Last
week we focused on the first portion of Psalm 27:4: One
thing have I asked of the LORD (Jehovah).
We studied the meaning and importance of the name Jehovah, and the difference Jehovah can
make in a situation, a person or an experience if we place Him in that “thing.”
We talked about how Jehovah needs to be our “One thing.”
Our main truth last week was:
When my One Thing is the LORD (Jehovah),
I can rest in the fact that HE IS in all my other things.
This
week I want us to look at the next phrase in Psalm 27:4:
That will I seek after ...
Let’s
focus on the word
seek
for a few moments.
Seek – baqash
(H1245)
To search out (by any method, specifically in worship
and prayer)
To strive after, ask, beg beseech, to procure, require, desire,
request, demand
To seek to find
To seek to secure
To seek the face
It denotes seeking someone’s presence especially the Lord’s or His
Word.
Prior to having a personal relationship
with Jesus, it is God who does all of the seeking. He seeks after or “goes
after” us. He pursues us and draws us by His Spirit. After we have accepted
Christ and His Spirit is in us, we have a hunger and thirst for Him. Seeking
God becomes something we desire and delight in doing. Psalm 42:1 says, As a deer pants for flowing
streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.
But
seeking God is also something Jesus commanded us to do in Matthew 6:33 which
says, But seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
So we
can say that seeking God is an attitude of the heart and an act of one’s will.
We have an internal desire to go after God, but we must also fight our
compulsion to be self sufficient, lazy and at times apathetic. It is at times
like these that we must combat our fleshly nature where seeking God is
concerned. We must purpose to seek after Him. We must decide to act with intentional
obedience and go after God just as we would if we were searching for a hidden
treasure.
Read Proverbs
2:1-5 (ESV) (Emphasis added)
My
son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with
you,
making
your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to
understanding;
yes,
if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and
search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
If I told you I
hid a check in your home made out to you for $100,000 would you go searching
for it? I believe you would! (I know I would!) How would you “go after” that
money? Would you nonchalantly roam through your house, skimming the surfaces to
see if, by chance, you came across it? I don’t think so! I think you would
probably turn your house upside down and inside out until you found it. You
would probably even call a friend and have them come over and help if you
became desperate enough.
Is that how we
“go after” God, though?
If part of
“going after” God is searching out His Word and praying, how are you doing with
seeking Him?
What about your
worship? God is seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. How IS
your worship? Do you have an intense desire to praise God? Do you desire to
bring Him glory with your life? Do you desire to worship Him through obedience
to His commands?
What about idols?
Are you more concerned about cleaning your house than sitting and reading the
Word? Are you more concerned with TV, the internet, food, shopping or some
other hobby than you are with praying? I say “idols” because anything we place
before God is, in fact, an idol. An idol doesn’t have to be a wooden statue. An
idol can be another person, a thing, an overly indulged pleasure, a comfort and
even a security that we put our trust in. ANYTHING we place more value on than
God is an idol. It’s what your heart most desires. It’s what you “go after.”
Take this
Idol Test
. Ask yourself
this question:
What
is the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning,
and
the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night?
Did you gain any insight as a result of your
answers to that question?
Seeking after
or worshiping anything other than God deadens our heart, drains our time, depletes
our energy and destroys our fellowship with the Father. It leaves us desiring
more and more of it because nothing other than God truly satisfies us,
rejuvenates us or frees us like worshiping our One Thing – Jehovah!
Please don’t
hear me wrong, a clean and orderly house is a good thing. A hobby is much deserved.
Our children, husbands and friends are wonderful! A job is important. The
comforts and securities we have are a blessing. But those things should never
be placed above or before Jehovah. Who is your God? Nothing and no one should
be “god” to us except God! He Is the
One whom our soul loves. (Song of Solomon 3:4)
Can you say that?
I have found the one whom my soul loves
and His name is Jesus!
·
What or who are
you striving after or worshiping today?
·
What
adjustments do you need to make in your life to make certain you are seeking
after God? Will you make them?
·
What are you
doing to actively and purposefully seek God?
·
Are you
studying the Word?
·
Are you praying
daily and throughout the day?
·
How is your
obedience level? Are you seeking to please Him by following His will for your
life?
Remember this truth throughout your week:
Seeking after my One Thing - Jehovah - satisfies my hungry soul.
Jacqueline Heider is the Director of Women's Ministry,
Prayer & Resource Specialist at Warren Baptist Church.
Visit her blog for more encouragement.