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Feb 25, 2024

Seeking God’s Face

Seeking God’s Face

Passage: Psalms

Speaker: Andrew Kerhoulas

Series: Practice the Presence - Prayer

Keywords: prayer, adoration, seeking god, take courage, wait for the lord, gaze at the beauty of god, look at his goodness

Prayer is in right now. In fact, prayer and meditation are on the rise even as the American church is in decline. While most of us pray, we need a refresher course on what prayer is. In Psalm 27, God is out to redefine, reclaim, and rekindle our prayer life.

Download the "Practice the Presence: Meditating During Lent" Reading Plan Here

Readings & Scripture

PRE SERVICE TEXT: Psalm 27:4
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

PREPARATION: Psalm 34:1-5
LEADER: “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul
makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
ALL: Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!
LEADER: I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
ALL: Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.

CORPORATE PRAYER:
ALL: Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

CENTRAL TEXT: Psalm 27
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?
2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”
9 Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
14 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

CONFESSION OF SIN: Adapted from The Worship Sourcebook
LEADER: God of compassion,
you are slow to anger and full of mercy,
welcoming sinners who return to you with penitent hearts.
ALL: We confess before you our own sinfulness;
we have hungered after that which does not satisfy;
we have compromised with evil;
we have doubted your power to protect us.

LEADER: For the lesser stories we have inhabited.

ALL: Forgive us.

LEADER: For the gospel story we have neglected.

ALL: Forgive us.
LEADER: Seat us now at your bountiful table of grace,
that, with all your children, we may feast with delight
on all that satisfies the hungry heart.

ALL: We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

ABSOLUTION OF PARDON: Based on Revelation 1:5-7
LEADER: To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a
kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Leader: In Christ you are forgiven.

All: In Christ you are forgiven.

BENEDICTION:      Numbers 6:24-26

LEADER:  May the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

ALL:  Amen

POST SERVICE:   Psalm 27:4
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
 that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
 all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
 and to inquire in his temple.

RELATED SCRIPTURES:

  • Exodus 33:18-23
  • Deuteronomy 5:4
  • Psalm 13:1
  • Lamentations 3:20-27
  • Hosea 14:7
  • Zephaniah 3:11-13
  • Matthew 7:7-11
  • Luke 11:5-12
  • Romans 5:10-11
  • 2 Corinthians 4:6
  • Revelation 1:12-20

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. If you pray, what do you typically pray for? Name one specific way Psalm 27:1 challenges your default prayers? 
  2. Eugene Peterson wrote, “There’s no such thing as storyless prayers.” What sort of stories, about God, others, and/or yourself, do you typically pray from? 
  3. Why does God command us to seek his face (v.8)? Why is his face significant? If you’re a Christian, describe the face God has when he thinks about you. 
  4. Fill in the blank: Because of the gospel, I don’t have to believe _____ about God, myself, or someone I’m in conflict with. Relatedly, name a false assumption that is leading to reactivity and disconnection with someone you love. What about with God? Take this to him in prayer. 
  5. How does the gospel–that God took on flesh, lived, died, and rose again to make us one with him–(re)kindle our prayer life? Discuss and then pray in light of God’s shining countenance upon you in Jesus.

ILLUSTRATIONS:  

2.25.24 Album

Quotes:

  • At a time when I felt adrift spiritually, Lent helped me be aware of the nearness of God. These outward practices took me on an inward journey further into the awareness of God. What follows then is an attempt to point out the things that I've seen along the way. It is not just an explanation of Lent but an invitation to experience it, a chance to meet our risen Lord who always runs just ahead of us, beckoning us forward. Esau McCaulley
  • Before you utter a request, before you confess a sin, before you pray for the need of another, before you ask for deliverance or protection of any kind--before any of that--make sure that you remember who it is that you are praying to and the story that you are living within because as you do your prayers will be redefined and your living will be redefined. Tim Mackie
  • To seek God’s face is not to find some place in space where God is located. Rather, it is to have our hearts enabled by the Holy Spirit to sense his reality and presence…To lose a sense of God’s presence is to lose God’s face (Ps 13:1), and to seek his face is to seek communion with him, a real interaction with God, sharing thoughts and love… “And because of his shed blood and forgiveness, we can have a nearness to God that was not possible before. Jesus’ person and work is the breakthrough for any who want to draw near and seek God’s face. Tim Keller
  • Because we learned language so early in our lives we have no memory of the process…Language is spoken into us; we learn language only as we are spoken to. We are plunged at birth into a sea of language. . . . Then slowly syllable by syllable we acquire the capacity to answer: mama, papa, bottle, blanket, yes, no. Not one of these words was a first word. . . . All speech is answering speech. We were all spoken to before we spoke. Eugene Peterson

BOOKS / DOCS

  • Tim Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy With God
  • Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms As Tools For Prayer
  • Tyler Staton, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools
  • Paul Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting With God In A Distracting World
  • “A randomized trial of the effect of prayer on depression and anxiety” by Peter A. Boelens , Roy R. Reeves, William H. Replogle, Harold G. Koenig  (Int. Journal Psychiatry Medicine)

SERMONS/TALKS