Seek the Lord

Isaiah 55:6—9*

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.* 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.  8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

        Several years ago, the Westminster Bookstore in Philadelphia carried a book titled Seekers of God.  A pastor wrote to the bookstore and asked for a copy of the book.  He received the following reply, “No Seekers of God in Philadelphia; try New York.”  Seekers of God are everywhere.  They are seeking a relationship with the living God, seeking answers, seeking guidance, and seeking comfort for their lives.

   1.  Seek the Lord

Many people are seeking answers for life’s questions today without even being aware that it is God who is the goal of their spiritual longing. In our text God graciously invites people to seek him, to turn from self-seeking independence to dependence on him for guidance, direction, and peace for this life and the life to come.

A.   Many people are seeking answers to life’s most perplexing problems.

(1) Some are seeking a way to fill the empti­ness in their lives.

‘There is a story of two garment workers in New York City. One was a cutter and one was a stitcher. They were working side by side. They got to talking about vacations. One said he was looking forward to his vacation and the other said he was not going on vacation this year. The question was asked, ‘Why?’ ‘I went to Africa last year. I went elephant hunting.’ ‘Did you get any elephants?’ ‘No, I found an elephant. He charged me, but my gun was jammed, and I was killed.’ ‘What are you talking about you was killed? You aren’t dead. You’re sitting here living.’ And the other replied: ‘You call this living?’. Many people are asking the same question about their lives. “You call this living?” “Is that all there is to life?”

(2) Some are seeking guidance in our con­fused and directionless society.

People today want certainty and guidance, but they often seek answers from radio call-in therapists, the “psychic hotline,” horoscopes, tele­vision hosts, and self-help books instead of from God and his Word. A man entered a bookstore and asked the clerk where he could find the “self-help” section. The clerk replied, ‘That would defeat the whole purpose, wouldn’t it?”

(3) Some are seeking forgiveness for sins.

They are burdened with guilt and shame over past sins and find no relief from their weight. For many today, suicide is the only answer to the hopelessness of unforgiven sin.

B.   But too often they are seeking answers in all the wrong places.

(1) Inside themselves.

(a)       They want to determine their own personal moral code. This extreme indi­vidualism is a hallmark of contemporary society.

 (b)      They often seek an individualized (buffet) religion. “All religions lead to the same place.”

(2) In “New Age” religion.

(a)       It offers spirituality without religious commitment or faith in a personal God.

(b)       It offers hope without a Savior.

(c)       It promises life after death without faith.

 (4) Through science and technology.

Many put their faith in science and technolo­gy for the answers to life. Author Fred Brown wrote a short story about an electronic super-com­puter that was asked the question, “Is there a God?” The computer replied, ‘There is now.

 The text proclaims that answers to life and its problems are to be found by seeking God. But to the modern mind the remedy is not simple. Where is God found?

2. “Seek the LORD while he may be found” (v 6).

The answers to the deepest problems are found in one’s relationship with the Lord. The

good news is that God can be found. He is not dead. He has not departed from history. He does not play hide-and-seek with his children. He has spoken and revealed himself in his Word. “Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Mt 7:7—8).

A.          “He is near” (v 6).

Isaiah proclaims that God “is near” (v 6). God has entered human life and experience in the person of Jesus Christ, whose name is “God with us” (Is 7:14). Jesus promised, “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20).

B.          He is not found in our thoughts.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, declares the LORD” (v 8). “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his coun­selor?” (Rom 11:34).

(1)  God is beyond our powers of reason.

(2)  Human reason has been corrupted by sin.

Pride and guilt distort people’s ideas of God. The product of a corrupt mind will be a corrupt god.

(3)  “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Mt 15:19).

C. He is “higher” (v 9) than our thoughts.

(1)  “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom” (Ps 145:3).

Transition: If God is near, but if he is not found in our thoughts and is not found inside us because he is higher than our thoughts, where is God found?

3. God is found in his Word (v 11).

A.   Seek God in his Word.

(1) “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps 119:105).

 (3) “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I send it” (Is 55:11).

B.     “Call on him” (v 6). “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you

will honor me” (Ps 50:15).

(1) In repentance: God graciously invites even those who choose other “gods” to turn from their sin and to return to the living God. This gracious invitation is at the heart of the New Testament.

(2) In faith: Repentance, confession, and sorrow over sin mean nothing without faith in the living God and his Word in Christ.

(3) In prayer: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Mt 7:7—8).

C.     Turn to him. The answers to all of the deepest problems and difficulties of human life are found in the graciousness of the merciful God.

(1)  “And he will have mercy” (v 7): The mercy of God is for all who turn to him in repentance and faith.

(2) “For he will freely pardon” (v 7): “Free pardon” is forgiveness of sins without cost to the forgiven.

When the president of the United States grants a pardon to a person convicted of a crime, the pardon overrules the guilty judgment that a court has pronounced. The person is free from the conviction. That’s how God operates when he freely pardons our sins for Jesus’ sake.

Conclusion: Are you or someone your know a “seeker”? Are you seeking answers to life’s most difficult and per­plexing problems? Are you looking for a purpose and meaning for your life, for guidance and direc­tion in making important decisions? Are you seek­ing the forgiveness of sins?

The answers to these deep questions are not found inside yourself, in New Age spirituality, legalistic cults, or science and technology. God has given the answers in his Word. Seek him in his Word, call upon him, and turn to him alone to guide and direct your life.