Diligently Seek God

How close to God do you actually want to be? That question sits at the center of this message as we open Psalm 105:1–4 and slow down on two repeated commands that can reshape a daily walk with Jesus: seek the Lord and His strength, and seek His presence continually. We talk plainly about what “diligently seek God” looks like when it moves from church language to real habits like worship, gratitude, prayer, and letting Scripture set the tone for your day. 

We also wrestle with a challenging idea from A.W. Tozer: you’re as close to God as you choose to be. That pushes us to stop outsourcing spiritual growth and to take ownership of obedience, priorities, and the pursuit of God’s presence. Psalm 105 connects seeking with joy, so we dig into why rejoicing is a mindset and why rejoicing takes faith, especially when life feels heavy. 

From there we turn to Matthew 6:25–33, where Jesus confronts anxiety and resets our focus: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and trust the Father to provide what you need. You’ll hear a simple illustration about focus, a heart-check from Isaiah 29:13, and steady promises from the Psalms that God does not forsake those who seek Him and that those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. If you’re ready to go deeper, press play, share this with a friend who needs encouragement, and subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Welcome And Psalm 105 Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:09

What's going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Beyond Sunday. I am Lee Day, your host, and I pastor Christ Family Outreach Church located in Amelia, Virginia, CFO Church. We would love to have you come out and pay a visit with us, worship the Lord, receive the word, and just get to know us a little bit more. Psalm 105 is where we're going to get going. If you got your Bibles, go ahead and turn there. Psalm 105. We're going to look at the first four verses, and really that's what we're going to focus on for the entirety of this episode. We'll be, we'll be flipping to other passages of scripture, um, but we're really honing in on the first four verses together in this episode. And I'm going to title it Diligently Seek God. And what does that mean? What should we be doing if we're diligently seeking after God? And why? Why why should we do that? So we're going to we're going to look at those things in this episode. And I'm believing in faith that by the time this episode is over, you and I, we're going to be stronger and we're going to be rooted deeper and we're going to be closer to God and we will be more encouraged in our faith. So here we go. I'm going to read four verses. Pay attention. Stay tuned in. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sang to him, sang praises to him. Tell of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Now, listen to what this says. Pay close attention. The fourth verse. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. Did you hear that in the fourth verse? Did that kind of resonate with you? Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. So twice in the fourth verse, we are told to seek. Now the first time we're told to seek God and his strength. But the second time we're told to seek God's presence. Now, if you're taking notes, I want you to jot this down. What should I be seeking? And then do a little equal sign. So what should I be seeking? Here it is: God's strength and God's presence. And I just want to tell you this because, like, okay, Pastor, you know, of course, as Christians, we should be seeking God's strength and God's presence. Well, let me just tell you this. No matter how long we've been a Christian, our job every single day is to seek God. Our job every single day is to seek the presence of God, and it is to seek the strength of God. And now some of you may be thinking, well, man, that that sounds like work. Well, here's a news flash. I'm going to be honest with you. That's because it is. That's because it can be anyway. Okay. But I promise you that eternity is always worth the cost. Eternity is always worth the cost. Now, listen to me, friends. It's in seeking God where we become stronger. Okay. And then by becoming stronger, that's when we go from strength to strength and glory to glory. So it's a fantastic ride in our walk with Christ, okay? AW Tozer said this: every man is as close to God as he wants to be. Unquote. Did you hear that? Whoa. Every man is as close to God as he wants to be. AW Tozer. Ain't that something? That's powerful. That's deep right there. Now, I want you to think about that for a minute. Just kind of let that sink in. Let that let that settle down within you. Just marinate in that for a moment. Where you are right now in your maturity with God, it's on you. Did you hear that? Where you are right now in your maturity with God, it's on you. You can't blame your pastor. You can't blame your pastor's wife. You can't blame your spouse. You can't blame your Bible study teacher. You can't blame your worship leaders. No, no, no. Where you are in your maturity with God right now, that's all on you. You could say it like this. Listen closely. Here we go. Your position is your own responsibility. That's right. I said it. Your position is your own responsibility. Now, yes, God will get you there. He's willing to get you there. But you have to want to get there. Okay? You got to want to do what it takes. You got to want to live in obedience. You got to want to receive God's strength that's going to get you there. Okay? So again, I'm going to say this. Your position with God, that's your own responsibility. Because you got to want to go where God wants to take you. Now, if you can line up with that way of thinking, which we should, then there's no limit to your relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That means that you can be as close to God, my friends, as you want to be. Now, Psalm 105, verse 3 says this glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord God rejoice. And did you hear that, Christian? Not only are we called to seek God, not only are we called to seek the strength of God and his presence, okay, but we're also supposed to be rejoicing. We are called to be rejoicing as we go through the process of seeking God. So write this down. Rejoicing is a mindset. You have to make your mind up that no matter what life is throwing at you right now, no matter what it costs, you gotta make your mind up that you are going to be steadfast in rejoicing in God. You gotta make your mind up. To rejoice means to be glad, to take delight in. Okay? Now, what God does not need is a bunch of grumpy Christians with bad attitudes. Now, listen to me. When a person's faith is right in Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what storm comes their way, it don't matter what ugliness is out on the horizon, they can still rejoice and say, all is well with my soul. So listen here. Rejoicing takes faith. Rejoicing takes faith because it is believing God is in control of your situation and that God is going to work it out for your good. All right. So if you're taking notes, I just want you to jot that one down too. I want you to allow the Holy Spirit to just minister uh to your heart this morning on that, that rejoicing takes faith. In Matthew chapter 6, verse 25, we see Jesus talking in this passage, in this part of the text. And this is what he says, starting with the 25th verse, we're gonna we're gonna run all the way through verse 33. So put your seatbelt on, hang on tight, here we go. Jesus says, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Let me just begin by saying this God knows we need food. God knows, of course, that we need clothing and lodging. Those things are not bad to have, but Jesus says at the end of the 25th verse, is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? In other words, our priorities must be in order. Hear it? I'm gonna say it again. Our priorities must be in order. Jesus said more than once in this passage to not be anxious about these things. And in the 32nd verse, Jesus said, Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Did you hear that? He knows that you need them, he knows what you need. But then Jesus does say what we should be going after, and that's in the next verse, Matthew 6, 33. What we should be going after, Jesus says. He says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Did you hear that, my good friends? Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. Now, do you know if you're truly in the process of seeking God, okay, and seeking the righteousness of God, that you're gonna be all right when the storm shows up. Do you know that today? Because I want to encourage you in Christ with that topic right there. You are going to be just fine. All will be well with your soul, no matter what shows up off of your horizon and into your life when you are in the process of seeking God and seeking the righteousness of God for your life. Let me just give you an example, okay? Let's say you're standing in line at your favorite ice cream spot, and all of the options, the flavors, the toppings, they're all laid out right in front of you, whether it be through pictures on a menu or handwritten Sharpie on a white eraser board, okay? And you're just excited. Your mind is focused on the pleasures of what's to come. Now, it doesn't matter what's going on around you, what's what's what's buzzing around. It doesn't matter what's happening in the parking lot, it doesn't matter what's happening around the line as you wait. Why? Because you are you are honed in, you are tuned in. Your mind is focused on the pleasures of what's to come, of what you're about to receive. It doesn't matter what's happening all around you because you are focused on the pleasures that are being made available to you in that moment. What if, my friends, what if we focused on the pleasures of God made readily available to us every single day? What a difference. What a difference that would make to us. It wouldn't matter the storm coming up off the horizon when we are focusing on the pleasures of God, the promises of God, the word of God that He has made readily available to us every single moment of every single day. A.W. Tozer said this, I'm going to quote him again. Those who seek the deeper Christian life and those who want the riches that are in Jesus Christ the Lord, they seek no place, they seek no wealth, they seek no things, they only seek Christ. He goes on to say, to seek Christ does not narrow one's life. Rather, it brings it to the level of highest possible fulfillment. I've had people tell me before, you know, I don't I don't want to be a Christian because I feel like that my life is just gonna stop. I'm not gonna be able to have the fun that I want to have. I'm not gonna be able to go hang out with certain types of people and I'm not gonna be able to go places that I enjoy being. Well, what that type of person is saying is they just want to keep pleasing the flesh. And and they're also telling me that they really don't understand God and they really don't understand what God wants to do in their life. Because I'm gonna tell you, when you truly walk with Jesus, it's about to be the best, most fun, fantastic ride you will ever be on in your entire life. And you will never regret it when you do it God's way. Amen. But but listen closely again to what Tozer said. He says, to seek Christ does not narrow one's life. Rather, it brings it to the level of highest possible fulfillment. So, my friends, you're not, you're not, you're not losing nothing. You're not losing nothing in way of victory. You are gaining everything when it comes to victory. Okay. Simply finding your salvation in Jesus Christ does not mean the journey of seeking God is over. Every moment of every day, it's like a treasure trove. We get to draw into the presence of God and what a beautiful thing it is. When we get saved, it doesn't stop there. My friend, the journey, the walk, the fun, the growth, the excitement, it's only just begun. Can I get some really truly saved folks out there to say amen and shout hallelujah, right where you're at? The fun has only just begun. In Isaiah 29, 13, God said the people drew near to him with their mouth and they honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from God. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. How involved is my heart? How involved is my heart with God? And this is a spiritual inventory question that we should be asking ourselves daily for the rest of our lives. How involved is my heart with God right now? I want you to think about that. I truly want you to consider that. How involved is your heart with God right now? How involved are you in seeking after God? How involved are you in seeking the strength of God, in seeking the victory that God has for your life? How involved are you today in seeking the presence of God? Because the truth is, the beauty is this. He wants to be involved with you. He wants to be involved with you. Now, if you've got your Bibles, I want you to go back to the book of Psalms. And when you get there, we're going to go to the ninth Psalm, okay? To the ninth Psalm. When you get to Psalm 9, we're going to look at the 10th verse. Psalm 9. Again, looking at the 10th verse, and this is what it says. And those who know your name put their trust in you. For you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. My friends, listen up. Here it comes. God does not ever disappoint. How many of you know that to be true that are listening to this episode right now? God does not ever disappoint. God's not going to leave you nor forsake you. He is not going to disappoint those who are truly seeking after him. Psalm 34, 10 says this those who seek the Lord God lack no good thing. When you seek God, you're going to realize that He gives you everything that you are in need of in the moment that you need it. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this episode that we should diligently be seeking after you. Father, that we should be seeking your presence, that we should be seeking your strength. I pray if there's anyone out there today that does not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and they're ready to begin that walk, that they would say a prayer like this Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. And I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I recognize, Jesus, that you died on the cross so that I could be saved. And I ask you to come into my life right now, Lord Jesus, and save my soul. Fill me, Father God, with the power of your Holy Spirit. Lead me, guide me, direct me, teach me the ways in which I should always go in the name of the blood of Jesus Christ. All God's people said, Amen. Amen and amen. Until next time on Beyond Sunday. Stay in your word.