I was reading Psalm 105 in the Book of Common Prayer (one of my favorite translations of the psalms, by the way). I was drawn to three phrases of invitation in the first few verses:
- Search for the Lord (v. 4a)
- call upon his Name (v. 1a)
- continually seek his face. (v. 4b)
What would it look like to respond to these invitations today?
SEARCH FOR THE LORD
Karen Burton Mains wrote a book titled God Hunt twenty-five years ago. I?m on a God hunt today. I?m keeping my eyes open for him. I can?t make Him show Himself, but I can watch for His gracious presence.
I want to notice God. I see His creative work in the hummingbirds who have been visiting the feeder just outside my office window. I see His majesty in the clear, crisp line of Saddleback mountain against the clean blue sky. I see His gentleness as the breeze plays with the palm fronds on the tree below us.
I?ll be searching for the Lord today (not that He makes Himself hard to find).
CALL UPON HIS NAME
I call on His Name when I count on Him to be Who He says He is. I ask for what I need with confidence because He has proven Himself generous and openhanded. I admit my shortcomings and disobediences because I know him to prefer mercy to judgment, grace to stinginess.
I welcome the zestfulness of His life to fill me until I overflow with full joy. I let my anxieties come to rest in His powerful peace to guard my heart and my mind. I act in a way that keeps with Who I know God to actually be.
I do not respond to Him as though he were a demanding, heartless father or a distant, disengaged sovereign. I call to God on the basis of Who He really is.
CONTINUALLY SEEK HIS FACE
God?s face is His countenance towards me. I seek his face when I try to remain aware of the gift of intimate audience with him. The face is where we notice feelings. How does God feel about me? Do I believe that his affection and delight in me is a reliable reality or unpredictable improbability? How is God looking at me when I look to him? What do I really believe?
PRAY
Thank you, Father, for your Spirit Who keeps drawing my attention to You. I want each cry of my heart to be towards you today. I will keep watching for your face turned towards me in intimate communion. I don?t want to miss one gift of grace you are giving me to enjoy and to share. Amen.
