What does it mean to seek God's face?
Answered from the commentary of W. W. Fereday, Andrew Miller, The Bible Treasury and 13 others
To seek God's face is to seek God Himself: His presence, His favour, and the full knowledge of who He is, rather than anything He gives. The face is what discloses a person, so it speaks of nearness and intimacy, not distance. Such a seeker draws near "not to get any benefit out of Him, but because we find attraction in Himself", and the Psalmist sought Him "for His own sake" even before trouble came.
This seeking is a response, not something the soul starts. In Psalm 27:8 God first says "Seek ye my face," and the heart answers, "Thy face, Lord, will I seek". He "creates the longing that He may satisfy it", and the answer comes freely from a heart He has won, not by the bondage of law. That is why seeking His face brings confidence: having invited the seeker, He will not turn His face away from one who comes. Even so, coming into His presence means seeing one's own sin there. The seeker feels he deserves His anger, yet learns "the evil of his own heart in the presence of the grace that can meet it all".
For a people who have failed, seeking His face goes together with humbling themselves, praying, and turning from their wicked ways. The authors give these as the conditions of forgiveness and healing in 2 Chronicles 7:14, with "no recovery apart from" them. In the same way, God withdraws "till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face" (Hosea 5:15). Restoration comes only after confession. Seeking His face is also a constant dependence on Him for strength, and it is to be done "continually" (Psalm 105:4). Faith seeks no other resource, so that with Him "all is settled". In it the believer asks to be kept in the felt sense of God's favour shining upon him.
Under the law God's face could not be seen, and Moses saw only His "back parts". Now "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" is open to the believer (2 Corinthians 4:6) without fear, because it shines in the face of the One who suffered for us. Seeking His face now is the beginning of what eternity will complete, when "they shall see his face" (Revelation 22:4) in perfect nearness and likeness to Him.
Verses: Psalms 27:8, 1 Chronicles 16:11, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalms 105:4, Psalms 24:6, Psalms 27:4, Hosea 5:15, Psalms 63:1, Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29, Numbers 6:24, Numbers 6:25, Numbers 6:26, Psalms 80:3, Psalms 80:7, Psalms 80:19, Psalms 42:1, Psalms 42:2, Psalms 67:1, Psalms 4:6, Isaiah 55:6, Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 6:33, Exodus 33:11, Exodus 33:18, Exodus 33:19, Exodus 33:20, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Revelation 22:4, Matthew 5:8, Psalms 17:15, Psalms 11:7, Psalms 27:9, Psalms 13:1, Psalms 119:58, Proverbs 8:17, Lamentations 3:25, Zephaniah 2:3, Amos 5:4, James 4:8, Acts 17:27
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
I think especially of those who are young. What an encouragement it is to find God coming in to confirm us in our desires to seek Him. "Seek ye my face," He says. It is sweet to Him that we should seek Him. What a compensation for the soul that knows what it is to be set on this one thing, to be in His presence beholding His beauty. He satisfies the longing soul. He creates the longing that He may satisfy it. And with the satisfying comes a capacity for deeper longing. It is blessed to know what it is to have these divinely created longings. It is thus He carries on the growth of our souls.
His word for us now is, "Seek ye my face"; that is what He is going to bring us into in eternity. Oh, let us undistractedly desire this one thing and seek after it — "that I may dwell in the house of the Lord," beholding His glory.
I wish to remind you of a privilege that is yours, and of which you should make frequent use. I refer to the liberty you have of lifting your heart to the Lord at all times. I do not at all mean on only such occasions as you are compelled to do so by reason of the great difficulties that surround you. Then you instinctively look above. Even the heathen call upon their gods in the day of trouble, as we find the storm-tossed mariners did in Jonah's day. But it is an excellent Christian habit to "seek the face of the Lord" as much as possible, being moved to do so because of the joy you experience in so doing.
They are to call upon Him, or “seek the Lord,” because they are weak and “strength” is with Him. This dependence must be constant: they must “seek his face continually” (cp. John 15:5).
How different is the language in these verses to that of those previously! For instead of praise, it is the language of earnest entreaty in distress. But this is often seen in the psalms, and indeed after one has found unspeakable joy in the presence of the Lord, his heart lifted up to heaven, he will soon be reminded that his feet are on earth, and will find it necessary to be tested as to how fully he had entered into the joy of the sanctuary of God. Thus, Numbers follows Leviticus, for Leviticus introduces us into God's immediate presence, but Numbers is the book of testing in the wilderness, where prayer is a very real necessity. "Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me" (v. 7). Such language comes from a distressed heart, and we shall have many occasions of this kind, even after deeply enjoying the blessedness of the Lord's presence. God had said, "Seek my face," for this is the only resource to be trusted in trouble. The heart of the believer answers, "Your face, Lord, will I seek" (v. 80, for he knows there is no other true refuge for him.
A second time the Lord appeared unto Solomon. At this time He did not say again "Ask what shall I give thee," but He assured him that Solomon's prayer had been heard and He had chosen the dedicated place for Himself. He graciously assures the king that if He has chastised His people by sending drought, locusts or pestilence and they humble themselves, and seek His face, turning away from their wicked ways, that He will forgive and heal their land. There can be no recovery apart from the conditions mentioned in these verses. His people who have failed must first humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn away from their evil ways. The warning given in verses 19-22 had passed into history and found its literal fulfillment.
The presence of God should really be the home of our hearts, the place to which in spirit we continually resort. The point here is not that we resort there with our needs and present our prayers; that came before us at the end of chapter 4. It is rather that we draw near in the enjoyment of all that God is, as revealed to us in Jesus, in communion with Him, and in the spirit of worship. We draw near not to get any benefit out of Him, but because we find attraction in Himself.
It is a different thing to have the joy of the relationship, and to have the fruits of it. "Oh my God, early will I seek thee." There is activity of soul thus seeking God. The soul athirst for God seeks — there is diligence in seeking God for Himself — the mouth is open for everything. The Psalm does not speak of seeking for water; when a man is thirsty, he seeks for water; but here it is more thirsting for Him who gives the water.
(Verses 7-12). In the prayer we see the exercise of this godly man in the presence of the Lord. In the presence of the enemy he realises the strength of the Lord; in the presence of the Lord he is conscious of his own weakness and sin, for which he fears the anger of the Lord. Nevertheless he learns the evil of his own heart in the presence of the grace that can meet it all, for has not the Lord said to him, "Seek ye my face." Even so in the day of our Lord Peter discovers that he is a sinful man in the presence of the One whose heart is full of grace for a man that is full of sin (Luke 5:8).
Secondly, encouraged to seek the face of the Lord, he prays that the Lord will not hide His face — that he may be kept in the sense of the Lord's favour shining upon him. It is one thing for the Christian to know that he is accepted in the Beloved and stands in the favour of God; it is another thing to walk in the conscious sense of this favour.
55 The goodness of Jehovah - no human means - is the resource of the heart, the goodness of Jehovah in His government. The result is, wait on Jehovah. He strengthens the heart. "Wait, I say, on Jehovah." This, indeed, is the secret of strength in the time of evil. There is, then, nothing to fear. We may have learnt that it is a Father's love in our path of children, and the care of Christ, that good Shepherd, but the principle of our confiding in the Lord is the same. It is remarkable how entirely absent is the thought of any other resource or help than that of Jehovah. And this it is maintains integrity, for Jehovah cannot help otherwise than in maintaining truth of heart. The wile of enemies is there. The soul knows nothing (no human means or strength, or wisdom, or plan), but seeking Jehovah's face; with Him all is settled, and so in truth in the inward parts and integrity. The enemies are then Jehovah's concern. This is the secret of our security and comfort in trial. Hence, grace being there, we can reckon on Jehovah at all times. If we have erred, bring it to Him. It is a true exercise of soul in His presence. He deals with it according to truth, between itself and Him; but grace and His secret place, and then deliverance, are its position.
Verses
- Psalms 27:8–98My heart said for thee, Seek ye my face. Thy face, O Jehovah, will I seek. 9Hide not thy face from me; put not thy servant away in anger thou hast been my help; cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
- 1 Chronicles 16:11Seek Jehovah and his strength, Seek his face continually;
- 2 Chronicles 7:14and my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.
- Psalms 105:4Seek Jehovah and his strength, seek his face continually;
- Psalms 24:6This is the generation of them that seek unto him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
- Psalms 27:4One [thing] have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire [of him] in his temple.
- Hosea 5:15I will go away, I will return to my place, till they acknowledge their trespass, and seek my face in their affliction they will seek me early.