I please Almighty God to bless
us together as we meditate in his word this evening. Let's
turn to the first book of the Chronicles, chapter 16, and we'll
read verse 11. The first book of the Chronicles,
chapter 16, and reading verse 11. Seek the Lord, and his strength
see his face continually we're thankful to have such an
account when they brought back the ark from the house of Obed-Edom
and of course David had great reason to praise and bless God
for it as we remember that when he made an a design, an effort
to bring it back previously as I had attempted to steady the
ark when the oxen stumbled and he put out his hand to the ark
and touched it and of course that was against the law of God
and David realised eventually that of course it shouldn't have
been carried on a cart even though it was a new cart because it
was down to the Levites to carry the Ark and so this time David
arranged it so it was carried by the Ark and he appointed certain
of the Levites, the minister before the Ark we are thankful
therefore that we have such a testimony and we see that in our own lives
we can make mistakes and David was careless, he obviously didn't
know the law of God sufficiently, although we think we would have
thought he would have done but he didn't and yet the law of
God was before them all the time but it clearly hadn't been so
much and therefore he just didn't realise what the word of God
said, the law of God said and again we need to realise the
relevance of that to our own lives today to be concerned that
we do have a good knowledge of the word of God to direct us
and to bless us and so on this occasion we're told then on that
day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord and into
the hand of Asaph and his brethren well I'm sure he had cause to
thank the Lord for this occasion and it's really a very beautiful
statement this psalm because we can you can read the psalm
actually it's Psalm 105 in the book of Psalms but it just seemed
relevant to read it here because it gives the what went on before
and what went on afterwards just to complete the picture so we
know how it was written and why it was written and so David comes
down and says give thanks unto the Lord call upon his name make
known his deeds among the people Sing under him, sing psalms under
him. Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Glorious words really aren't
they that David commenced this psalm with. And it's not desire
surely. It should be in our hearts to
give thanks unto the Lord and to call upon his name. and make
known his deeds among the people it's very important for us today
still to be able to make known his deeds among the people when
the Lord does appear and the Lord does work and grant the
blessing, grant the favour and not to lie forgotten in unthankfulness
and without praises die and then he says sing under him, sing
psalms under him talk ye of all his wondrous works Well, what
a blessing it is when you and I are blessed with that liberty
in speaking one to another of His wondrous works. And many
they are in our own lives, in the lives of others, in the lives
of our nation, in the world at large, now and historically. And bless God for the Word of
God. and all that it contains, so we have great cause and reason
to sing these psalms and hymns unto him for all his wondrous
works. We must never forget the wondrous
works of God, and especially the wonderful work of God in
salvation, and the wonderful work of God in granting us the
great blessing of eternal life. Surely this is a wondrous work
of God and surely we should be concerned to sing about it and
let people know so that His name may be honoured and glorified.
Glory ye in His holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Well it's good when our heart
does rejoice in what God has done. and then he comes down
to this gracious exhortation that we have read tonight seek
the Lord and His strength seek His face continually in the 105th Psalm this verse
is just one word slightly differently, it's the last word it says seek
the Lord and His strength, seek His face evermore whereas here
it's continually with a more or less, of course, mean the
same things. So we might say, well, how can
we seek the Lord's strength? How can we seek the Lord's strength? Seek the Lord and his strength. Well, I'm sure it's desiring
to be subject to God's strength and relying upon God's strength
and not doing things in our own strength that really is the vital
difference isn't it we find ourselves very often doing things in our
own strength thinking well we can do this and we can do that
and things might be familiar to us perhaps the Word of God
and we don't really think very much about it's God's strength
that enables us to carry out certain things and we perhaps
rely on our own strength well here David is obviously concerned
that Judah, Israel might truly seek for the Lord to be revealed
and to seek that the Lord's strength might be granted it is a blessing
if you and I come and look to the Lord for our strength in
everything that can apply to our natural lives sometimes the
Lord weakens us naturally sometimes he weakens us spiritually the
word of God tells us he weakened their strength in the way you
can easily be reliant upon our spiritual strength and perhaps
the Lord then takes us graciously in hand and weakens us and realise
that we can't in actual fact keep alive our own soul the Word
of God tells us no man can keep alive his own soul and it won't
matter how much we pray and how much we read if it's done in
our own strength we need God to be with us And we need to
seek for his strength in these things. Strength in our prayers. Strength in how to pray rightly
and in accordance with his will. Asking for those things in accordance
with his will and not therefore going on and doing things ourselves. We need therefore to be this
desire to be subject to the will of God and to be subject to relying
upon Him, the great God to give us strength strength to resist
the devil we shouldn't think that we are able to resist the
devil ourselves he's far too clever for us he's far too cunning
for us and how successful he often is
so we need therefore to seek the Lord for that strength to
resist the devil that he may flee from us what a mercy when
God comes and then here's our prayer to this end that we are
able to resist the devil you see by nature the devil sets
things before us which are attractive to our flesh and we need strength
to resist the devil and if we rely on our own strength we'll
find it's really no strength what a mercy then to bless God
that he does give this strength but yet there is this requirement
that we are to come and we are to seek unto the Lord we are
to pray unto him And that's not just a one-off occasion. We should
pray very often to our God. That's why at the end of this
verse it says, Seek His face continually, continually, forevermore. Seek unto Him that He will be
gracious to us and that He will indeed come and bless us. And so we must desire to be subject
to our God, that He will give us strength and then still on
the same thing but we can think being supported by it God supports
us by his strength without his support we shall fall we shall
fail we shall do all things wrong we need to be supported by the
strength of Almighty God. My friends, our God has all strength
that is required for the whole Church of God. You know, again
the Psalmist David in the 71st Psalm, he said this, I will go,
how? I will go in the strength of
the Lord. I will make mention of thy righteousness
even of thine only." It's a text which probably most of you know
is in my room on the mantelpiece and I can be reminded of it every
time I come out to preach and others who come and stand in
this place and go into that room remember this real good desire
not to go in our strength. He says, I will go in the strength
of the Lord And as we go in the strength of the Lord, the strength
of the Lord's to enable us to carry it out in this blessed
way, to make mention of the righteousness of God, even of thine only. And that means what it says,
not to look to other people's righteousness, and much less
look to our own righteousness, but to come and to rely upon
the strength of the Lord to help us to do just this, to mention
His righteousness even of thine only. And then we can think of
the Apostle Paul, the man of God who knew so well the strength
of God. Again and again in his days of
adversity when he was about to be shipwrecked or when he was
imprisoned or when he was beaten so many times there was this
opposition against him and yet he is able to declare to the
church at Philippi and he knew what it was didn't he when he
was at Philippi he was imprisoned there he had to bear those stripes
which were put upon him purely because he preached the Gospel
See, it's a very solemn consideration to think that he was doing God's
will, he obeyed God's will, he got over to Macedonia, preached
the gospel, and yet he was taken, and judged wrongly, and beaten,
and put in prison. But you see, we can thank God
that the Lord strengthened him, and the Lord strengthened him
inside us in a wonderful way. You probably remember, they sang
praises to God at midnight, in the prison, and the prisoners
heard them. Yes, it was a glorious witness,
wasn't it? Paul and Silas were able to demonstrate
the strength of God in that prison house. God strengthened them
with might in their inner man all the natural difficulties
and the pain that they bore nonetheless the Lord gave them that strength
to rise above them and to sing praises unto God and of course
we know that in the end of course God gloriously appeared for them
and they were freed and the Philippian jailer was converted what a wonderful
outcome What a wonderful God we have. So remember what the
Apostle said, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens
me. Seek the Lord and His strength. Well, the Apostle and Silas sought
the Lord, didn't they? And God honoured that seeking.
There's many such words in the Bible to encourage us to seek
unto the Lord and His strength what a blessing it is because
what did it do? what did it do for the Apostle
Paul? well, it equipped him for the
service which God had called him to and that's a mercy isn't
it? when God equips us and that applies
to all of us perhaps in Paul's life in a special way. But you
know the Lord does come, he does equip us in our life. He equips us with his strength. And really that comes back to
this great point, doesn't it? To seek the Lord and his strength. And he will help us every day
as we wake up and begin our little day to commit our way unto the
Lord, to trust in Him, to rely upon His strength, so that we
come in with these Philippian words, I can do all things through
Christ, which strengthens me. The secret is, of course, through
Christ, isn't it? You and I can't do things by
ourselves, but we can do things through Christ. As we seek unto
the Lord and his strength, he blesses us with that. What a
mercy, what a kind and gracious God we have, being equipped with
it for his service. Jeremiah was equipped again by
God to serve his God. And of course, as we've often
spoken and preached from Jeremiah, I hope you are familiar with
some of the blessings that God granted to Jeremiah and gave
him strength as he sought unto the Lord to be very faithful
and to do those things which were right and he was able to
declare in the 16th chapter of Jeremiah this is what he said
in the 19th verse O Lord my strength straight away comes, O Lord,
my strength. Isn't it good? If you and I can
come tonight and say, O Lord, my strength, thou hast helped
me. Hitherto, I believe, will help
me all my journey through and give me daily cause to raise
new Ebenezers to his praise. O Lord, my strength and my fortress
and my refuge in the day or affliction. Well, Jeremiah knew many days
of affliction. And the Church of God know many
days of affliction. Our life is, for the most part,
one of affliction in one way or another. And yet to have that
confidence still, in the midst of affliction, to trust in our
God, that he will give us strength to stand firm against the onslaught
of Satan and come in indeed with us as God is my refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. So much encouragement in the
Word of God, isn't there? To look to the Lord. The Lord
has all the strength you and I can possibly need. We can never
be devoid of strength. when we look to our God and we
look to what the Lord Jesus Christ did we see the Lord Jesus Christ
came down to that place of weakness in one sense but he was gloriously
strengthened by his Father what a wonderful occasion that was
it's worthy of our meditation isn't it? to ever think of what
Christ did, and how His Father didn't forsake Him, how His Father
strengthened Him, although there were those three hours, but when
His Father withdrew from Him. Yet, you see, there was that
favour through the days which were led up to that, and all
the opposition He had to face. God was with Him. And so Jeremiah reminds us, O
Lord, my strength and my fortress and my refuge in the day of affliction. Well, it's good, you know, to
read such words as this. Seek ye the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. Do we desire to see the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ? face of the Lord looking upon
us, kindly, graciously, with love, remembering us with that
favour He bears to His people. Yes, what a mercy to come and
to seek His face. You know, in Numbers, the sixth
chapter, we read those beautiful verses at the end of chapter
6 and one of them says this the Lord make his face to shine upon
thee and be gracious unto thee perhaps we've had to bear the
hiding of the face of God toward us perhaps it all seems dark
there seems no light we need the Lord to come and to shine
upon us is that why there is a word like this? seek his face
continually evermore don't give up don't think the Lord won't
come the devil will say well there is no hope for you you
just sinned too badly you just turned against God too much there
is no hope for you well be encouraged seek his face continually Remember
this word. The Lord make his face to shine
upon me. And if that is so, what's the
outcome? The Lord will be gracious unto
thee. That means he won't deal with
us as our sins deserve. That means he will show to us
his great love and favour toward us. That's surely a wonderful,
wonderful blessing. this word here seek his face
continually so I read that this word seek in our English we just
put down as one word but in the original Hebrew it really can
mean three different things three different things seeking for
his face and the first is to seek the Lord for mercy to seek
his face continually for his mercy Well, to every true believer,
mercy is a very welcome sound. And we enter in to what that
publican cried, prayed to his God, God, be merciful to me,
a sinner. Yes, we seek unto our God for
his mercy. Well, it's the beginning of spiritual
life to be truly before God and praying to Him. You may not be
able to get very far past that in a prayer. You may perhaps
only have to groan out a prayer like that. God be merciful
to me a sinner. Well that's not a bad groan,
it's a good groan. You know God looks upon us because
we are in that prayer seeking His face. You may have to do
it continually, very often, and it may seem as though God's hidden
His face from you. No, the Lord waits to be gracious. Don't forget that. He will be
inquired of by the house of Israel to do these things for them.
But He will do them. He will hear their prayer. He
will arise. The Lord therefore planned a
hymn for mercy, seek unto Him for mercy and then seek unto
Him for strength do His will to serve Him in whatever way
that may be you see the Lord has a life for each one of us
a life to live a service to do and we should never think that
we are going to do some great service you know we should come
in with the Apostle Paul who never thought of that he said
he was less than the least of all saints he didn't have a high
opinion of himself he didn't go around boasting of what a
great man he was and what a great preacher he was and how he done
this and done that no, he was less than the least of all saints
so to pray to seek his face to seek his blessing in his service,
and then to seek his face for happiness. The joy of the Lord
is our strength. Happiness. Happiness, thou lovely
name. Where do we find it? Where do
we find happiness? We find happiness in communion
and union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Apostle
Paul desired fellowship with his sufferings. He knew the blessing
of it. He knew that he would, in that
position, be near to his Saviour and he would see his face, see
his face continually. Well, may we truly be able to
come unto our God Seek his face continually. There are only a
few words here, aren't there? But they're very instructive,
really. And maybe we found doing it. Seek the Lord, the Lord,
the Lord God, Lord God Almighty, who can do for you and me far
more, exceeding abundantly, than we can ask or even think. Let
us never limit our God. Let us seek to our God for Forgiveness. Can we seek to our God for His
revelation to reveal Himself to us as our sin-bearer, to reveal
Himself to us as that One who suffered and died upon the cross
at Calvary, that He may come and blessedly apply to our hearts
the value and the preciousness of that sin-atoning blood. Seek
unto the Lord. and His strength, because when
we come before the Saviour, when we stand before the cross, you
see, there it is. The gracious Lord gives us that
strength within, that strength to press on as we view what the
Saviour did on our behalf, that you and I might receive that
great and glorious gift of eternal life. And so, this evening, seek
the Lord, and his strength see his face continually. Amen.