Seek, Seek, Seek

[HKHaugan]

Zeph.2:3
“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility: perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”

These are two lines from this Psalm that are punctuated by the word ‘seek.’ And these two lines reach out like searchlights into the heart. Over and over again the context of the Psalm calls for an expectation, an awareness, an awakening to the coming Day of the Lord, what it will bring, who will go down and who will rise up. These are the two lines in the Psalm that tell us how to meet that day. The important aspect they introduce is not a formula of things to do but a person to seek. It is the opposite of what the world expects when a problem exists.

The first line indicates that there are those who live the right way but are doing but not relating. That is they are the really nice people next door who live a quiet and moral life but are really not in relationship with the God of the ‘good.’ They are part of the ‘shameful nation’ mentioned in 2:1. They are people who seek what to do before they seek the ‘who’ who gives the ‘what.’ If I know what I’m supposed to do then I am in control again, I can fix whatever is wrong and I can handle whatever comes along. If there is a God of judgment I can hold up a list of good works that deserve personal acceptance.

“See, I am really a good person. Yes, I make mistakes, but nobody is perfect. I’ve done what you asked, I deserve your blessing.” This is Adam’s dowry passed on to us. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Just give me a chance to prove myself. It’s a reminder of Jesus’ Parable of the Unjust Steward who sought forgiveness from his master and received it but then the steward turned around and was unforgiving toward those who owed him. It also is a reminder of the prodigal son’s older brother who thought he deserved more because he had been the compliant son.

This condition is what is known as ‘self-righteousness.’ It is a stronghold in the deepest sense. It keeps God at bay. It controls how I relate to others. It gives me a self-protective wall (which is what a stronghold is) to avoid those who are not ‘compliant’ like me, not ‘good’ like me and not ‘better’ like me. Sound at all Pharisaic? When I am my own judge and jury I am impervious to the outside world. What really happens in this process is that I find myself more and more alone and at the end, the Lord’s Day, the wall that I have built, the self-chosen stronghold, has me trapped.

So what is answer? The psalmist gives us a fourfold remedy to unlock the door to the stronghold, gather together (vs.1), seek the Lord, seek righteousness and seek humility (vs.3). Let’s take a look at each of those.
First, gather together.
The Psalm indicts all as ‘shameful’ sinners. Sinners need to gather together which is said twice to emphasize the need to be together, repent and admit we are stronghold heavy.

Second, seek the Lord, seek His face and seek Him while He may be found (Is.55:6). This is done together. When we are together in Him His Spirit will allow us to risk opening up where we are. Whether it is in Body worship or small groups or just with a brother or sister the door can be pried open to let the Spirit in.

Third, seek righteousness. Righteousness is acting in the strength of the faith we have in Jesus. That means we start with repentance. We gather knowing that no one possesses the exact same stronghold since we are individually unique in how we construct and employ them. It is coming together and sharing with others how and where we have issues, how we have built barriers and being open to receive how we may be projecting them. Of course that is only done among those in the Body we trust and will pray with and for us.

Fourth, seek humility. Humility is the Lord’s quality before His Father. “Not my will but your will be done,” said Jesus to the Father. This is a gift from the Lord, part of the fruit of the Spirit given that we may grow into the likeness of Jesus. The positive approach to remember is that we are half way there since we have been created in God’s image. The other half is the sin that is blocking Jesus from coming into the doors of our strongholds and eliminating them one by one. As an image of God we have the equipment of faith, reason, trust and emotion but they have been exploited by the devil and are totally out of balance until we receive Him into our hearts. The humility part is what enables the Holy Spirit to bring us back into balance with the Father. This is what Jesus did for us on the Cross. He showed us the way to get our balance back, take up our cross everyday and let the Spirit transform us. That’s what humility is all about.

If we can see all this in just three verses from one psalm imagine what exposure to the work of Spirit through the whole of Scripture will do.