You Will Seek Me and Find Me

Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Seek Confidence in the Lord

Review all connections first.

Reality to Response 1 (v. 1a)

The Reality:

“The Lord is my Light...” - When light is used as a metaphor it may represent:

Guidance

Job 29:2–4 ““Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent,”

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Presence

John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

1 John 1:5–7 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Truth

Righteousness

Holiness

We might just say “light” can represent all that is good. This is especially seen in the contrast between light and darkness or we might say good and evil.

David’s point is that the Lord is his source of guidance, truth, righteousness, and holiness. All that is good in David’s life is from the Lord.

“The Lord is my salvation...” - This is a statement of deliverance both from immediate trouble and eternal condemnation.

Response - David is reminding himself of those two connected realities in order that he might respond in a certain way. The response that David is producing in himself is represented by the question he asks. “Whom shall I fear?”

Fear is a powerful emotion. For many people it is the primary motivation of the choices they make, the relationships they pursue, the careers they employ, and even the objects of their worship.

David’s solution to that level of fear was to remind himself of these two aspects of Yahweh, He is my light and my salvation. He is the source of all things good and He is my deliverance.

Reality to Response 2 (v. 1b)

Reality - “The Lord is the stronghold of my life...”

Clearly this is a statement of protection.

But is this ever actually true?

Are cancer rates lower among believers than unbelievers? What about poverty levels? People love to talk about oppressed people groups today. They love it so much they will just make up scenarios of oppression. Have genuine believers been oppressed at lower rates than other people groups?

Response - “of whom shall I be afraid”

It can often seem like Scripture says one thing but our life experiences and observations tell us something completely different.

First, did all of David’s problems go away after he declared that the “Lord was his stronghold”? No, so clearly that is not what David meant.

Second, what kind of protection do you really want? Do you want deliverance from this light momentary affliction or from eternal condemnation? God’s plan in this life may include some suffering for your good and His glory. Christ suffered more than our imaginations can comprehend. Why should we who have hitched ourselves to His wagon expect a life of ease? We endure this light and momentary affliction for an eternal weight of glory.

And because God is the source of our light, salvation and protection we can with David ask, “whom shall I fear?” The NT reminds us of this truth. Who can take us out of the Father’s hand?

Attack to Result (v. 2)

Attack - “When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh...”

Result - “It is they who stumble and fall.” As with everything in life this is a “maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but someday its guaranteed” situation.

Attack to Response 1 (v. 3a)

Attack - “Though an army encamp against me...”

Response - “my heart shall not fear...”

Attack to Response 2 (v. 3b)

Attack - “Though war arise against me...”

Response - “yet I will be confident.”

Seek the Presence of the Lord

Dwell (v. 4)

“One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after...” - This is what I want more than anything.

“…that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

Well, David, what is so great about God’s house?

Clearly David is talking about more than just the tabernacle.

The chief desire of David’s life is to daily know the presence of God. That is what it means to dwell in His house.

“…to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord...”

David wants to meditate on all that God is. One of the most obvious things about God when you are dwelling in His presence is His beauty.

1 Chronicles 16:29 “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;”

God is the author of all that is true, all that is good, and all that is beautiful.

“…to inquire in His name.”

There is not a lot on consensus among scholars as to what this phrase means.

Personally, I think that David is just saying that when he dwells in God’s house he will finally be able to ask all the questions he has always wanted to.

Hide (v. 5)

David understood that to dwell in God’s presence also meant to be under His protection.

Eternally this is certainly true but in the mean time we like David can rest with the assurance that nothing happens to us outside of God’s sovereign plan.

Sometimes we are concealed under His tent and sometimes He lifts us up on a rock.

Lift (v. 5b,6)

Dwelling in God’s house will always lead to an exalted future.

David knew that even in the midst of his troubles God was worthy of praise and the source of his joy.

Seek the Ear of the Lord

When what you feel overwhelms what you know.

When God seems distant.

When people betray you (v. 10, 12)

Seek Patience in the Lord

Look (v. 13)

“I shall look...” - future tense

Being patient in the Lord does not mean ignoring the future.

David fully expects to experience some of the benefits of God’s presence in this life. The truth is that time doesn’t heal all wounds, but God does.

He is right, we can experience His goodness now if we simply know where to look.

Wait (v. 14)

At least part of knowing where to look is being patient with His plan.

v. 14 is bracketed with the same phrase, “wait on the Lord.”

Be

“be strong”

There is a required strength to waiting.

Take

“take courage”

This Psalm has talked a lot about fear. When does fear most often overtake us? When we are waiting. So we are reminded to be strong and take courage in the waiting.