Dave's Diary

1 Chronicles 16

“Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.” (v.11)

The Israelites had not truly worshipped according to the design God gave them in the wilderness since entering the Promised Land. They had erected the tabernacle (the place of worship) at Shiloh, but steadily the sinfulness and corruption of the priests led to the collapse of systematic worship (both individual and corporate).

Hundreds of years later, when David had taken the throne and established peace in the land of Israel, he managed to bring the ark of the covenant (the centre-piece of tabernacle worship) back to Jerusalem and to establish the tabernacle as a place of individual and corporate worship at the heart of the City. I Chronicles 16 records the “dedication service” for this place of worship.

The whole section from v.7-36 contains the Psalm of Praise which David composed for this occasion. While the whole Psalm drips with significance and beauty, verse 11 seems to capture the heart behind the Psalm and discloses David’s heart-felt longing for God and for His people. David longed to trust the Lord and to seek His face. And David longed for God’s people to trust the LORD and to seek the LORD’s face always.

There is much that could be said about “seeking God’s face” but to me it speaks today of the longing for intimacy with God. It is an expression of a heart that longs to know God better and to encounter God more fully, in body, mind and spirit. As we ponder our individual and corporate worship, let’s examine the state of our hearts. When I come to my time of individual, private worship at home, do I focus fully? Do I put aside all distractions and think intently about the Lord? Do I search His written self-revelation (the Bible) diligently for knowledge of His beautiful nature and character on display there? And do I then meditate on what I discover there – both in that moment and throughout the day? Is it my heart’s desire to “look to the Lord” and to “seek His face”?

What about when I come to the Church building for my time of corporate worship alongside my fellow-believers. Do I give the seriousness and effort it deserves to preparing my heart ahead of time for this sacred moment of worshiping God? Do I search my heart before the worship starts, so as to identify the sin that comes between me and God in order to confess it and be cleansed? Do I contemplate the glories and wonders of God ahead of time so that I am fully focussed right from the start? As we worship, do I long for and expect God to open the eyes of my heart to a fresh revelation of His beauty and glory? Do I long for and deliberately focus on being open to an actual spiritual experience of the presence and power of God during our worship?

To cut this long story short, I pray that we as a people will pursue bring the LORD a sacrifice of worship that is characterised by hearts that “look to the Lord and His strength” and, “seek His face always.” Amen.