Pastor John hiking in Cascade Mountains of Washington

Tomorrow Psalm 27 will be read in worship.    Psalm 27 begins with a powerful insight, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  God is a light to our path, but the path can be difficult, strenuous, challenging.  We fear what is ahead so we try to make our own way.   Our fear leads us a way from God, like a backpacker who leaves the trail for what he thinks is a short-cut, only to discover that he is lost and alone. 

That lost, alone person needs to get back on God’s path, but how?  The psalmist gives us two hints in how to retrace our steps.  In Psalm 27:8 the psalmist writes,  “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek.  When we have gotten off trail and are lost, we need to admit that we are lost and we need God’s direction.   To seek God’s face is to seek intimacy with God, to have a direct face-to-face conversation with our creator and savior.  This is an action of the heart, more than the mind.

But then the psalmist gives wisdom on how to seek God’s face.  In verse 14,  Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!  This can be difficult in our instant response world.   We expect God to immediately answer our requests.   Waiting can be so difficult.  Lost backpackers are instructed to find a safe place and wait for the rescue team to find them.  Their inclination is to go thrashing about in the woods, but that only makes rescue more difficult. 

Seek the Lord’s face.  Wait on the Lord.  Still wise words for us to heed in our daily walk with God. 

How do you seek or wait on the Lord?