The hawkers of human happiness constantly call: buy this, take this, do this, look like this, and all your troubles will vanish. While we sense that these are lies, fallen human nature craves nothing more than to be flattered and caressed. Thus, we are often tempted to listen to these sirens, with at least half an ear, thinking that there may be something to them, some key to joy they have found but we have missed. There is not; they are utterly empty. Joy and peace on man’s terms is the delusion of fools and the hope of rebels. Scripture stands eternally true: “Let the heart of those rejoice who seek the Lord” (Ps. 105:3).
I have often wondered that David concludes virtually every song of woe with a high note of praise and joy. It is one thing if his troubles were those of jaundiced urban dwellers, but when his very life was in danger, enemies hounding him, his family in chaos, his hopes, which he knew to be inseparably bound up with God’s promises of the Messiah, hanging by a thread, he never fails to express joy and confidence in the Lord. This is a joy far removed from the commonplace happiness of which men often speak, and it certainly has nothing to do with the giddiness of sloganeering, bumper-sticker, clever theme-of-the-month Christianity. Satan scoffs at these pretenders to joy, and we rightly feel they will not, cannot last, for they are built upon nothing solid. The Lord will teach his church that psychological manipulation wearing the garb and speaking the language of biblical religion without the substance of his life-giving word leaves us empty, still searching. They are a weak church’s juvenile attempt to borrow happiness from the world: a very futile enterprise and sad commentary on our times.
Let us instead return to the old paths of which David, Jeremiah, and all the prophets so wondrously spoke (Jer. 6:16). All our joy lies in seeking the Lord. We need to be very careful here, for joy, which is both a command for us to obey and a privilege for us to enjoy, is elusive. It is found in only one place: God himself. When we truly seek the Lord, we set our heart and mind upon him. Yes, we may be experiencing many troubles, facing an uncertain future, and possess little of what the world says is required to be happy. But God is joy: “in his presence is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). This is the reason we are frequently encouraged to seek him with our whole heart (Ps. 119:2,10,58,145). The heart, also, is a precarious, fickle thing (Hos. 6:4). It is easily distracted, divided in its attentions and loyalties. There is room in the soul for only one love, and thus for only one joy. Our Savior taught us this when he said we cannot serve God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). We are simply incapable of serving multiple masters, seeking multiple joys. Thus, we must set our heart upon the Lord as our only joy.
This means that when we turn to him in prayer, our chief purpose must not be to find answers to our problems and relief from our troubles. The Lord himself must be the object of our seeking. If we find him, we shall find joy (Ps. 40:16; 70:4). The reason many give up praying or pray only half-heartedly is that they pray with sinful expectations. Then, finding that the Lord does not meet them, they think prayer a waste of time or lose hope. But the value of prayer does not lie in getting what we want but in finding the Lord, and he has promised to be found by those who seek him (Matt. 7:7). He has made us to be filled with him, to know and love him, to see our lives as nothing but an existence in him. Indeed, one of the reasons he often delays in answering our specific petitions is to teach us this very thing: that our true need is God himself. If he always and immediately gives us what we request, our silly hearts will conclude that he is nothing but a genie in the sky and exists to do nothing but satisfy our cravings. He will teach us rather that he is whom we should desire above all and that if we lack everything else but have him, it is enough for us. He will teach all his children this, which explains the condition of God’s children in the world: often oppressed, surrounded by many troubles and sorrows, besieged by sin and Satan. God has not forgotten us; he is remembering us by causing the pressure of our circumstances to lead us to fly to him as our only refuge and light, comfort and strength. He will show us that he is our only joy and the lasting delight of our soul. Since we are to self-centered and prideful, his usual method is to knock our idols and props away, reducing us to such extremity of need and longing of soul that nothing will suffice but to get on our face before him and call upon his name.
When we set our heart to seek him, great effort is required to push our pressing needs into the background. To find him, we must seek only for him. We can only find him when, turning our thoughts from woe and need, we set your affections upon him. “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Ps. 73:25). And we must seek God as he defines himself, not as we would like for him to be. Adoring him for his holiness, we then feel ourselves untouchably secure exactly because he is holy (Ps. 22:3); because he is holy, neither sin, nor Satan, nor the hordes of ungodly men have the slightest chance of victory. Surrounded by enemies, remembering his past judgments and his marvelous name will comfort us (Ps. 119:52,54), for as he has delivered his people in time past, so he will keep covenant and mercy to us (Ps. 89:28). Faced with a pressing need, we must call to mind his great faithfulness and we will be calm, for he cannot forget us or deny himself (Ps. 119:90; Lam. 3:23; 1 Tim. 2:13). Overwhelmed by guilt and sin, we cling to his loving-kindness and tender mercies, and know that the deep pit of our sin can be easily filled and swallowed whole by his sworn love and promises of forgiveness (Ps. 51:1; 119:76-77). In short, seeking the Lord is bringing our whole mind and heart to consider him, reflect upon him, and behold his glorious attributes, promises, and covenant. It is to see his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. And when all else fails, we must turn the cross of our Savior over and over in our mind: what it means, what took place on that cursed tree, how the eternal Rock of Ages was split asunder so that from him might flow living waters of peace and righteousness, love and grace, joy and hope. The very One who so suffered for us has now passed into the heavens, opening for us a living way through his crucified flesh into the veil of God’s glorious presence (Heb. 4:14; 10:20).
Such seeking is born not only out of a sense of our great need for him but also from the seed of his word. Too much of our available thinking time is wasted in thinking about ourselves. It is not to be wondered that our circumstances press so heavily upon us, for what we think about most becomes something of a god to us, and all false gods are oppressive and make us miserable. If we are to seek the Lord, we must think more upon him in his word and much less upon ourselves: what we are going through, what others are doing and thinking. This is neither satisfying nor safe. A life consumed with the troubles, activities, and expectations of others, especially in this age of low piety, virtual apostasy, and electronic distraction, is a sure recipe for weakness and despair. We were created to find our happiness in thoughtful, adoring communion with our God and Maker. His thoughts alone must be wonderful to us (Ps. 139:17). The more we know them, the more we shall pray, for he is so glorious that we cannot think of him rightly without be drawn to worship and seek him, to feel our hearts surging with love for him, and to cast ourselves and all our needs into his powerful hands.
Our lives will know many storm clouds. “It is through much tribulation that we must enter God’s kingdom” (Acts 14:22). We are so weak, however, that no great storm is required to drive us to despair, for even a gust of wind terrifies us. How much differently we would respond if the habit of our hearts was to seek the Lord? Then, he would show us his covenant (Ps. 25:14): that we are upheld, guarded, and guided at all times by eternal, invincible love; that the wings of the living God, the Lord of Hosts, cover us, shield us from unseen enemies, and watch over us at all times with unwearied vigilance; that the Lord considers us to be the “pupil of his eye” (Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8), so that no speck of trouble ever comes to us from his hand without also leading him to raise his hand to protect and shield us. To have such confidence, we must seek him. And in the midst of a people so blinded by false promises and false gods, the Lord is toppling these right before our eyes not to throw us into confusion, though he certainly does this to his enemies, but to lead us by the hand to seek him with our whole heart. Thus seeking him, we shall have joy, for he has promised that the heart of those who seek him will rejoice. We shall be at peace, for our God and Father will fill us with such sparks of his glory that fear will give way to confidence, uncertainty to clarity, weakness to strength, and despair to hope. This is the heritage of those who seek the Lord. It was purchased for us by the precious blood of our Savior. Clinging to him as our only Advocate, let us be the generation that seeks the Lord with our whole heart (Ps. 24:6).