Seeking the Face of God

What does it mean to seek God’s face? We’re always told to seek God’s face and not just His hand. Well that’s a great point but just how do we go about seeking His face?

Seeking someone’s face is like seeking their attention. If there’s someone you want to notice you…what do you do? Simple, you do the things that you know they like. You talk about the things that they’ll want to talk about. Seeking the attention of God is no different. Do those things that are well pleasing in His sight, and you will have His attention:

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him” 2 Chronicles 16:9

But there’s much more to the face than attention. The face is the #1 marker for the identification of a person. If you know exactly what someone’s face looks like, you’ll always be able to identify that person. No matter the circumstance, even if they change their hair and put on make-up… You can always see the person. So from this we know that seeking the face of God isn’t just His attention, it’s learning who His is and what identifies Him.

So what does the face of God look like?

Well that’s a question for the ages. Nevertheless searching through proverbs I noticed Solomon describing Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge, in a very specific and curious way.

“The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the earth; by Understanding hath He established the heavens. By His Knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.” Proverbs 3:19-20

When I read this I felt like these were more than just descriptions of how God created everything. They’re descriptions of what Wisdom is, what Understanding is, and what Knowledge is. If you take each sentence as a comparison, you see this:

Wisdom is compared to the earth; the earth is: physical, substance, seen.

Understanding is compared to the heavens; the heavens are: not physical, unseen, no literal substance.

Knowledge is compared to water/water cycle; the water cycle is: separating water from water, purifying and cleaning water.

            The rest of the chapter (through to the next two chapters) proceeds to describe in detail (and in order) these three things. The next verse begins Wisdom…

“My son, let not them depart from thine EYES: keep sound wisdom and discreation:” Proverbs 3:21

Wisdom is something you can see.

The rest of the chapter Solomon goes through proverbs on how one should act. They’re all actions, using many physical characteristics for emphasis. Such words as walk, foot, and EYES. Wisdom is something you live out, it’s what you see and what you do. It’s physical.

At the end of Proverbs chapter 3, Solomon wraps up Wisdom and begins describing Understanding in chapter 4:

“The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools”

Proverbs 3:35

“HEAR, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know Understanding.”

Proverbs 4:1

Understanding is something you can hear.

The rest of chapter 4, Solomon teaches on hearing commandments; sound doctrine – and listening to them. He talks about following instruction and teaching. He says to think/ponder your own way. The key words of this chapter are: Hear, instruction, remember, ponder, and listen.

            These are not physical things; they cannot be seen. You cannot see hearing, or touch instruction and listening.

            In the beginning of chapter 5 Solomon begins to describe Knowledge. However, this one starts out different…

            “My son, ATTEND unto my Wisdom, and bow thine EAR to my Understanding: that though mayest regard discretion, and that thy LIPS may keep knowledge.” Proverbs 5:1-2

Knowledge is something you speak.

            So from this first verse we see that Knowledge is the bringing together of both Wisdom and Understanding. It’s like Solomon is saying, alright…now act Wisely and listen to Understanding that you might be able to speak Knowledge. 

              So if you’re living in this certain way and thinking in this certain way, then you’ll speak in this certain way. Knowledge is the end result of being full of Wisdom and Understanding. Think about the water cycle, it’s not possible without both earth and sky.

In the rest of this chapter, words and speech continue to be discussed. Solomon also speaks about water sources. We’re told here to maintain our own cistern and well (source for personal drinking), and to not allow strangers to use our source of water (to keep it pure). This is likened to the water cycle. This is a separation of waters and a purifying of water. The key words in this chapter are: LIPS and water.

So after noticing all of this, I was of course full of excitement over the revelation of what Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge really are. Thinking out loud I said to myself…so Wisdom are like EYES, Understanding like EARS, and Knowledge like LIPS. Then I thought, whoa, it’s a face! Is this supposed to be our face? No…that’s not it…let’s go back to the first 2 verses that started this:

“The Lord by Wisdom hath founded the earth; by Understanding hath He established the heavens. By His Knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.” Proverbs 3:19-20

It’s by His Eyes, His Ears, and His Lips. It’s His face.

God’s eyes are Wisdom. His ears are Understanding. His Lips are Knowledge.

Seek these three things and you will be seeking the face of God.