The Psalmist writes: ‘I have sought your face with all my heart’; but what does it mean for us to seek God’s face? In Hebrew, the word for face is paniym, which can also be translated as presence. So the Psalmist is talking about seeking God’s presence. And it’s something that we’re called to do too. Sometimes it can feel like we’re longing to find God, to experience His presence, and when we don’t find it quickly we start to doubt. But Jeremiah writes: ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Notice those words, ‘all you heart’? When we seek God with all our heart, He promises that we’ll find Him. And all our heart just means with everything we have, that our priority is seeking Him and spending time with Him. It’s desiring Him above all else in the world. This can be so hard, we face distractions from all sides, sometimes bad distractions that take us down the wrong path. Other times it’s great stuff like serving the church, building relationships and helping others. But when anything gets in the way of us trying to seek God and His plan for us, we need to assess our priorities and make sure our heart is fixed on seeking Him first. Psalm 63 begins with: ‘You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you’ (Psalm 63:1 NIV). It’s clear the Psalmist desperately longs for God’s presence, to see His face. Their whole being longs for God. Can we say the same about ourselves?
