Seek Me First
If from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt
find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy
soul. But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose
out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his
habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come. Glory ye
in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the
Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.
Set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise
therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of
God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.
Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the
Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the
commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good
land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after
you for ever.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land.
And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that
which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God. And
in every work that he began in the service of the house of God,
and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did
it with all his heart, and prospered.
And the children of Israel, which were come again out of
captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them
from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord
God of Israel, did eat. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek
the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel
statutes and judgments. His children shall seek to please the
poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. And they that
know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast
not forsaken them that seek thee. The meek shall eat and be
satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart
shall live for ever.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy
face, O Jacob. Selah.
One thing have I desired 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 behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his
temple. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto
thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. Let
all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such
as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if
there were any that did understand, that did seek God. The
humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live
that seek God.
Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and
let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be
magnified. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their
meat from God. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them
rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength:
seek his face evermore.
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him
with the whole heart.
And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. Because of
the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good. I love them
that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the Lord
understand all things. Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve
the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles
seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses,
and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen,
because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy
One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! Seek ye out of the book of
the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want
her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath
gathered them.
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I
the God of Israel will not forsake them. I have not spoken in
secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed
of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I
declare things that are right.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while
he is near:
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see
now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can
find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that
seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. And seek the peace of
the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives,
and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye
have peace.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me
with all your heart.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every
high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the
earth, and none did search or seek after them. For thus saith
the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and
seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day
that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek
out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they
have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will seek that
which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and
will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that
which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I
will feed them with judgment.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up
your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he
come and rain righteousness upon you. For thus saith the Lord
unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: Seek
him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the
shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with
night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them
out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name. Seek good,
and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of
hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought
his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye
shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. And the inhabitants
of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to
pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go
also.
Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord
of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. And it shall
come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the
nations that come against Jerusalem. For the priest's lips
should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his
mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight
in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one,
and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise
the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto
you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what
ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is
not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold
the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his
stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do
they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to
day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no
thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye
have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you. And seek not ye
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of
doubtful mind.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto
you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. Whosoever
shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall
lose his life shall preserve it. For the Son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. Let no man seek his own,
but every man another's wealth.
Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts,
seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. For all
seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.
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Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ...
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh
it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son
ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will
he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children ... Therefore all things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them: for this is the law and the prophets ... and all these
things shall be added unto you ... how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Glimpses of God