Dear Ones:
There are many of us who seek the “things” of God, without seeking God Himself. There is an old hymn, the first stanza of which is: “My goal is God, Himself, not joy or peace. Not even blessing, but Himself my God. T’is His to lead me there not mine but His, by any path dear Lord, by any road.” The hymn writer continues: “So faith bounds forward, to its goal in God, and love can trust her Lord to lead her there. Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard, till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.” Where does this pursuit of God begin? It begins in the recesses of the soul, where there is a thirst…a conscious need to KNOW Him, and Jesus Christ whom He had sent, and the power of His resurrection. The Psalmist in Psalm 42:2 writes: “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” There is no doubt that the soul of the psalmist is in pursuit of God, and this because of the conscious need of the heart, in the midst of very difficult circumstances not understood. Did God allow such circumstances? Yes. Why? That the believer might know His best and highest, which is the knowledge of Him. The Psalmist speaks of his soul being cast down, and “…all Thy waves and billows are gone over me…” (v. 7) The psalmist is overwhelmed by the need without and within. It is by God’s enabling that he “will remember Thee.” What will He remember? One of the most beautiful passages in Scripture: “Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” (v.8) The remembrance of God, according to the TRUTH of who He is, will be the pathway that will guide the psalmist to KNOW Him. What is the result of this knowledge? “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (v.11) “Hope” is not only an aspiration, but here, it is the certainty of faith’s reward.
It is hard to believe greater suffering than that of the sensitive soul of Jeremiah. He “sees,” perceives the judgement of God upon Israel. He “beholds” the desolation, the suffering, the loss, the pain. Where can God BE in such a picture? What is the path to Him in such a time of very real need? In Lamentations 3, we discover that the same “path” was given to Jeremiah that was provided the Psalmist. Jeremiah writes: “This, I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are NEW every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:21-23) How can Jeremiah, in the face of devastation and judgement, keep on, and overcome? By realizing that God’s mercies are unceasing, not affected by the things of earth and time. They are always new because they are always fresh, never altered in their nature, essence, or application to us. They are new because they are ALWAYS available, regardless of circumstance or time. Jeremiah then declares that: “The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore I will HOPE in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.” (v.24-15)
The pursuit of God is a most remarkable and blessed endeavor, for as A.W. Tozer wrote: “…while we are seeking Him, we are already in His hands.” So, may faith bound forward in its goal in God, and may love trust her Lord to lead her there. Will He? “He commands His lovingkindness in the daytime…His mercies are new EVERY morning. The more we believe what is true of Him, the stronger hope will become.
Love, Dad