“Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”
This verse summarizes the attraction of Christ and the “only-ness” of Christ. On the one hand, we are drawn irresistibly to Him by who He is. On the other hand, we have no where else to go. We have no other option if we would know God, yet, had we other options, we would not choose them for we are fascinated by Him alone. This principle can be traced throughout all Scripture, and here are just a few of the verses and phrases that beautifully convey this two-sided, yet whole-hearted compulsion to the Lord and His Word. (In poor, but expressive, English, we could say concerning the pursuit of God: “We can’t not do it.”)
“O Thou that hearest prayer, to Thee shall all flesh come.”
“Yet Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight. Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, shew me now Thy way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight:…If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence….I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory.” (For it would be far better to see His face and die, than to live never seeing His face.)
“Never man spake like this Man.”
“I lift up my soul unto Thee.”
“I stretch forth my hands unto Thee: my soul thirsteth after Thee, as a thirsty land.”
“I will draw all men unto Me.”
“I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
“And He closed the book, and He gave it to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him.”
“And all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.”
“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.”
“And let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children.” [Side-note: Connect this verse from Ps. 90 with John 17:24, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am; that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me”—we pray that we may behold His glory; He prays that we may behold His glory. So one thing is sure: one day we will see His glory!]
“All men seek for Thee.”
“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”
“That I may know Him.”
“My soul followeth hard after Thee; Thy right hand upholdeth me.”
“Draw me; we will run after Thee.”
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” (Because to be His in death would still greatly surpass belonging to the world in life.)
“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy my body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.”
“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.”
“Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the Strength of my heart and my Portion forever.”
“Thou art my Portion, O LORD; I have said that I would keep Thy words.”
“I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in His Word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning; I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the LORD, we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
“Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for Thee; the desire of our souls is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee. With my soul have I desired Thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early:”
“I have chosen the way of truth; Thy judgments have I laid before me.”
“With my whole heart have I sought Thee; O let me not wander from Thy commandments.”
“And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD.”
“Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of the servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God.”
“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.”
“I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Thy commandments.”
“I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.”
“On thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD.”
“Sir, we would see Jesus.”
“And he (Zaccheus—a man who, to all human knowledge, should have had neither need nor desire for Christ) sought to see Jesus who He was.”
These verses are but a few examples from the many more that fill the Scriptures concerning the age-old quest to know the Almighty. Knowing God is a life-long pursuit. It touches the deepest recesses of the human soul, and from that one desire stem some of the most beautiful, yet heart-rending, prayers recorded in the Word of God. Ah, we can do nothing else. We have nowhere else to go. What conclusion may we draw from these things???
Our seeking God is still all of God. Consider the following:
“Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.”
“But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
“We love Him because He first loved us.”
“When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.”
“For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
All praise, then, to the glorious King of kings who hath called us unto Himself and continually draweth us nigh. Well may we cry with the Psalmist:
“Blessed it the man whom Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts.”
What a magnificent Lord! May He in all things have the preeminence, for He alone is worthy.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Monday, July 03, 2006
Thoughts from Job 21:14
Reading in Job right now--here are some of this morning's meditations.
Job 21:14 (speaking of the wicked) “Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” Just reading the words sends cold dread into my heart. Ah, what man could utter such words in the face of the Almighty? O the fear and the misery and desolation that would reside in my heart if I sought not the knowledge of God. For though I often stray by reason of my own willfulness, my love of my Self, and my lack of love for my God, yet, in the core of my being I desire the knowledge of Him more than aught else, and I am destitute and miserable when not walking with Him, when not enjoying intimate communion. Who can say unto God, “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways”? Thus is the heart of the wicked. Doth it not stand to reason then, that the heart of the righteous ought to be the complete opposite: “O come unto us, for we wholly desire the knowledge of Thy ways”? Even as it says in Ps. 10:4, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” It ought to be able to be said of the righteous: “The righteous, in humility of heart, shall ever seek after God: God is in all his thoughts.” The knowledge of Him, thoughts of Him, desire for Him ought to be the perpetual preoccupation of the lives of His own. For what else is there? Is there another pursuit worth giving the mind and thoughts and talents and skills and passion of our being to? Herein do we see that of which Paul spoke when he said, “This one thing I do.” The Lord told Martha, “One thing is needful.” David cried out, “One thing have I desired.” To the rich young ruler who had all else, Christ said, “One thing thou lackest,” and the lack of that “one thing” canceled every other asset he possessed. Herein is the necessity of having a single eye, of serving in singleness of heart as unto Christ, of loving the Lord our God with all. As Caleb and Joshua, we must wholly follow the Lord our God. Are we able to say “With my whole heart have I sought Thee”? When “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro in all the earth” does He find that my “heart is perfect toward Him”? How often doth the phrase “all your heart” occur in speaking of what is required of the man who would know and walk with the Almighty? Ah, let us not, let me not, be side-tracked from following “this one thing.” May I never, never harden my heart so that, as I skulk off into my own ways, it would whisper unto the Lord “Depart from [me]; for [I] desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” O that God, my God, would keep me from devastating and destroying my soul in this manner. Rather, let me “walk after the LORD my God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and serve Him, and cleave unto Him.”
Job 21:14 (speaking of the wicked) “Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” Just reading the words sends cold dread into my heart. Ah, what man could utter such words in the face of the Almighty? O the fear and the misery and desolation that would reside in my heart if I sought not the knowledge of God. For though I often stray by reason of my own willfulness, my love of my Self, and my lack of love for my God, yet, in the core of my being I desire the knowledge of Him more than aught else, and I am destitute and miserable when not walking with Him, when not enjoying intimate communion. Who can say unto God, “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways”? Thus is the heart of the wicked. Doth it not stand to reason then, that the heart of the righteous ought to be the complete opposite: “O come unto us, for we wholly desire the knowledge of Thy ways”? Even as it says in Ps. 10:4, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” It ought to be able to be said of the righteous: “The righteous, in humility of heart, shall ever seek after God: God is in all his thoughts.” The knowledge of Him, thoughts of Him, desire for Him ought to be the perpetual preoccupation of the lives of His own. For what else is there? Is there another pursuit worth giving the mind and thoughts and talents and skills and passion of our being to? Herein do we see that of which Paul spoke when he said, “This one thing I do.” The Lord told Martha, “One thing is needful.” David cried out, “One thing have I desired.” To the rich young ruler who had all else, Christ said, “One thing thou lackest,” and the lack of that “one thing” canceled every other asset he possessed. Herein is the necessity of having a single eye, of serving in singleness of heart as unto Christ, of loving the Lord our God with all. As Caleb and Joshua, we must wholly follow the Lord our God. Are we able to say “With my whole heart have I sought Thee”? When “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro in all the earth” does He find that my “heart is perfect toward Him”? How often doth the phrase “all your heart” occur in speaking of what is required of the man who would know and walk with the Almighty? Ah, let us not, let me not, be side-tracked from following “this one thing.” May I never, never harden my heart so that, as I skulk off into my own ways, it would whisper unto the Lord “Depart from [me]; for [I] desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” O that God, my God, would keep me from devastating and destroying my soul in this manner. Rather, let me “walk after the LORD my God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and serve Him, and cleave unto Him.”
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