“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 enquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
David beheld much ugliness in his life. The people that surrounded him often fell far short of his exceptional standard. He suffered profound disappointment in seeing the attitudes and behavior of his king, his wife, his children, his friends and relatives. Whether it was Nabal insulting him; or Shimei cursing him, so much of the scenery of his life was offensive.
In the midst of it all though, David had an oasis, a retreat, a place where he could behold beauty. This is the place he sought after with a passionate desire. Of his Lord he would say: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Ps. 17:15).
David had discovered an attractiveness in the God of his fathers that more than made up for the ugliness he had to contend with. And in beholding the beauty of the Lord, he had his greatest hope of not turning ugly like the world around him.