“Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” Psalm 105:3-4 ESV
Reflection: what does it mean to “seek the Lord”?
A few years ago we had decided to build a new house. Having built 3 houses before, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted in terms of size, living space, architectural style, and so on. But even with all our past experience and knowledge, it took a lot of time and effort to design the house we wanted. And, if you have ever tried a complete custom house building, you know that decisions go down to a very detailed level, including the design and type of windows, heating and cooling system, kitchen cabinets and materials, and so on. Not only do you need to know what you want and are looking for, but you also need to seek out the options available. You will find yourself searching the internet, spending time with various suppliers, and looking at others ideas and designs. If you don’t seek out the alternatives available, you might select something you later regret.
We are all used to this idea of seeking something, whether it is building a house, looking for a job, a new church, schools and child care, etc. Some people even have jobs that require them to do a lot of research to solve problems, to seek answers. It might even take years of research, trial and error, to solve a problem. To find a solution. If something is very important to us, we really apply ourselves in time and effort, in thought and exploration, not giving up, until we find exactly what we are looking for. But, I’m wondering,
Are we applying ourselves in the same way seeking answers from the Lord?
In the focus verses today, we see the psalmist directing God’s people to seek the Lord continually “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” Psalm 105:3-4 ESV. What does that mean, and seek what, you might think? Like, what in your day is relevant to God, that you are dealing with? Shouldn’t we save the engagement with the Lord only for the big things? But perhaps we have that completely backwards. Is there anything in your life that you don’t think God cares about? Jesus said in the sermon on the Mount, ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 ESV
I don’t see Jesus putting any restrictions, or limitations on what we can and should seek the Lord for, right? In fact, again, the psalmist says to seek the Lord continually. That really would mean in everything we do, we seek Him. All the time – morning through night. Our entire waking state, we engage with the Lord. On all topics. There is nothing “off limits”, that He doesn’t already know about. Maybe then the real question is, why are there some topics that we don’t share with the Lord? Perhaps you already know they are not aligned with the will of the Lord?
Perhaps today, if you haven’t already, start seeking “the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” Psalm 105:4 ESV