The Beholding-Becoming Principle

Psalm 27:4
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.

What does it mean to "behold the beauty of the LORD?"  Phrases similar to this occur in several places in the scriptures - "Behold your God!" (Isaiah 40:9); "Behold the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36), etc.  But Psalm 27:4 is notable because King David - easily Israel's most powerful and successful king, and arguably one of the greatest political leaders in history - said that this was the only thing he wanted from God.

So what is it?  What did it mean to David to behold the beauty of the God of Israel, and why was it such a big deal to him?

 

Beholding God is Meditation on God

As usual, the Bible explains itself if we keep reading.  The rest of the Psalms give us an example of what this "one thing" that David wanted above all else was. 

Psalm 18:2
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

Psalm 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell therein.

Psalm 25:8-9
⁸ Good and upright is the LORD;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
⁹ The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.

God is a Rock.  God is a Fortress.  God is a Deliverer.  God is a Shepherd.  God owns everything and is rich beyond measure.  God is good and upright.  God is a teacher.  And so on.  David filled his psalms with meditations on the attributes and personality of God.

Meditation should not be a scary word to Christians.  It is a profoundly Biblical concept, and in most translations the word is used frequently.  Psalm 1 says that the righteous man meditates in the Word of God day and night.  Psalm 119 repeats the word 8 times, always in reference to either the words or the works of God.  Paul tells the Philippians to meditate on "whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, or of good report," and Timothy to meditate on the Word and doctrine, giving himself entirely to them.

Richard Foster has an excellent discussion of the difference between Christian meditation and eastern meditation in his book Celebration of Discipline.  In a nutshell, the difference is that the Christian focuses his mind on the things of God, while in eastern meditation, the practitioner seeks to empty his mind and thus opens himself up to whatever spiritual influences are available.  The two practices are diametrical opposites.

So to behold the beauty of God is to mediate on God - His character, His works, His word.

 

Knowing God is Crucial

If you ask the average Church-goer today what he thinks about the attributes of God, you're likely to get either a blank look or a pat answer gleaned from a popular worship song.  "Theology Proper," as it's technically called - meaning the study of God Himself - takes a back seat in most churches today.  We love the fact that God is forgiving and loving and has a wonderful plan for our lives...  But for the most part, what we really care about is precisely that: our lives. 

What we like to hear about in church is what God can do for us.  We are big on salvation... fixing relationships... getting out of debt... dealing with emotional problems... healing... etc.  All of these things are good and Biblical.  But they cannot be central, because human beings cannot be central.  A theology that puts human beings in the center will rapidly drift away from the teaching of the Bible.  With humanity in the center, we can find a use for a God of love, a God who wants to improve our lives, and even a God who laid down His life for us (as long as we don't think too hard about why He did that). 

But what do we do with a God who is jealous?  A God who has fiery wrath towards sin?  A God who threatens - and delivers - horrific judgment to unrepentant sinners?

David knew God - not just the parts of His nature that were comfortable, but all of Him, as He really is.  He knew God as a tender Shepherd (Psalm 23), but he also knew that God is a just judge who is angry every day (Psalm 7).

This is a crucial.  It really is the "one thing" that matters for us to know God as He actually is.  There is a terrible verse in Matthew in which Jesus warns us that it is possible to think you are a Christian, and even be active in ministry, and yet never actually know Him at all. (Matthew 7:22-23)

 

As We Behold God We are Transformed

As if it were not enough for us to come into genuine encounter with the Creator of the universe - who loves us with fiery, jealous, dangerous passion - there is more.  Another reason that David's "one thing" was to behold God's beauty was that he found that as He did so, he himself was transformed:

Psalm 17:15
¹⁵ As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

As David meditated on God, he found that his own character was being changed into the likeness of God.  Not into the likeness of God's deity: we will never be omnipotent, infinite, omniscient, or omnipresent (though we are eternal right now!)  But our character can become like His.  We can become gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, and great in mercy (Psalm 145:8).  We can love righteousness and hate wickedness (Psalm 45:7). We can learn to humble ourselves (Psalm 113:6).

Paul said the same thing this way:

2 Corinthians 3:18
^18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is precisely the same thought, but with a specifically Trinitarian understanding. 

It is not just "God" that we behold in his glory to become transformed, but specifically the Lord Jesus Christ.  God incarnate.  The "express image of His Person" (Hebrews 1:3).  The Word made flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:14).  Jesus said of Himself that whatever we saw Him do or heard Him say was precisely what the Father was doing or saying (John 14:9-11, 5:19-30).

Also, it is not just a general principle that by beholding the Lord Jesus we become like Him - it is the operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives that transforms us.  In fact, this process of meditating on the life, words, and works - especially the Cross - of the Lord Jesus is a significant part of what it means to "walk in the Spirit," to which is attached the stunning promise that "you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)

 

So let us make a beginning!  This is the one thing that matters in this life.  Getting to know Jesus through His Word and becoming like Him through His Spirit.  Let's set aside an hour a day, open up the Gospels, and read through the story of Jesus again with prayer on our lips.  Jesus, I want to know You!  Jesus, let me become like You!