Seeking God

As believers continue in God's grace, they must continue to seek God, his Kingdom, and his commandments. Though not exhaustive, the scriptures presented provide encouragement and instruction to seek God.

Instruction to Seek God

Believers are instructed to seek and cleave unto God, and to seek God's kingdom and righteousness.  

1 Chronicles 16:10-11 KJV - "10 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 11 Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually."

Psalm 105:3-4 KJV - "3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore."

Acts 17:24-27 KJV - "24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:"

1 Chronicles 22:19 KJV — “Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.”

Deuteronomy 10:20 KJV - "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name."

Deuteronomy 13:4 KJV - "Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him."

Joshua 22:5 KJV - "But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Joshua 23:8 KJV - "But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day."

1 Chronicles 28:8 KJV — “Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.”

Isaiah 45:22 KJV — “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

Matthew 6:33 KJV — “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (also Luke 12:31)

Colossians 3:1 KJV — “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”

Hebrews 12:15 KJV — “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;”

2 Peter 3:12 KJV — “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”

Acts 11:22-23 KJV - "22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."

Romans 12:9 KJV - "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good."

Psalm 73:1 KJV - "A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart."

Matthew 19:17 KJV - "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."

Testimonials of Seeking God

Believers can learn ways of seeking God through testimonials shown in scriptures.

2 Chronicles 15:12 KJV — “And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;"

Ezra 6:21 KJV — “And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,”

Ezra 8:21 KJV — “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.”

Psalm 63:1 KJV — “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

Isaiah 58:2 KJV — “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.”

Daniel 9:3 KJV — “And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:”

Micah 7:7 KJV — “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.”

Hebrews 11:8-10 KJV - "8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

Believers can learn from testimonials shown in scriptures. The following are a few examples: 

Deuteronomy 4:3-4 KJV - "3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day."

2 Chronicles 11:16 KJV — “And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.”

2 Chronicles 14:4, 7 KJV — “4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment. ... 7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.”

2 Chronicles 15:4 KJV — “But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.”

2 Chronicles 17:3-4 KJV - "3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; 4 But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel."

2 Chronicles 19:3 KJV — “Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.”

2 Chronicles 26:3-5 KJV - "3 Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. 5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper."

2 Chronicles 30:18-20 KJV - "18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one 19 That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. 20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people."

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 KJV - "20 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered."

2 Chronicles 34:1-3 KJV - "1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images."

Ezra 4:2 KJV — “Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.”

Psalm 78:34 KJV — “When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.”

Prophetic Examples

Scripture reveals a time when the children of Israel return to seek the Lord.

Jeremiah 50:4 KJV - "In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God."

Hosea 3:5 KJV — “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.”

Zechariah 8:21-22 KJV - "21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD."

Implications of Seeking

There are blessings and rewards for those who seek God.

2 Chronicles 15:4 KJV — “But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.”

2 Chronicles 26:3-5 KJV - "3 Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. 5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper."

Proverbs 28:5 KJV - "Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things."

Deuteronomy 4:29 KJV — “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”

Deuteronomy 11:22-23 KJV - "22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; 23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves."

Deuteronomy 30:20 KJV - "That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

1 Chronicles 28:9 KJV — “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”

Ezra 8:22 KJV — “For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.”

Psalm 34:10 KJV - "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing."

Psalm 69:6 KJV — “Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.”

1 John 2:28 KJV - "And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming."

Psalm 69:32 KJV — “The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.”

Psalm 70:4 KJV — ‘Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.”

Hebrews 11:6 KJV — “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

There are those who will not seek God and an adverse judgment will be given to them.

1 Chronicles 15:13 KJV — “For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.”

1 Chronicles 28:9 KJV — “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”

Ezra 8:22 KJV — “For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.”

Psalm 10:4 KJV — “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”

Psalm 14:2-4 KJV - "2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD." (also Psalm 53:2-4)

Hosea 7:10 KJV — “And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.”

Romans 3:11 KJV — “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”

Luke 9:62 KJV — “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”