Seek the Lord and His Strength; Seek His Face Always - Psalm 105:4

 

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Psalms 105:4 (CSB)

Always--that’s one of those easy-to-zoom-by words. We toss it around like so much change in our pockets. 

Always.

What does the Psalmist mean when he says it? I’m going to go out on a limb here, but I think he means it. He means always: in all things, in the good times and in the bad, continually. Seek his face.

I’m not about to say I understand the fullness of what that means. I know I only get a little piece of it.

I get this though… It’s relational.

It’s not like sending a text or an email. It’s talking. It’s heart to heart. It’s conversational. It’s face to face.

It’s wanting to be in His presence now.

First the verse says, “Seek the LORD.”

One Hebrew scholar defined the word seek like this…

The Hebrew word is “dārash, "seek with care," that is, because you care" about someone or something, "examine, inquire" about something, then "seek," often, "seek to know" something, "be intent" on seeking something”

Seek the LORD then means for me to search for Him because I care about Him. Examine Him. And not just once but often. Be intent on knowing.

The bible repeats this idea over and over again.

Is this not God saying to His covenant people, “I love you. I am calling you. Yes, you’ve sinned, you’ve done less than I expect, and you are hurt (Of course God knows all about it already). Tell me. And I will heal you. I have paid the price. I am holding my scepter out to you. Come.”

Seek the LORD and His strength.

His strength.

This awes me. His strength made Jupiter, Saturn, and the sun. His strength made the ground I stand on. His strength made the feet I use to stand on the ground.

And in His strength, He defeated the darkness, and called me into his glorious light.

Then, the verse says, “Seek His face.”

Of course the scripture says that no man has seen God. This is not us trying to see what the Lord looks like in some physical way. John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

We use our very spirit to do this seeking.

Remember the verse says, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”

It uses the word seek twice, but in the original Hebrew, they are different words. And these two words are often paired together in the bible. This time it is the word bāqash -"seek" to find, "look for" an object; "seek to," "try to," "seek to obtain," then "seek" one's presence, as here.

We are to look for Him. This reminds of my cat, Harvey. We let him in the house a few nights ago, not noticing that he had something in his mouth. When I looked at him, I thought it was a big rat. When we got startled, he dropped it and it ran off. Turns out it was a small rabbit. He looked, got it, and picked it up again. 

My daughter-in-law knew just what to do. She grabbed a towel and put around Harvey's head with the rabbit in the towel. She took the poor creature outside. 

But Harvey didn't realize what had happened. He went looking around the house for the rodent. Looking around corners, and in the furniture. Eventually we let him out. He had to know where that rabbit was. 

He was seeking. 

In Acts, the apostle Paul instructs that people should “…seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him." He goes on to say that He is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:27-28 CSB

We must desire His presence, and then, put some effort into it!

I've noticed that there are competing messages out there in Christendom.

One sounds like this: “You don’t grovel enough before the LORD. And even when you do, you didn’t get it right." It’s like they focus on the sin continually and exclusively and ignore His cleansing power. His power to set His people’s feet upon a rock.

Another says, “Just come. You’re good enough.” Or, “Come to Him with your hurts.” But they consistently avoid word sin. We MUST use the word sin because God uses it.

I think it’s like this: I must come to Him in full honesty about my sin. I must know that He died for that sin. And then, I must accept His love and forgiveness. I must believe in this awesome and divine power. And I must delight in the Lord. And feast with Him. 

Seek Him, His strength, and His face, again and again.

There is no getting this right once and for all in this life. Not for us. Of course, Jesus got it right for all time. I must keep depending on Him. 

It’s a process. A cycle. It’s falling. It’s coming to Him. It’s him healing.

A gradual lifting over the years.

It’s trust.

It’s wanting to be in His presence.

He died for my sin. He cleanses me. I can be in His presence.

Today.

Lord, You have given us this beautiful short verse to meditate on. It calls me to seek you and your strength, and I am in awe. You repeat this a hundred different ways within the pages of your holy word. I need you. I need you always. May I begin to understand what it means to seek your face always. Forgive me of my sin. Lord give me the grace to walk with you today. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.