What is God saying? - Psalm 27:8

Wouldn’t it be great if you could hear what God is saying at a time like this? There are lots of different opinions on this. Some Christians look at the crisis and conclude that God is saying “Time’s up. You’re all too bad and this is the end”. Some atheists are saying “God is silent as always. This is the proof He does not exist”. Whenever bad things happen in the world there are also people who conclude quite instinctively that God is an angry sadist who shouts: “You thought North Korea was bad - let me show you what I can do!”

Remember that, for David, nothing was going right. He was in exile, isolated in the desert. His enemies were trying to kill him. He had to worry about where to sleep, what to eat, and how to find water. He was missing his family and friends, the comfort of home, and the normal routines he used to take for granted.

But he did not conclude that God was out to destroy him. He did not conclude that God had abandoned him completely. It might have felt like ‘the end of the world’ but David did not hear God’s  voice in those discouraging feelings. Remembering all he had learned from the Scriptures, David realised that even in the hard times God was in fact inviting him to come nearer:

“You have said, “Seek my face.” 

My heart says to you, 

“Your face, Lord, do I seek.””

Could it be that God is saying the same thing to you? Perhaps you are feeling the isolation. Family and friends seem far away. There are uncertainties about how you can continue to buy food and pay the bills. In the background is the threat of potential illness and the fear of death.

Is it possible in all of this that God is not separating us from the things we love as a punishment but  in order to give us an opportunity to seek things which are better and more important? Has He taken away the things we spend so much time and energy on so that we can instead invest in heavenly treasures which can never be taken away? What if God is not casting you off but is in fact inviting you to come near to Him?

The Bible is full of strong indications that, whilst God is angry with sin and will one day judge the whole world, He is currently holding back that judgement and inviting sinners to come near to Him. In order to make this possible God, in Jesus Christ, has first come near to us. God has come seeking sinners out, like a Shepherd looking for a lost sheep. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God has provided a means by which sins can be forgiven and cleansed. Jesus said:

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

No one comes to the Father except by me”.

In Jesus Christ God can be reached. In Jesus Christ God can be heard. In Jesus Christ eternal life can be found. And Jesus publicly declared:

“Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden

and I will give you rest”.

I have no doubt that, if you listen to God’s Spirit speaking through the Bible, you will hear this same invitation:

“ You have said, “Seek my face.” 

The only fitting response to such an invitation is to say, with David,

“My heart says to you, 

“Your face, Lord, do I seek.””