2Chron 7:14. ‘If My people, called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face…’
Psalm 27:8. ‘When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”’
The third matter to which God calls us is to seek His face. But what does it mean to seek God’s face, and how on earth do we do it? Well, the Hebrew word rendered as ‘face’ is Panim, and that word can also mean ‘presence.’ Today, in this age of web cameras, video conferencing and digital photography, you can be on the other side of the world and still see someone’s face. Indeed, you can carry a photograph of your family around with you wherever you go and gaze at your loved ones’ faces at any time. This is a privilege in which the men and women of the Bible did not share. In those days, if you saw someone’s face, it meant that you were in his presence. So to seek God’s face means to seek His person and His presence. The Apostle Paul said, ‘I know whom I have believed’ (2Tim 1:12). He does not say, ‘I know what I have believed.’ A Moslem or a Hindu can say that they have studied the Islamic or Hindu Scriptures and know them inside out. Nor is it learning about the life of Christ so that we could answer questions about Him on Mastermind as people have their ‘special subjects’ on the life of Winston Churchill or Ghandi. We have not put our trust in a dead person like Churchill or Mohammed or Karl Marx; the One we trust in has risen from the grave and is reigning in heaven this day. We seek God through our living Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15).
Now the immediate response of some people on being told to seek God is to say, “Well, why should we seek God? I didn’t know He was lost!” Of course, it is not God who is lost, but we who have wandered into our own Bypath meadows and made ourselves busy with our own little projects and concerns, and have lost our way back to the living God. ‘We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way’ (Isaiah53:6). Praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ who came, ‘To save that which was lost.’
Part of the trouble is that we have today made God of such easy access that many people suppose that no seeking is necessary. You just mumble a ‘sinner’s prayer’ or have some fellow lay his hands on you, and there you are, a card-carrying Christian. Listen to what the word of God says: ‘He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him’ (Heb 11:6). But the sad fact is that today, by and large, men and women do not seek God. It is too much like hard work. They are satisfied with a superficial knowledge of Him; and because they know Him superficially, they worship Him superficially and they pray to Him superficially and they teach about Him superficially, and young people, who have a fine nose for fraud, see right through them and conclude, quite rightly, that their religion is a sham, and that is why the Church in the West is where it is today- a joke and an irrelevance to the world, given over by God because they will not seek His face.
Some years ago, Mrs Marprelate and I were on holiday in the South of France. One day, when we were exploring St.Tropez, a big black B.M.W. whizzed round the corner and sped off down the road. Mrs M turned to me and exclaimed, “Did you see who was in the back seat? It was Richard Branson!” Now I don’t know (or care) whether it was Richard Branson or not. But let us suppose that it was, and that we met him again. Suppose that Mrs M went up to him, shook his hand and said, “Richard! How nice to meet you again! I did so enjoy our time together in France.” Would he not reply, “I’m very sorry, but I don’t think I know you”? So it will be with the Lord Jesus. ‘……Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” But He will say, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you, where you are from”’ (Luke 13:26-7). A mere glimpse of the Lord at some point in your life, or even a nodding acquaintance will do you no good. The promise of God is, ‘You will find Him if you seek Him with all Your heart and with all your soul’ (Deut 4:29). Without diligent seeking there will be no finding.
And yet this seeking is all of God. Unless He works first upon our hearts there will be no seeking. ‘When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek”’ (Psalm 27:8). The fact is that it is only the Christian who can seek God. The non-Christian is dead in trespasses and sin (Eph 2:4-4); he has to be found by God. It is the born-again believer who has the privilege of seeking God and finding Him. It is to Christians that James says, ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you’ (James 4:8). What a wonderful promise, and what an incentive to seek the Lord!
Perhaps someone is thinking, ‘How does one seek God’s face?’ I have nothing new to say about this. We seek God through prayer and through His word (1). If I wanted to know what a certain man taught about, say, nuclear physics, pre-supposing that I were intelligent to know what nuclear physics is, which I’m not, I would read his book on the subject, and ideally I would read it in his presence so that I could ask him about anything I didn’t understand. That is how we come to know God- through His word, preached, read, meditated upon and prayed over. God speaks to us through His word: always through His word, everywhere in His word and, in these days, only through His word (cf. 1 Cor 4:6).
We need to read the Bible through regularly, from Genesis to Revelation, to gain a comprehension of the sweep of God’s word and so as to be able to place any part in context (cf. Mark 12:24). We need to hear the word preached by a faithful minister of God so that we may come to a proper understanding of it (Acts 8:30-31) and have it applied to our hearts (Acts 2:37). We also need to meditate on God’s word (Psalm 1:2). I mean by this that we should be contemplating individual verses or portions of the word, savouring them (Psalm 119:103) and letting them lead us into prayer and thanksgiving. It is often here that we can feel God’s presence and blessing in a special way (Rom 8:16). Bible meditation is something of a lost chord among Christians these days, but the Puritans were great fans of it and wrote extensively on the subject. I warmly recommend it to the reader. Psalm 119 is a great place to start, but suitable passages for meditation abound throughout the Scriptures.
[continued]
Psalm 27:8. ‘When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”’
The third matter to which God calls us is to seek His face. But what does it mean to seek God’s face, and how on earth do we do it? Well, the Hebrew word rendered as ‘face’ is Panim, and that word can also mean ‘presence.’ Today, in this age of web cameras, video conferencing and digital photography, you can be on the other side of the world and still see someone’s face. Indeed, you can carry a photograph of your family around with you wherever you go and gaze at your loved ones’ faces at any time. This is a privilege in which the men and women of the Bible did not share. In those days, if you saw someone’s face, it meant that you were in his presence. So to seek God’s face means to seek His person and His presence. The Apostle Paul said, ‘I know whom I have believed’ (2Tim 1:12). He does not say, ‘I know what I have believed.’ A Moslem or a Hindu can say that they have studied the Islamic or Hindu Scriptures and know them inside out. Nor is it learning about the life of Christ so that we could answer questions about Him on Mastermind as people have their ‘special subjects’ on the life of Winston Churchill or Ghandi. We have not put our trust in a dead person like Churchill or Mohammed or Karl Marx; the One we trust in has risen from the grave and is reigning in heaven this day. We seek God through our living Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15).
Now the immediate response of some people on being told to seek God is to say, “Well, why should we seek God? I didn’t know He was lost!” Of course, it is not God who is lost, but we who have wandered into our own Bypath meadows and made ourselves busy with our own little projects and concerns, and have lost our way back to the living God. ‘We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way’ (Isaiah53:6). Praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ who came, ‘To save that which was lost.’
Part of the trouble is that we have today made God of such easy access that many people suppose that no seeking is necessary. You just mumble a ‘sinner’s prayer’ or have some fellow lay his hands on you, and there you are, a card-carrying Christian. Listen to what the word of God says: ‘He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him’ (Heb 11:6). But the sad fact is that today, by and large, men and women do not seek God. It is too much like hard work. They are satisfied with a superficial knowledge of Him; and because they know Him superficially, they worship Him superficially and they pray to Him superficially and they teach about Him superficially, and young people, who have a fine nose for fraud, see right through them and conclude, quite rightly, that their religion is a sham, and that is why the Church in the West is where it is today- a joke and an irrelevance to the world, given over by God because they will not seek His face.
Some years ago, Mrs Marprelate and I were on holiday in the South of France. One day, when we were exploring St.Tropez, a big black B.M.W. whizzed round the corner and sped off down the road. Mrs M turned to me and exclaimed, “Did you see who was in the back seat? It was Richard Branson!” Now I don’t know (or care) whether it was Richard Branson or not. But let us suppose that it was, and that we met him again. Suppose that Mrs M went up to him, shook his hand and said, “Richard! How nice to meet you again! I did so enjoy our time together in France.” Would he not reply, “I’m very sorry, but I don’t think I know you”? So it will be with the Lord Jesus. ‘……Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” But He will say, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you, where you are from”’ (Luke 13:26-7). A mere glimpse of the Lord at some point in your life, or even a nodding acquaintance will do you no good. The promise of God is, ‘You will find Him if you seek Him with all Your heart and with all your soul’ (Deut 4:29). Without diligent seeking there will be no finding.
And yet this seeking is all of God. Unless He works first upon our hearts there will be no seeking. ‘When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek”’ (Psalm 27:8). The fact is that it is only the Christian who can seek God. The non-Christian is dead in trespasses and sin (Eph 2:4-4); he has to be found by God. It is the born-again believer who has the privilege of seeking God and finding Him. It is to Christians that James says, ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you’ (James 4:8). What a wonderful promise, and what an incentive to seek the Lord!
Perhaps someone is thinking, ‘How does one seek God’s face?’ I have nothing new to say about this. We seek God through prayer and through His word (1). If I wanted to know what a certain man taught about, say, nuclear physics, pre-supposing that I were intelligent to know what nuclear physics is, which I’m not, I would read his book on the subject, and ideally I would read it in his presence so that I could ask him about anything I didn’t understand. That is how we come to know God- through His word, preached, read, meditated upon and prayed over. God speaks to us through His word: always through His word, everywhere in His word and, in these days, only through His word (cf. 1 Cor 4:6).
We need to read the Bible through regularly, from Genesis to Revelation, to gain a comprehension of the sweep of God’s word and so as to be able to place any part in context (cf. Mark 12:24). We need to hear the word preached by a faithful minister of God so that we may come to a proper understanding of it (Acts 8:30-31) and have it applied to our hearts (Acts 2:37). We also need to meditate on God’s word (Psalm 1:2). I mean by this that we should be contemplating individual verses or portions of the word, savouring them (Psalm 119:103) and letting them lead us into prayer and thanksgiving. It is often here that we can feel God’s presence and blessing in a special way (Rom 8:16). Bible meditation is something of a lost chord among Christians these days, but the Puritans were great fans of it and wrote extensively on the subject. I warmly recommend it to the reader. Psalm 119 is a great place to start, but suitable passages for meditation abound throughout the Scriptures.
[continued]
