Arriving Early!

“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirst for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  So, I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You (Psalm 63:1-3).”
  
Early will I seek You.  With great intensity, I yearn for you. When I wake, you are the first one on my mind.  When a person loves God, he seeks Him constantly. It is a passion that is not an intellectual ascent, rather it is passion that is an experiential anticipation and craving. Like Peter stating with great pathos, we “were eyewitness of His majesty and we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain” (2 Pet. 1:16-21).  As a result, Peter said, we know “that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  In other words, “We were there.  We experienced for ourselves the presence of God.” Similarly, so it is with those who seek God early.

The Hebrew word for “Early” is Shachar and means “black” such as in the morning dawn. The Talmud emphasizes that when you seek God early, you discover the hidden mysteries, and secrets from Him.

When I was an adjunct professor, at times, a student will arrive early before the others with questions about life and theology. In that moment, casual conversations unfold between the student and myself – intellectual capacity for the student becomes more personal. In contrast, when the class begins, I speak in an official manner – in a more formal way, that is communal, and less personal, relating to all the students collectively. So, it is with God.  When you seek Him “early” you will discover holy things that will impact your soul and mind on a very personal level.

The rabbis share a principle, that whosoever shows up earliest in the Sanctuary, before others, unites himself to the Shekinah (the Presence of God) in a personal union. Arriving early, does not imply a time, rather, the implication is that you passionately love Him and desire to worship and know Him, and that He is first in your life.

When arriving “early” you may find God “high and lifted up” as Isaiah did in the Temple, saying, “woe is me for my eyes have seen” God. Or, like Peter, you may be able to say with confidence, “I know, I believe, I trust, and I experienced His presence.”  Or, like David, you may be able to say, “I have looked for God in the sanctuary, and saw His power and glory – therefore, my lips shall praise Him.”

Solomon penned the words this way regarding God, “I love those who love me, And those who seek me early shall find me” (Proverbs 8:17).

The Hebrew word “love” is ahav meaning “I will give.”  When you love someone, your focus is on them, not yourself.  “I will give” – What does God give?  “Those who seek me early shall find me.”  The word “find” is the Hebrew word matsa meaning“to acquire.” In other words, when you seek Him early, He will enable you to discover, or “acquire” profound mysteries found only in God – through His Word. Seek Him early and God will fill your heart with His power and glory.

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Shalom and Blessings,

Dr. Jeff