Thursday, March 22, 2018

A VERSE AND A THOUGHT: PSALM 24:6 - "TWO STEPS, IN PURSUIT OF....."

This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face—even Jacob....(Psalm 24:6)
In Bible terms, the word “generation” is the people who are alive at a point in time. God uses the word, which comes from the original word “dor”. God says in Judges 2:10 (All that generation also were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel).

Jesus Himself came down hard on the lost people at that time, who was only half as bad as the sick culture today in Matthew 12:39 (But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet). He did so because while their mouths and fake religious “beliefs” said they were looking for a Messiah, their conduct was just like the pagans all around them. Nothing has changed in the 21st century.

Most people alive, since time began, were wicked and perverse “generations”. However, there were those who came to know the Lord, love Him for Who He is, and then passionately desire to know Him. Joshua, God’s great General, who was Moses’ understudy led the young Israelites into the Promised Land after God dispatched with all their rebellious elders. This group served the Lord. Josiah brought revival years later when they found the book of the Law of God and read it out loud.

Modern man does not seek or look for God. Most people who because true Christians claim to “find” God but from personal experience and the Bible, we know this is not so. No one seeketh after God, no one (declares the Lord).  God rescues us when we finally come to the end of ourselves, cry out to Him and repent. It is only when the Great Pursuit begins!

The English translation of the word the Holy Spirit used in this psalm – “darash” – is not very accurate. It sounds great, as poetry, but the Great Pursuit is not about “seek” but Studying! So now, we see what God is leading us towards. Everywhere these days we have 40 days of this, 31 days of that, 15-day program or 48 hours on CBS. What the Lord presents here are two simple steps.
     1. “Those who seek Him”: as shown in the paragraph above, this actually means “Study” Him. Bible study is what it means. How can you and I know about God if we do not know Who He is; How He operates;  Why He does what He does and What we should expect….unless we get to know Him. Like any other relationship, we must know the God Who saved us. What the English translation translates as "seek", should actually be "study"(the Scriptures) to learn the very Attributes (or Characteristics) and Ways of God, with Whom we will be spending eternity! Bible study, praying the Scriptures as well as daily prayer to Heaven are the keys.
     2. Once we study the Word and the Word Who became flesh – Jesus, as well as our Heavenly Father,  Psalm 24:6 says there is the second step or “who seek His Face”. This is another incomplete translation because we literally cannot see the Face of God, as He is until we get to Heaven. What we can do is what the actual word use says, which is, being in the very Presence of God – His Manifest Presence.  The general presence of God is the fact that He is EVERYWHERE- Omnipresent, to the saved and the unsaved. His Manifest Presence though is exclusive. His Manifest Presence was in the Garden of Eden when He walked in the cool of the day. His Manifest Presence was in the Tabernacle with Moses, Aaron in the desert. His Manifest Presence was at Calvary when God gave His life and opened up Heaven for all mankind. So now, we seek “His Face” or “His Manifest Presence” in one way only – Worship, prayer, and supplication. The Holy Spirit clears the path for us to be in His Presence when we respond, clearly and with righteousness, to come humbly to the Throne of Grace.

Seeking God and Seeking His Face = studying Him through His Word in addition to praise, pressing in and proclaiming His Holy Name.

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