Behold and Inquire
"One thing have I desired 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 behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." Ps.27
There are two reasons the Psalmist wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord. He wanted to behold, and he wanted to inquire.
Beholding is experiencing beauty. Inquiring is the study of truth. The vision of beauty, and the study of the truth, together make the perfect pair. Religion is hobbled if we don’t have both. To behold beauty without inquiring is emotionalism. To inquire without beholding is mere intellectualism. True faith unites both.
But there is an order in their union. Beholding comes first. I cannot begin to inquire until I have begun to gaze. I can’t understand the reason until I have felt the power. Psalm 43:3 says, "O send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me." (Ps. 43:3) Just recently, I noticed the order. He asks for light before truth. Anselm once said, “I do not know, in order to believe. I believe in order to know.” Anselm desired beauty before knowledge. You can never pray for truth until you have prayed for light. Why? Because God’s answers require the Spirit’s insight. The beauty of the Lord has recesses that I cannot explore on my own, and secrets that I cannot fathom myself. If there are knots to be untied in my heart, it is the Spirit alone Who unties them. So if I am allowed to gaze at its beauty, I don’t mind waiting for the truth to come.
The child of God does not know in order to believe. But believes in order to know. So, he will say,
“In Thy light, I see light. I shall inquire in Thy house O LORD, until I have beheld Thy beauty. Amen.”