Anyone who has been a child, a parent or a grandparent (I think that includes all of us!) knows what the game hide and seek is. Just in case you have forgotten, basically, the game is played by one player chosen (designated as being “it”) closing their eyes and counting to a predetermined number while the other players hide. My four year old granddaughter has a number of variations of this game, but the common factor is that most of the time I am “it’! “Grandpa you’re it” is a phrase I have heard many times!
The definition of “to seek” is:.
| to “attempt to find (something or someone) | to search for, look for, to be on the lookout for.” |
It is pretty common for us as human beings to be out there seeking for something or someone, seeking for direction, the right way to go in life, seeking for peace of mind, seeking knowledge and much more. Some things when found satisfy, but many don’t!
The Bible has numerous verses talking about man seeking. The key one is about us seeking God himself:
“…devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.” (1 Chron 22:19)
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” (1 Chron 16:11)
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” (Isa 55:6)
David says:
“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
And there are promises for those who seek God:
“…if … you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deut 4:29)
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14)
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. (Lam 3:25)
And the words of Jesus:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matt 7:7)
In fact, it seems that seeking God is something that God himself desires of us all as his people.
So in Psalm 14:2, the psalmist says that
“The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.”
In the Amplified Bible it says:
“The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the children of men
To see if there are any who understand (act wisely),
Who [truly] seek after God, [longing for His wisdom and guidance].”
And the Passion Translation puts it:
“The Lord looks down in love, Bending over heaven’s balcony, Looking over all of Adam’s sons and daughters. He’s is looking to see if there is anyone Who acts wisely; Any who are searching for God and wanting to please him.”
The perspective is “from heaven.” The One looking down is God himself. The object of God’s seeking is for those among us who “understand”, those of us who earnestly and urgently “seek God”. For those who seek to know him personally, seek his wisdom, seek his guidance, seek to please him.
I wonder if that is you today? If so, then claim the truth that if “you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut 4:29)
And remember the truth of the words of David at the end of this Psalm when he says, “God is present in the company of the righteous.” (Psalm 14: 5)
The wonderful thing is that even if we fail to seek God He is seeking us.
Jesus said: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” (John 4:23)
And he said this about himself: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
We may seek many things in life, but the greatest is God himself, the One who sent His Son to earth, to live among us, to die for our salvation, to rise from the dead that we too might live forever.
So, seek the Lord and live!
Father may we be those who seek YOU above all else and “seek … your kingdom and your righteousness” every day of our lives. Thank you Jesus that you came “to seek and to save the lost”. I was lost and you came to seek me and you found me. What a great thing it is to be found by God! Amen.
Tehilim (Psalms) - "songs of praise". 