1 Chronicles 16:11 AMP
Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence].
The Context and Focus:
In order to fully appreciate the message in the verse above, we take a look at about 3 chapters before this one. Due to the error of king Saul, God had allowed the ark of the covenant to be seized by the Philistines, and taken away. God showed up with tumours and the enemy knew it could not keep the ark, so they took steps to send it back. Many things happened on that journey, and Israel saw the ark and rejoiced, yet in transporting it, errors were made, and a man was put to death for wrong handling. David had to leave the ark in the home of a Gittite, a descendant of the same enemy the Philistines. The man must have been aware of the demands of God for the ark, because in the 3 months the ark spent in his house, the Lord blessed him. The same ark that brought death to Uzzah brought life and blessings to Obed-Edom, a foreigner. In all these, it is clear that God is no respecter of persons. It does not matter what my past looks like, or what the present holds; what is key is that a man seeks for God with all his heart. That is the foundation on which the verse above is based.
The Message:
God had given David victory over his enemies, and there was relative peace. This helped David spend time building a befitting palace for himself, and also a place for the ark of God to stay. Lessons had been learnt from the stories of Uzzah who died and Obed-Edom who lived. David assigned tasks for the Levites and the praise singers, and we see how the whole picture of praising and thanking God fit together. David wrote the words of this song for the Levites and praise singers, and it lays emphasis on seeking the Lord and His strength. What would this mean? To seek is to 'attempt or desire to obtain or achieve something' or as a Greek source would put it: 'to seek to find'. It is not a careless exercise, or one done just to please people, but to find God for oneself. A search for God is actually a search for life, peace and all that God is and offers. A search for God is the most important pursuit by anyone, and one with both earthly and eternal benefits. A search for God would have greater impact than having all the wealth of the world. Ask Solomon.
The Conclusion:
Seeking God means I understand my weaknesses, as well as the place where I can go to for strength and supply. I note also that the verse says nothing about what I can do for God. It is first and foremost about being in God's presence, learning as much of Him as I can, so that when it pleases Him, he can ask me to do something specific, or be a blessing to a specific person or situation. Too many times, we define impact by publicity or public applause, forgetting that God does not actually need man's approval to bless you. If man's opinions do not count, then I do not have to worry about what men say. When Jesus called the disciples to himself, the first principle was to be with him. That was the main call. The other bits about teaching and preaching were secondary, not primary. I have to spend time in God's presence, seeking His face for guidance and leading. It is what is in me that will sustain the life of public impact. I must not dare face the world, until I have a clear leading that it is the next phase of my assignment. God wants to deposit himself in me, before he can trust me to be his eyes, ears, feet and heart. Can he trust me? Can he trust you? God's time of favour is here.
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