Psalm 27:4 — “One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek…”

“One thing,” says the psalm. “One thing I do,” says Paul (Philippians 3). “You lack one thing,” says Jesus to a rich man (Mark 10). “Only one thing is needed,” says Jesus to Martha (Luke 10). “I know one thing,” says the blind man whom Jesus had healed (John 9). These declarations about “one thing” vary, but all recognize that there are moments when you have to focus. In Western culture we have gotten used to “multitasking,” partly out of apparent necessity, partly out of choice. We think we can keep adding one more thing to our schedules without asking what we are going to abandon to create the room, and we aren’t very good at standing back and asking what has priority. It’s hard to perceive the moment when you have to focus, and it’s hard to do the focusing. Perhaps the recurrence in Scripture of the expression “one thing” indicates that it’s not just a Western problem.

 Goldingay, J. (2013). Psalms for Everyone, Part 1: Psalms 1–72 (pp. 85–86). Westminster John Knox Press;Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.