Seek His Face

Seek His Face

“My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Psalm 27:8

To seek God’s face means to pursue personal and intimate fellowship with Him. God Himself initiates this picture of His favor and acceptance when He instructs the priests as to how they were to bless the people: “Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”” (Numbers 6:24-26)

David highlighted this face time analogy numerous times as he wrote his Psalms of passionate praise and desperate lament. He dreaded the idea that God would “hide His face” indicating an absence of his favor and a withholding of his presence. “Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger,” he pleads in Psalm 27:9. In Psalm 143:7 he cries, “Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit (i.e., die).” And in Psalm 30:7 he laments, “when you hid your face, I was dismayed.” David dreaded the prospect of broken fellowship with God.

But we are not left to despair. In His unfailing love and faithfulness God has a standing offer to restore fellowship if we will turn to Him and seek His face: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

There’s no greater example of God turning His face toward us than the sending of His Son, Jesus, who gives us His personal promise of face time: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:20). Seek His face!

Are you seeking face time with God?