“Look to the Lord and his strength, seek his face always.”

1 Chronicles 16:11

Sometimes one sentence of advice can steer our life in wonderful directions. David’s words at the celebration of the Ark’s arrival in Jerusalem stand for all time in the category of great advice. This wisdom, if followed, will serve to lead your heart to a place of strength, rest, and refreshment.

“Look to the Lord and his strength…” David was encouraging his hearers to make a choice, a choice about where to look and find strength. We look in many places to find strength. We look inside ourselves, we look to other people, we look to money, and we look to tradition to clothe ourselves with the power to live daily life.

Unfortunately, sooner or later these sources of strength end up insufficient.

David reminds us that where we look for strength is a choice and that there is a better choice than we are naturally inclined to make. The Lord, creator of heaven and earth has unlimited strength available for those who look to him. His vast reservoirs of strength are never drained empty. “Seek his face always,” David said. David had learned that there was great reward in seeking the face of the Lord. David knew that the Lord was “good and that his love endures forever” (Ps 100:5).

The writer of Hebrews echoed this by saying, “he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb 11:6). The Apostle Paul enjoyed the strengthening of the Lord (Phil 4:13, 2 Tim 4:17).

With this in mind, David encouraged his people, and through his words encourages us also to develop the habit of seeking the Lord always.

Not only are we to seek God’s strength, but we are to seek His face. We are to seek to know Him, encounter Him, and know Him intimately as the Lord of the universe and Lord of our lives. It is as we know Him that the riches of His power are released in our life.

At the end of this devotional book, ask God for this grace. Ask Him to give you a heart that will seek him always.

Prayer starter: Lord, grant me the grace to establish the habit of seeking you.