A couple of decades ago, while in college, a very unexpected defining moment broke into my life within a season of great personal difficulty and pain, without being in pursuit of anything in particular.

A Defining Moment Meets a Divided Heart

It was a brutally hot and humid July afternoon. I was driving in my red rust-bucket of a car (well, more like sitting, since I was at a dead stop in rush hour traffic), and to top it off, my gas tank was on “E.” In this state, my car’s air conditioning wasn’t working, since its version of A/C was driving with all four windows down while going over 40mph. I was trying to get to a physical therapy appointment to treat a herniated disc in my lower back, and as I was impatiently waiting to exit the irritating, jam-packed highway for the nearest gas station, I had burning shoots of pain pulsating down my left leg. Desperate to find something to help pass the time, I came across a CD in my glove compartment with the hand-written words “ONE THING” on it. It was a copy of a Bible message a close friend had handed me recently, from a guy I had never heard of before. I shoved it in my CD player, hoping to find some sense of comfort. I never expected what would happen next.

It was a message from Psalm 27, which was somewhat familiar to me at that point in my Christian journey. As I listened, I was immediately critical. He was shouting, with great passion, but his voice was simply annoying to me. However, as I endured listening to this message, something began to happen. Something began to awaken in me that I had never felt before. The adage that “passion isn’t taught, it’s caught” was becoming a reality in that moment. You see, up to that point in my life, Jesus was one of the things in my life rather than the one thing above all else. At that moment I was being awakened to the pursuit of ONE THING: GOD ALONE.

Up to that point in my life, Jesus was one of the things in my life rather than the one thing above all else. At that moment I was being awakened to the pursuit of ONE THING: GOD ALONE.

David’s One Pursuit

The context of Psalm 27 is that it was written in a time when David had been profiled as a threat to Saul’s reign, which had gone awry due to Saul’s idolatrous heart. At this point in David’s life, he also had recently been anointed to be the next king of Israel, which enflamed Saul’s jealous and selfish anger. The content of the Psalm further reveals that David was being pursued by enemies (vv. 2-3); he was shut out of the house of the Lord (v. 4); he was parting from his mother and father (v. 10), and was subject to slander, gossip, and false witness (v. 12). David’s very life and future was being threatened, and this was a period of great difficulty and darkness. Yet it was out of this dire situation that the cry for ONE THING emerged from the heart of David. We find this cry at the apex of the Psalm in verse 4, which powerfully and succinctly declares:

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4, ESV)

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4, ESV)

Before you read any further, stop and slowly re-read this verse two more times. Soak in every word.

The first two words of this verse are very significant. Of all the things David could ask the LORD for, he asks here for ONE THING. On one hand, his life is being pursued by enemies and he has been rejected by his own family. On the other hand, he holds the promise of future wealth, influence, power, and status as the next king of Israel. Yet the cry of his heart is not for comfort, the destruction of his enemies, or for his path to kingship to be quickened. All of David’s affections and desires are bound up in this ONE THING.

Notice here that David says there is “ONE THING” he is asking and that he is seeking after. Here we find desire and action working together towards a singular pursuit. David is asking God for the desire of HIM ALONE so that he would pursue GOD ALONE. This is significant, because to be a person of one pursuit takes both desire and action. Not only does David have a desire for God alone, he says he is going to put intentional time and energy into it. He says he is willing to sacrifice and forsake all other things for the pursuit of this ONE THING.

God’s Pursuit of a Distracted Heart

Let me honestly confess that I often find my pursuit of God not matching my desire for God. I say God is the most important and best thing in my life, yet if I take a realistic look at my life, how I spend my time, money, energy, and resources, my life wouldn’t speak as strongly as my heart would about my desire and pursuit of God. It takes both desire and action working together. All desire and no action leads to an unrealistic, apathetic, and lukewarm life. But all action and no desire leads to arrogance, hypocrisy, and dead religion. This isn’t meant to produce guilt as a motivator to pursue God, but rather a conviction to surrender to God. We must depend on God for our pursuit of Him alone.

Genuine desire will lead to authentic action. For genuine desire is humble; you depend on God as you pursue Him. “David’s holy desire led him to resolute action.”[1] In his seminal commentary on the Psalms, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Divided aims tend to distraction, weakness, disappointment…the man of one pursuit is successful.”[2]

Genuine desire will lead to authentic action. For genuine desire is humble; you depend on God as you pursue Him.

Little did I know that over two decades ago the Lord would reset my life-trajectory by the truth in Psalm 27:4. My grouchy attitude was invaded by His grace, and my irritable self-focus was transformed into an intimate God-focus. My circumstances didn’t change for a long time after that moment; but since that moment, my character has been changing.

A.W. Tozer once said, “Before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man…We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit.”[3] You see, the essence of our lives can be summed up in two words: “ONE THING.” For our lives always consist in the pursuit of one thing. That “one thing” can be expressed in two directions, yet only one can be chosen at any given time. The two directions are “God” or “self.” By God’s grace, the choice is ours. May we pursue Christ as our one thing above all else!

“Before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man…We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit.” – A.W. Tozer

Copyright © 2025 Justin Jeppesen. All rights reserved.   

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[1] Spurgeon, C.H. The Treasury of David: Classic reflections on the wisdom of the Psalms. Volume I, Part 2, Hendrickson, Peabody, MA. 2008. p. 2.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Tozer, A.W. The Pursuit of God. WingSpread. Camp Hill, PA. 2006. p. 11.