When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord,
I will seek.” –Psalm 27:8, NKJV

There’s the wonder of sunset at evening,
The wonder of sunrise I see;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that God loves me.
–George Beverly Shea

What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it–the fact that He knows me. I am graven on the palms of His hands; I am never out of His mind. All my knowledge of Him depends on His sustained initiative in knowing me. I know Him because He first knew me and continues to know me.
–J.I. Packer

“Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!” This great hymn by Charles Wesley conveys the wonder of God’s desire to have fellowship with us. The God who created us has not abandoned us to grope blindly through life. He has provided, at great expense, all that we need for life and godliness. God is our personal Creator, and He wants to be our Shepherd who protects and provides for us. He has proclaimed His love for us, and He waits only for our response.

Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered. –Psalm 40:5, NKJV

God Longs for Intimacy

1. God’s longing for His children is communicated in Psalms 8, 23, 27 and 139. As you read through these Psalms, write down the key thoughts and phrases that express God’s desire for us.
2. How would you describe the psalmist’s responses to God’s care?

The sweetest word [in all of Psalm 23] is that monosyllable, My. He does not say, “The Lord is the shepherd of the world at large, and leadeth forth the multitude of the flock” but “The Lord is my shepherd.” –Charles H. Spurgeon

3. What specific assurances does the psalmist affirm about God’s involvement in his emotions and experiences?
4. What do the psalmist’s observations of God’s activity reveal about God’s nature and character?

If, then, you feel not your soul mightily affected with the condescension of God, say thus unto your souls, “What aileth thee, O my soul, that thou are no more affected with the goodness of God? …” Oh the condescension of His love to visit me, to sue unto me, to wait upon me, to be acquainted with me! >text –Charles H. Spurgeon

Reflection
It wasn’t until I was a parent that I began to realize God’s desire to be intimate with His children. Spiritually I was born into God’s family, just as my children were physically born into our family. But it is not enough just to bear children; a loving parent has a great desire to have a vital relationship, a bond of intimacy with his or her child. In a small way, I understand God’s desire to be lovingly involved with and close to us, just as I love and want to be near my children.

God is well acquainted with our ways; He has laid His hand upon us. His thoughts toward us are precious. He is our Shepherd, who asks us to “seek His face.” He is our Savior, whose desire for intimacy is ultimately manifested in the cross. He is our loving Father, who has adopted us so that He can be intimate with us. God does long to be with His children.

God’s Desire for You

5. Select a favorite passage from your reading in this study that expresses God’s longing for His people.

• Write it out in your preferred Bible version. In the coming week, read this passage each day and meditate on it whenever you have a few spare moments. Committing it to memory will help imprint its truth on your mind and heart.
• Offer to the Lord in a short written prayer your response to this revelation of who God is.

In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give. … God who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them.
–C.S. Lewis

Other Scriptures on God’s desire for us include Jeremiah 24:7; Matthew 11:25-30 and Revelation 21:2-4.