If there is anything that the bible tells us to do it is to delight ourselves in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). If you are like me, you might wonder what that means. Perhaps, you have even searched for passages that talk about delighting yourself in the Lord or examples of men and women who have done that in the bible. But maybe in your quest you stumbled upon passages like “taste and see that the Lord is good” and that brought you into more confusion. One thing that is clear in the bible, we ought to live a life of faith which believes in the reality of heaven that is not seen in the physical while denying what is seen but at the same time, we ought to know our God intimately and that intimacy involves our hearts including our feelings. The relationship we are called to have with the Lord is one that involves all our senses, the touch, the smell, the sight, the sound and the taste. The God of the bible is a relational God. He is powerful, mighty and greatly to be feared yet He is relational. He created us for Himself, we exist to glorify Him and honour Him. But how is that possible? How can we on one hand fear God and on the other be intimate with Him? The two lines of thinking don’t seem to go together but that is how we ought to live as Christians. So then, where are you in your intimacy with the Lord? Is it something you think you should cultivate? How about your reverence for Him? Do you fear Him? My goal today is to encourage us to pursue God above anything else.
Psalm 63 is a psalm that shows the longing King David had for his God. This psalm is particularly profound because David was in the wilderness of Judah. It was not a pleasant time for David, and so his soul longed and thirsted for God. I wonder how many of us can say this prayer with David? When we go through wilderness periods, our souls don’t seem to long for God in this way, I wonder why that is? The irony is that most of our troubles are not as deep as the ones David faced, yet we’re not quick to turn to the Lord. When we do pray, we just want relief, meanwhile David wanted the Lord. He knew that if the Lord came, all would be well. His solution was not just to ask directly for help but to ask for the Lord Himself. In Psalm 27, David tells us that “one thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4) and later in the same psalm he says “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek’” (verse 8). The longing David had for God Himself is reflected in many of his psalms. It wasn’t just a one-time longing, it was continuous. David made the Lord his everything and no wonder he was called a man after God’s heart. David found ways to praise God in every situation he was in and with everything he had. It was evident that David pondered upon the Lord, he looked at creation and marveled at the greatness of the Lord (see Psalms 8), he looked at God’s character and what He has done for Israel and burst into worship (see Psalms 33, 124); indeed, everything about David sought to celebrate the Lord (Psalm 34). We often wonder how to do the same, where to start and how to seek the Lord. We draw elaborate plans that end up making the whole process convoluted meanwhile it is very simple. Can I suggest you put yourself aside for once and concentrate on the Lord? Take time to learn about Him: who He is and what He has done. Begin with your own salvation, ponder upon the fact that a God so great would want to know you. Another suggestion to help you in your quest for God is to use the Psalms to aid you to pray. We have His words, readily available at our fingertips so let us not give any excuses. Be serious with God the same way you would be serious about a new relationship that has the potential of turning into something meaningful like marriage; be serious with God the same way you are about achieving your personal goals (career, health, financial, etc.). I recently read in Proverbs 4 that the righteous/the wise loves discipline and does not despise wisdom. This means, as a redeemed child of God, you too must love discipline and wisdom. You must be okay with the idea that it will require work from you to know God and to know Him intimately. You must be clear on the fact that cultivating a relationship with your Maker does not come easily, it is not natural despite the fact that the Spirit of God lives in you. So just like any relationships, you have to give of yourself for it to succeed. I am more and more convinced that the reason we are to know God with our senses is because these connect us to who we are, and help us truly know the world. I am listening to the audio book by A.W. Tozer called “the Pursuit of God” in which he states in my paraphrasing that the main reason we do not have a fire in our hearts for God is simply because our flesh is too elevated and I would concur. Indeed, we are always seeking ways to please ourselves, to make our lives better. Even as Christians who no longer live for themselves but for Christ, we are still too self-centered. No wonder the gospel of Jesus Christ we proclaim does not go anywhere! Moreover, our service to the Lord is a service of convenience. We only serve when it fits our schedule, our priorities. We only accept the call to be disciples maker when we “feel” we’re well equipped, we accept the call to go into ministry when all pieces are aligned. This mentality flows into everything we do and are. It is sad but it is true. I pray the Lord delivers us from the stronghold of self. May we be people who gladly renounce their ways, gladly hold on to the reality of heaven and our heavenly possessions now while on this earth instead of putting it for the future.
Finally, the Holy One of Israel, the God of angel armies, the mighty God has made a way for us to know Him intimately. This great God wants us to know Him and that is not for His good but for our good and His glory. You see, by sending His Son Jesus Christ in this world to take upon himself the punishment that our great sin deserved which is death, this Jesus, being without sin, satisfied the wrath of God when he died on the cross. The beauty in all this is that Jesus did not just die, but he resurrected and in his resurrection brought life to us – eternal life. Moreover, he transferred his righteousness to us and we who were enemies of God became his friends, even more we became heirs with Christ, sons, like Paul tells us in the book of Galatians. Yes, our life is no longer meant to be lived for us but for Christ and the Spirit of God that now dwells in us works tirelessly to exalt Christ in us, we only need to kill our flesh in the process. This is not easy but it is doable and the reward is oh so great! I only have to look at the life of David, who despite the hardships shows us that finding God and knowing Him is far greater than any hardship encountered. Similarly, Paul will tell us the same. He who considered all the pedigree he had to his name, including the revelations through dreams and visions he was given by God (2 Corinthians 11:22-12:5), nothing compared to the great measure of knowing Christ his Lord (Romans 8:18). Knowing God and being known by Him is what we should be after. God should be our inheritance just as He was for the tribe of Levi. This tribe might have appeared to have nothing but in reality, they had everything, they had God and so is the same with us now. Brothers and sisters, the Lord is our portion. Let us find our rest in Him. Like the Psalm 90 says may the Lord satisfy us in the morning with his steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days (verse 14), amen.
A Word Aptly Spoken 