September 22, 2017
Psalm 27:7, 8
(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
In Psalm 27 God told David, “Seek My face.” What did He mean by that? We are to seek His face – to seek His whole Person! There are too many people seek the wrong things concerning the Lord: Jesus’ feet – to keep Him all to themselves (see Matthew 28:9 and John 20:17); the hem of His robe – for physical healing (see Matthew 9:20, 21); and His hands – to provide for their wants and desires only (see John 6:1-15, 26). But the face of God reveals the whole Person of God – His way, His will, His works, His wonders, and His Word! Here is Psalm 27:7 And 8:
Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me,
and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
Since God the Father is not visible to our mortal eyes (see Exodus 33:20; John 6:46; I Timothy 6:16), we will concentrate on Jesus. For Paul wrote in II Corinthians 4:6 and Colossians 1:15:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has
shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ….He is the image of the invisible God….
We see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ! If you want to know what God is like, take a good long look at Jesus! For He told Philip in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father…” So seek His face – know the whole Person – of Jesus Christ!
We have studied the first four characteristics of God: His way, His will, His works, and His wonders! Now lets consider His Word:
• David, when he wrote Psalm 27, our featured Scripture, had some of the Bible that we have today! He was familiar with the Pentateuch (the first five books of Scripture), probably Job (many scholars consider this the first book of the Bible written), and some history (Joshua, Judges, Ruth). Read Psalm 119 – all 176 verses! In 169 of those, David mentions God’s Word in one way or another!
✞ We have the completed canon of Scripture! So we are, in that way, more blessed than King David! God continued to reveal Himself to mankind throughout the Old Testament period. He was especially preparing the Jews to receive the ultimate revelation of Himself – the Messiah! (See, for instance, Psalm 2, 22, and Isaiah 52:13-53:12).
✞ But such access to the Bible also puts us under more responsibility – especially those of us who are privileged to live in a free and prosperous society! Jesus warns in Luke 12:48: “…everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” We have been given so much spiritual information in the United States of America! It has been said:
If someone in America ends up in hell, he will have to get there tripping
over the Bible available everywhere, a church on almost every corner,
and the proclamation of the gospel in all sorts of various media!
• Here are a sampling of Scriptures that show us some of the characteristics of the written Word:
✞ Matthew 24:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” This is confirmed in I Peter 1:24 (quoting Isaiah 40:8): “…the word of the Lord endures forever.”
✞ II Timothy 3:15 through 17 – “…the Holy Scriptures…are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
✞ Hebrews 4:12 – “…the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
✞ I Peter 1:23 – We are “…born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and abides forever.”
I did a study on What the Word of God will do for you. And I came up with 50 Scriptures that identify the characteristics and results of the Bible taken into a person’s heart and life!
• But there is more than just the written Word! There is the Living Word – Jesus Christ!
✞ John 1:1 and 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us….” Obviously, it is Jesus the Christ who became flesh and dwelt among us – the incarnation!
✞ Colossians 1:16 and 17 – “…by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (See also Hebrews 1:2, 3).
✞ I quoted Hebrews 4:12 above, applying it to the written Word. But the next verse, Hebrews 4:13 applies it to the Living Word: “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (See also John 2:24, 25).
✞ John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus Christ is exclusively the only way of salvation! And He came to give life, and give it more abundantly! (See John 10:10).
✞ Hebrews 13:5 with Matthew 28:20 – “I will never leave you nor forsake you….I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
✞ I John 3:8 with I Corinthians 15:57 – “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil….thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (See Romans 16:20).
There is so much more that we could say about Jesus, the Living Word! John wrote at the end of his gospel, John 21:25: “…there are…many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written…I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
May this series, What Are You Seeking? encourage you to further study the fulness of the person of God in Jesus Christ!