Its purpose is not merely to hear for the sake of hearing and stop there, or to read for the sake of reading, performing it as a task and considering everything finished. Its purpose is to have the Spirit’s work joined with these activities, to receive the ministry of the Spirit in the gospel, to have the Spirit increase faith, and to have faith increase all the other graces. In this way, by grace, the soul grows into closer communion with God in Christ. This is the aim of every good hearer. Therefore, David speaks precisely when he says, “One thing have I desired.”
But let us say a little more about the object. Why does he say “one thing”?
First, it arises from the nature of God. The whole inclination and movement of our souls must be directed toward him. He will tolerate no wavering between two choices. The devil is content with half if we are willing to sin, because then he is sure of the whole. But God will have the whole heart. “My son, give me thy whole heart” (Prov 23:26), and “Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul” (Luke 10:27). The soul’s whole inclination and movement must be directed that way. Excellent things, unless we desire them above everything else, assert their own dignity. God asserts his dignity in this matter. He will not have us serve both him and Mammon (Matt 6:24). He will not have the heart divided.
Second, it arises from the nature of the soul. This is another reason David says “one thing.” When the soul applies itself to many things, it can do nothing well. Therefore, if I am to practice religion earnestly, “one thing have I desired.” A stream cut into many channels runs weakly and is unable to carry anything. Babylon was captured in this way. Its river was cut into many channels, and the conqueror could then cross them easily.
When the soul is divided into many channels and pursues this thing and that thing with an expenditure and concentration of care and effort, what becomes of its desire for the one necessary thing? The soul cannot pursue that thing with the strength it should have unless it fixes its mind on one thing. The human soul is finite. Therefore, it must gather its strength like a stream formed from many smaller rivers, which runs more strongly as they join it. The soul cannot desire the one thing as it should unless it brings all its smaller streams into that desire and makes it the principal one: to be saved in the world to come and, in this world, to enjoy communion and fellowship with God in Christ Jesus through the Spirit of grace and by using the appointed means. Unless this is the soul’s chief care, it gains no good while it remains so deeply occupied with other things.
Third, David sets out this “one thing,” to “dwell in the house of God,” to grow there in grace “as a cedar,” and to be a “tree planted there,” because of the very nature of grace, which unites other things to the main thing. The Spirit of grace sets heavenly and spiritual things before the soul’s eye in their greatness and excellence. Because the Spirit of grace sees that many things in this world are useful, it exercises a power that unites, joins, and subordinates them. It ranks all things so that they may agree with and assist the main purpose. Grace confines the soul to one thing.
After his fall, man “sought out many inventions,” as the wise man says (Eccl 7:29). He was not content with his condition while he stood but “sought out many inventions.” When man turns to created things, he does not know where to stop. No creature can provide a lasting support and rest for the soul. The soul is never quiet until it returns to God, and this is the one thing it desires.
When the soul is sanctified by God’s Spirit, it subordinates everything to this one thing. David desired many things besides this one, but not to the same degree. He desired them only insofar as they were consistent with his desire for this one necessary thing. Grace subordinates and ranks everything so that the best things have preeminence.
Therefore, he could rightly say “one thing,” because grace is disposed to rank everything under one purpose. This is a promise in the covenant of grace. God says, “I will give you one heart” (Jer 32:39). As soon as a person becomes a Christian, he has “one heart.” Before that, his heart was divided. It was fixed on many different objects, and God had the smallest share. The flesh had one share, one pleasure had another, and a different pleasure had another. But God says, “I will give you one heart.” That is, I will give you a heart that unites itself in desire for the best things and regulates everything else so that all becomes one. Then a person will “use the world as though he used it not,” so that the world serves the main purpose.
As I said, little streams help the main stream by running into it. In the same way, grace has power to subordinate everything in the world so that it may help the main purpose. “One thing have I desired,” and I desire other things insofar as they may help that main thing. Grace will teach us this art. It possesses a special skill in doing so.
Thus David rightly says, “One thing have I desired,” because of God’s nature, because the soul is finite, and because grace wisely orders everything. Grace aims at the principal thing and ranks everything else so that it may assist that purpose.
[Application:] This shows the vanity and baseness of every worldly person, who makes his secondary work his chief work and his chief work secondary. The “one thing necessary” is placed after everything else (Luke 10:42). Indeed, without grace, this is always the case. The first work of grace is to set the soul in order, subdue base affections, and sanctify the judgment. When grace has tuned and ordered the soul, the soul is then fitted to place the right value on things and rank them as it should. This is enough to explain the object itself in general: “One thing have I desired.”
Holy Desires and Prayer
Now I come to the affection itself, presented here by degrees.
“One thing have I desired, and that I will seek after.”
I have desired it, and I will continue to desire it. Desires are the issues of the heart. Thoughts and desires are the heart’s first offspring, its births. Thoughts breed desires. Thoughts in the mind or brain immediately strike the heart. They pass from the understanding to the will and affections. If we think of something as good, we desire it.
Thus thoughts and desires spring directly from the soul. Wherever they have strength and effectiveness, they set the outward person in motion. The soul’s desires are inward motions that stir up outward action until the desired thing is attained. Then there is rest. Desire stands in relation to the desired thing as motion does to rest. When motion reaches rest, it becomes quiet. In the same way, desire, which is an inward motion, stirs up outward action until the desired thing is accomplished. Then the soul rests in loving contentment and enjoyment of what it desired.
This desire was spiritual: “One thing have I desired of the Lord.” Holy desires arise from choice. A holy and wise desire, when it is not merely an idea, arises from choosing something good, for desire is simply the soul’s embrace of and union with a good thing. The understanding must first choose the good before the soul embraces it. The will carries the soul forward and advances it toward the good things that have been discovered. Desire therefore presupposes a choice of good things.
Choice presupposes that we esteem things before choosing them, and that esteem presupposes deliberate judgment. David’s desire, then, was not hasty or sudden. It arose from his sanctified judgment, which produced a holy esteem for these excellent things: the means of salvation, accompanied by the Spirit of God and containing such excellent comforts.
This desire presupposed right judgment, which led to esteem and then, above everything else, to a choice of these things over every other pleasure and possession in the world. At that time David lacked the comforts of his wife, children, and home. Yet he could say, “What do I care for these things? If I could enjoy the sweet, strong, and comforting presence of God in his ordinances, I could bear the absence of everything else well enough: my house, wife, children, and the pleasures and comforts of my country.” Therefore he said, “One thing have I desired.” His desire arose from a high esteem for and choice of the one thing of which he speaks.
I will briefly observe this point of doctrine, since I am hastening to the main subject:
The Spirit of God works effectively in the hearts of his children to stir up holy desires.
Nothing characterizes a Christian or marks one out so much as desires. All other things may be counterfeited. Words and actions may be counterfeit, but desires and affections cannot, because they are the soul’s immediate issues and productions. They come directly from the soul, just as fire itself cannot be counterfeit.
A person may ask his desires what kind of person he is. As the pulse of his desires goes, so goes his spiritual condition. Desires are far better indications than actions. A person may perform a good action that he does not love, and he may refrain from an evil action that he does not hate. But God is a Spirit and looks especially at the spirit. It is a good mark of a Christian when his desire is generally directed toward what is good, and the prevailing course, inclination, and tendency of his desire is good. “One thing have I desired.” The Spirit of God works effectively in stirring up such desires.
[Question:] But how shall we know whether these desires truly distinguish a sincere Christian from a hypocrite, and whether they are genuine?
[Answer:] We need go no farther than the text. Desires are holy and spiritual in the following ways.
1. They concern holy and spiritual things. “One thing have I desired,” says David. What was that? Was it to be rich and great in the world or to take revenge on his enemies? No, that was not the matter. It was as though he said, “I have many enemies, but God will deal with them and bring them down. What I desire is nearer communion with God. I desire to enjoy God’s ordinances.” His desire was fixed on spiritual objects, which showed that it was holy.
2. His desire was fervent. He says, “One thing have I desired, and that will I seek after.” It was not a blaze or flash that quickly appeared and quickly vanished. It was not a mere wish, a weak and ineffective desire. Its fervency showed that it was sound. David would not be quiet until the desired thing was accomplished.
3. It was constant. A person with such a desire will not be drawn away from it. Even the most wicked person in the world sometimes has good flashes, impulses, and desires. He sometimes cries, “Lord, have mercy upon me,” and offers other good, sudden prayers. But what is the prevailing inclination and tendency of his desires?
David’s desire was constant. It concerned spiritual things, was fervent and eager, and would not let him rest. What is natural is constant, and the same is true of what has become supernaturally natural. What becomes natural to a person in spiritual things remains constant, because nature is constant.
How does nature differ from artifice? Artificial behavior lasts only for a time. Teach a creature to act beyond its nature, and eventually it will display its natural qualities. Likewise, let a hypocrite play a part. If that part is not his nature, he will soon return to his natural behavior and reveal himself as a hypocrite again. Constancy and perseverance in good things, a settled course of good desires, show that the heart is good because the desire remains constant.
4. David’s desire was kindled by the love of God, not by base motives. Holy desires are kindled in the soul by the love of God. What does David say here? “One thing have I desired.” What was it? “To dwell in the house of the Lord.” What did he wish to do there? “To behold the beauty of God,” to see God in his excellence, beauty, and worthiness. His entire desire arose because his soul was captivated by the beauty of God’s house. The love of God stirred up this blessed desire in the prophet. It was therefore a holy and spiritual desire.
5. As holy desires spring from the love of God, so they tend toward the honor of God. What comes from heaven returns to heaven. Waters rising from a spring ascend as high as the place from which they came. In the same way, holy desires, kindled from heaven by a spirit of love, return to heaven. The love of God stirs them up, and through them the believer seeks God’s glory and honor and inward communion with him.
A person may sometimes desire holy things from merely natural motives. He may desire freedom from a particular sin or the possession of a particular grace, but not because he wants to honor God. Instead, he sees that grace might help him escape trouble or temporal judgment, or enable him to ingratiate himself with someone from whom he hopes to benefit. He therefore desires only as much grace as will advance his worldly intentions. He joins the world and God together.
These are not the desires that distinguish a Christian from anyone else. True holy desires spring from the love of God and proceed inwardly from the sincerity of the heart. The desired things please the person because they please God and possess loveliness in themselves. Such desires aim primarily at God’s honor and secondarily at our own good. This is a mark of good desires.
Thus, without going beyond the text, we can distinguish holy and heavenly desires from all others: “One thing have I desired, and that will I seek,” etc.
Let us therefore examine our desires and the prevailing inclination of our hearts. Desires issue from the will and affections, and they reveal the condition of the soul more than anything else in the world. Springs in low places are discovered by the mists and vapors that rise from the ground. People conclude that a spring lies below because they see the vapor ascending. In the same way, the rising of holy desires reveals a spring of grace within the heart.
Let those who mourn in Zion and have some evidence of grace, though they are not as good as they wish to be, look into their hearts. What is your desire? What is the prevailing inclination of your soul? When a person is converted and turned to God, what has been turned? Above all, his mind, judgment, and esteem of things have changed. His mind has been transformed, and with it the desire, inclination, and direction of his soul.
If someone asks him about the prevailing aim of his whole life, his answer is, “Oh, that God might be glorified, that his church and cause might prosper, and that others might be converted!” This is the inclination of his soul. It is not that he might become great in the world and ruin those who stand in his way, for such a desire reveals a corrupt hypocrite. The prevailing inclination and direction of the soul show what a person is.
Because I do not want anyone to be deceived in this matter, take one further sign as a substitute for all the rest. It also comes from the text: “One thing have I desired, and that will I seek after.” David would seek it not only through prayer but by using every available means. Indeed, he was never at rest until he was settled again in Zion. Even then he did not rest until he had obtained materials for the temple and secured a place for God’s honor “to dwell in” (Deut 12:11).
If our desires are not the desires of the sluggard, they will produce endeavor. We see this in David’s desire: “One thing have I desired, and that will I seek.” He used every means to enjoy sweet communion with God.
The sluggard craves and has nothing. In the same way, many spiritual sluggards crave and have nothing because they do not express their desire through their endeavors. Wherever desire is genuine, there will be effort. Desire springs from the will, and the will is the appetite of the whole person. The understanding alone does not carry the person forward; the will does. When the will is determined to have something, it carries all the faculties with it. Thus, when desire is genuine, it stirs up all the powers and faculties to perform their duty and seek the possession and accomplishment of what is desired.
Those who claim to have good desires toward God but live scandalously and negligently, taking no pains with their souls, possess only the sluggard’s desire if they make no effort to remove obstacles and hindrances. We may know that the desire for something is genuine when a person labors to remove whatever stands in its way, if he can. If the obstacles are not impossible to remove, he will remove them if he is able.
Some people make excuses, saying, “There is a lion in the way” (Prov 26:13), when they could remove the obstacle if they were willing. Such people have no true desire, for true desire is accompanied by the removal of every possible hindrance to the thing desired.
[Question:] But let me resolve one question. How shall I know whether my desire is strong and mature enough to give me comfort?
[Answer:] If the desire for grace rises above the desire for any earthly thing, so that a person can say with David, “One thing have I desired,” it is a good sign. If he can say, “I desire freedom from sin as a greater blessing to my soul than freedom from any calamity,” then his desire may comfort him.
Indeed, a person can never receive comfort from his desire until it has risen to this height. No one will ever come to heaven who does not desire the things that lead to heaven above all earthly things. Nor will anyone escape hell who does not consider it worse and more terrible than every earthly misery. God brings no fools to heaven who cannot discern the difference between things.
Let us understand, therefore, that our desires are of little value if we have some desire to be good but a greater desire to be rich and important in the world or to possess some particular position. If our desire for these things is stronger than our desire to find favor with God, or if we hate poverty, disgrace, deprivation, and other troubles more than we hate sin and the hell to which sin leads, it is a sign that our judgments are corrupt and our desire is not purely spiritual. Such a desire does not correspond proportionately to the worth of the thing desired.
David says, “One thing have I desired.” His desire carried him swiftly toward the “one thing necessary,” above everything else whatsoever. You have now seen from the text the distinguishing marks of true desires as opposed to false ones. I need add no more if we consider what has been said.
