Dear Ones:
The story is told of a young American missionary who went to India to serve the Lord, and who had as a language teacher, a Brahman (Upper Caste Hindu). The missionary was invariably late to the language study period, and often was not very tidy. On one occasion, the young missionary asked the Brahman, who was always impeccably dressed, “You are not very pleased with me, are you?” The Brahman simply answered, “I rise at 4 a.m. every morning to seek the God you profess to serve!!” What do we truly seek? What is our greatest quest?
If there is one thing that characterized David, it was that he was a seeker of God. God was not for him an idea, concept, or even a reality that could not be sought, and known. In Psalm 61, we get a glimpse of how real God was to David, and how much David believed God would be real in his life, and circumstances. “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (v.1-2) Over and over we discover the multiple ways that David would petition God for His intervention, because of what and who He was. “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation. He ONLY is my rock and my salvation. He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.” (Ps. 62:1-2) It is as David, through the worship of God in truth, has a glimpse of who God WAS/IS in His glory, that he was able to trust Him to be that to him on earth, “…as it is in heaven.” “My soul, wait thou ONLY upon God; for my expectation is from Him….God is…the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God…Trust in Him at all times.” (v.6-8) The true knowledge of God is not only that which I know that is true of Him, but that which I have made my own by faith, according to the truth. What was it that Jesus said of worship, and of the Father’s pursuit of us? “…the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” (Jn. 4:23) The pursuit of God begins, as was the case in David’s life, with worshipping Him in Spirit and truth. It is as we rely wholly upon the Spirit of God, and grasp the truth of Christ, that we are able to worship Him. The seeking to worship God is the key to having a vibrant faith, for it is in that vision of God, that faith is strengthened to lay hold of Him. It is in this quest, that He is found. “Ye shall seek Me, and ye shall find Me…when ye search for Me with all your heart…And I WILL be found of you.” (Jer. 29:13)
The great quest of knowing God begins with worship…never service. Worship will have its outworking, and communicate its blessed benefits in service, but that “missing jewel of the evangelical church (worship),” (A.W.Tozer) must be foremost. Faith must have a clear vision of its object if it is to believe God for the full outworking of His will and purposes.
I close with David’s extraordinary words in Psalm 63:1-2 “O God, Thou art MY God; early will I SEEK Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; TO SEE Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” It is in that place of worship that God reveals Himself to the heart. Out of that vision is born a faith, and expectation, of His intervention in the life, which will come because He has said, “I will be found of you.”
Love, Dad