EquippedMama

Are any of you in seasons where you feel like you are chronically tired? Really though, what mama isn’t?

When my husband and I were dating I was in college and he was in residency training, so our opportunities for sleep were drastically different (I had time to sleep and he didn’t) in this time where he was working 120+ hr workweeks I remember commenting to him about what a problem too much sleep can be, and how you can feel crummy if you get too much sleep. He didn’t seem to agree. Now, with three littles and one on the way, I definitely reevaluated my position on too much sleep. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist! It’s possible that you are in a time where you feel like you just need a little more margin in your life to be strong enough to do all that you need to do. 

Maybe because you’re juggling work and little ones, or multiple jobs, or aging parents, or late nights with teens or a health crisis, you feel that if you could just get some rest you would be so much more able to handle whatever the Lord has called you to.

A few months ago the Lord laid a verse on my heart that I wanted to share with you from Psalm 105,  it reads, “Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.Seek his presence continually.”  (Ps. 105:4 NET). I loved this little encouragement from the Lord that He hasn’t called me to complete any of my work in my own strength, but rather in His strength, and in the strength He gives. 

To really understand a passage and what the Lord is communicating to us through His word, its really important to take a step back and read it in context, so if you’d join me, we’re going to read the first five verses of Psalm 105- they read like this: 

“Give thanks to the Lord.

Call on his name.

Make known his accomplishments among the nations.

2 Sing to him.

Make music to him.

Tell about all his miraculous deeds.

3  Boast about his holy name.

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4 Seek the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually.

5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,

his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed.” Psalm 105:1-5, NASB

As to the authorship of this Psalm, some scholars suggest that David commissioned Asaph’s writing of the Psalm for the re-entry of the Ark of the covenant into Jerusalem (as v. 1-15 repeated in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22). In this context of writing, the Psalm makes so much sense. The re-entry of the Ark into Jerusalem signified a time where the Lord had given the people of Israel peace; the Ark of the Covenant had been taken multiple times as a prize of war, but having placed in its proper place in Jerusalem was a symbol for the people of Israel of how the Lord had provided for them and given them rest from their enemies. 

This Psalm is a Psalm of Thanksgiving, recounting how the Lord had been active in the nation of Israel’s history. The lengthy Psalm tells of how God had called the people, established the people as a nation, met their physical needs and freed them from Egyptian slavery. For all these things the people had great reason to praise the Lord and have joy in being the object of His affection. 

Partway through these opening few verses is nestled this really great nugget of encouragement in verse 4- it reads “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. “( Psalm 105:4). At first, this verse seems a little bit out of place, how does seeking the Lord and His strength correlate to recounting His faithfulness? How are we supposed to obey this directive? What does it look like in our everyday lives?

Well, let’s start  by just taking a second to look at the original Hebrew words used by the author. The original text read as six words- Seek (dârash) the Lord (Yhôvâh) and his strength (oze) seek (bâqash) his face (pânîym) evermore (tâmîyd). This first mention of the word seek (dârash) means to tread or frequent-carrying a similar meaning like when you might frequent a store where your friend works in hopes of seeing her-however this word  carries the connotation of specifically seeking to worship. The second mention of the word seek (bâqash) means to search out, strive after ask, beg, beseech etc. The use of these words is clear. Although “seek” seems to be simply repeated for reinforcement, they are actually written in increasing intensity. It’s like the author’s saying, “Seek the Lord, no really, beg and ask around and try to find the presence of the Lord.”

This name of the Lord (Yhôvâh) is the same name with which God revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 6 when He called him to lead the people of Israel out of captivity. In this passage we are encouraged to seek the Lord and his strength (oze) meaning his might, power, strength.

Where do we see this concept in Scripture? 

There are several awesome examples of where Godly men and women sought the Lord’s strength, as is exemplified in this Psalm. 1 Samuel 30 recounts how during the reign of King Saul the warring Amelekes, multigenerational enemies of the people of Israel, came and captured all the women and children in Ziklag, the city the people of Gath had given David and his men to live in. The city itself was burned with fire, and David’s men, who returned from a disheartening visit with the Philistine people, returned to their homes to find the entire city destroyed, and their wives and children carried away. The text specifically notes that David’s two wives had also been taken captive. Something happened in the hearts of David’s men during this time, in their grief they needed someone to blame, and that became him. Perhaps they’d disagreed with going to aid the Philistines, or perhaps some had suggested leaving a delegation of men to protect the women, who knows. For whatever reason, the men decided that David would pay for the loss of their loved ones, and stoning would be that price. Its hard to imagine the enormous despair that David faced, he was living in pagan territory because the King sought his life, the men he saught refuge from distrusted him and rejected his military help, his own loved ones had been captured by enemies, and on top of these things, his men wanted to punish him for their loss. In the midst of this heartache Scripture reads “ Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (1 Samuel 30:6).

In this season of distress, the Lord provided David with the strength he needed, he won victory back over their enemies, reclaimed their captured families, and the men decided not to stone him.

What a testimony of a man with his heart set on the Lord. 

The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the church at Philippi that he could “do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me.” (Phil.4:13b). He had learned to rely on the Lord’s strength to be able to weather even the worst of circumstances. 

The best example of this concept, however, is modeled by the Lord Jesus throughout his ministry. Following the death of John the Baptist (Jesus’ cousin) Jesus called for his disciples to seek time to rest and be alone (Mk. 6:31) and when this time was interrupted, Jesus ministered to the pressing crowds and “after bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.” (Mk. 16:46). What was Jesus doing? He was seeking His Father. In the hours before his betrayal and arrest, Jesus sought God’s presence through time of prayer. Seeking His face and the strength He provides. 

If we see this concept modeled throughout Scripture and even commanded explicitly in Scripture, clearly it’s important, and necessary for both our good and our obedience, right? But what does this actually look like?

How do we seek the Lord and the strength that He gives at our workplace?

In our homes?

Disciplining our children?

Dealing with family challenges?

These are the places that the rubber meets the road, right? So what does that look like? 

Let’s start with what it’s not- its not simply thinking positive or forcing yourself into a brighter perspective. Often that’s just not really possible. I love the illustration of this as seen on the old 1962 version of The Music Man. In this movie, con artist Harold Hill poses as a band director passing through small-town Iowa, and while there he sells parents musical instruments and band uniforms. There’s only one problem; Hill is no musician! He has no idea how to teach the boys to play the instruments he has sold them, so he employs the “think method” where he tells the students just to think of the music and it will come out of their instruments. Little surprise, it doesn’t work and soon Hill is in trouble with many enraged parents wanting their money back. So just to clarify, we can’t “just think” our way into knowing the  Lord’s strength or seeing His help in a situation. 

Okay, so What do we do? 

Stay tuned for Part Two of this Blog Series with some helpful hints from Psalm 105 on seeking the Lord’s Strength.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com