Rejoice, o hearts that seek the Lord –Psalm 105
This psalm from yesterday’s Liturgy made me reflect a lot. “Rejoice o hearts that seek the Lord”. The psalmist does not say “o hearts that find, or have, the Lord”. He clearly specifies hearts that are in search of the Lord.
This concept of seeking the Lord has been on my heart for some time now. There are other psalms quite similar: “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10). And one can’t help but notice the frequency that the psalms encourage the seeking of the Lord, His face, His righteousness, His refuge…
What strikes me is that it seems to be so contrary to human logic. I am usually most happy when I find what I am looking for. When I am still seeking or trying to find something, I am often anxious, worried, or excited but not yet satisfied… So where does this joy come from? Why would the psalmist urge the heart to rejoice while it is still seeking the Lord? And what does it mean to seek the Lord?
I think there are multiple ways to answer these questions and so I will just simply share with you some of the answers that have come to my heart in prayer.
I don’t know that we can ever say to have “found” or “fully possessed” the Lord. He is a mystery (“infinitely knowable” as a past spiritual director of mine once said) and so our encounters with Him are destined to satisfy us and yet leave us with an ever growing desire for more. I repeat, He satisfies us. Our desire for more is not a desire motivated by lack but a desire motivated by love. So to seek the Lord is to love Him, and love makes the heart rejoice!
We can rejoice in seeking the Lord (and not only in “finding” Him) because we know Him who we are seeking. When I know that I am going to see a dear friend in the evening, my whole day is filled with joy at the thought of that encounter. In some ways my heart is already seeking that friend and therefore rejoicing in our future meeting. And so too with the Lord. I know the Lord to be the One who first loved me. He created me because He wanted me; He desired and loved me into existence. I need never doubt His desire to encounter me. And my life is a journey towards forever with Him. So my joy in seeking Him is not conditioned by whether or not I feel His presence now. (Even though that is of course often my desire.) My joy is full because I know that I am seeking Him who first seeks me. I am seeking the One that I am sure to find. He Himself promises so: When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me… (Jer 29:13-14).
But to seek the Lord…what does that look like? Certainly, prayer comes to mind. Yes, we seek the Lord in prayer. But even more than isolated moments of silence in our day or daily reading of Scripture, is the psalmist not encouraging us to seek God always…in everything? Here, more than answers I have questions…for you, for myself. Do I seek the face of God in the faces of those I meet each day? Do I seek His face in my own reflection? Do I seek His will in the decisions, even small, that I must make in my daily life? Do I seek to sincerely believe that He is present even in those situations that seem most difficult and lost? Do I seek to trust that He will bring good out of all things, even the conflict and suffering so common in our world? Do I seek to just be with Him, whether I am filled with joy or filled with sorrow? Do I seek Him to say “good morning” or “good night”? Do I seek Him to say “thank you” or “please help me”? Do I seek Him as the God that He is, and therefore seek Him for everything that relates to my life – the life He freely and lovingly chose to give me? Does my heart rejoice when I seek Him in these ways?
I believe that the heart that seeks the Lord rejoices because it is a heart that knows that the Lord is there. It is a heart that knows, in some way, to already “have” the Lord. It is a heart that trusts in God’s love, that depends on it, counts on it. It is a heart that, even when it does not feel it, knows to be enveloped in the presence of the Lord…always. It is a heart that imitates its God who is always the first to seek, to love.
When we seek the Lord, our heart is not spread out in seeking millions of other things. Our heart is whole, united in itself and undivided. And it rejoices because it knows that in seeking only the Lord - the one thing necessary - there is the promise of finding all that is good.
A heart that seeks the Lord is a heart that loves the Lord, and a heart that loves is a heart that rejoices.
Rejoice, o hearts that seek the Lord!
