“When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Psalm 27:8 (KJV)”
Take a trip with me down memory lane. As a child, at least in my generation, obedience to our parents was vital to our survival. Phrases like, “I brought you into this world, and I will take you back out” was heard often during my childhood. And, for the most part, we were obedient to our parents and those with authority over us. We respected and obeyed our teachers, employers, and the police. It was a much different time then than it is now. The words of David in Psalm 27:8 echo the same obedience we had when I was growing up.
To put this verse simply, God told David to seek His face, and David replied that His heart said, “Thy face will I seek.” What obedience, what a proclamation. Then I asked myself, would I reply the same way? God said, “Seek my face.” David replied, “Thy face will I seek.” Gerry said something else.
In Luke 9:59-61 we read this, “And He said to another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, “Let the dead bury their dead; but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God,” And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but first let me go bid them farewell, which are at home in my house. (KJV).” Two different times, to two different people did Jesus call, but neither on followed Him. Each came up with an excuse. It was like they said, “Sure Jesus, I’ll follow you, but let me do this first.” We can be hard on those people and criticize them, how many of us do the exact same thing? “Yes Jesus, I will follow you, but let me have some fun in life first, then when I’m older, I will follow you.” Or “Yes, Jesus, I will follow you, but first I want to find myself.” Do you see where I am going. All the people Jesus mentioned in these verses put things of the flesh ahead of the things of God.
So, you see, we have a contrast here. We see the responses of people concerned about the things of the flesh, verses the response of someone living for God. Think about which one you reflect the most. Then, ask God which one you actually reflect. Pray and seek the face of God above and before anything this sinful world has to offer. In the photo at the beginning of this article, did you notice the palm tree. This picture was taken in Roatan, Honduras a few years ago. It’s one of my favorite cruise ports. When you look at palm trees, they always have their “palms” pointed toward Heaven. It’s like they are praising God. We would do good to imitate the palm tree.
