Yes! There is Good News! 12.24.16

Last week I mentioned several scriptures that talked about seeking the face of God. So I ask the question: what does it mean to seek the face of God? There are three significant words in this phrase: “seek, face and God.” The last of these words “God” is, I hope, familiar to all of us. God is the creator, the sustainer and the one who gives life. He is life itself. He says His name is Yahoveh, which means, “I am that I am,” in other words, “the self existent one.” Okay, so far so good!

The next to last word “face” is a very important word.

We know in English (in our society) what is located at the front of one’s head is one’s face. When we meet someone, the fist thing we normally look at is their face.  So if you were to ask me, “Where are you going?” and I answered, “I am going downtown to seek my wife’s face,” you would look at me with great curiosity! But not so with the ancient Hebrews. This statement would have been appropriate.

The word “face” or “paniym” (pronounced paw-neem in Hebrew) connotes much more than the front of one’s head. In many contexts it means the visible portion of a thing; such as in Genesis 1:2, “The spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters.” But in the context of a person it most often signifies the person himself. And this is how we may view the statement, “Seek the face of God.” It is the person of God that we must seek.

The first word in this phrase is very interesting: “seek.” In the three scriptures I quoted in last week’s article (1Ch 16:11, 2Ch 7:14, and Ps 105:4), the word “seek” has a very peculiar meaning. The Hebrew word is “darash” and it means, “to tread or tromp something.” I’m sure that most of us have walked from here to there in tall grass. If we travel a path once, we can look back and see where we have disturbed the grass and identify where we have trod. The next day, however, the wind and sun will have erased our path. But if we walk from here to there several times a day, and do so every day for a month, we have trod down the grass and we will still see a well-defined path.

And so it is with our seeking God! We must travel the path to our God again and again. We come to God, our provider, and thank Him for the provisions of shelter, warmth, clothing, friends, etc.

I believe you get the point. Ps 105:4, “Seek the Lord, and His strength; seek His face evermore.” The blessings we receive when in His presence are indeed“good news.”

Until next time ...