Draw Near to God
Drawing near involves spending time with God. David spent much time with God
while watching the sheep in the wilderness. He is known as a man after God’s own
heart. David is a good example to follow, because he often would draw near to God
and ask Him for guidance. David sought the Lord Yahweh when David returned to
find Ziklag burned and all the women and children had been captured. David was
greatly distressed, because the people spoke of stoning him for the soul of all the
people was grieved, every man for his sons and daughters, but David encouraged
himself in the Lord Yahweh his God (I Samuel 30:7-8) “and David said to Abirathar
the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray you, bring me here the ephod, and Abirathar
brought from there the ephod to David. And David enquired at the Lord Yahweh,
saying, shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered
him. Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all”. In
verses 18-21 we see the fulfillment “and David recovered all that the Amalekites
had carried away; and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking
to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor
anything that they had taken to them; David recovered all. And David took all the
flocks and the herds, which they drove before those, either cattle, and said, this is
David’s spoil”.
David prayed in Psalm 69:13-18 “but as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord
Yahweh, in an acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy hear me, in
the truth of Your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me
be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water
flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her
mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good; turn to
me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And hide not Your face from
Your servant; for I am in trouble; hear me speedily. Draw near to my soul, and
redeem it, deliver me because of my enemies”.
As Israel would turn again to the Lord Yahweh, and sought Him, they were
protected (II Chronicles 15:1-4) “and the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son
of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, hear you me, Asa, and all
Judah and Benjamin; the Lord Yahweh is with you, while you be with Him; and if you
seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. Now
for a long season Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching
priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn to the Lord God of
Israel and sought Him, He was found of them”. God told Solomon “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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land”. Because God is the same yesterday, today and
forever, we too have the assurance and as Hebrews 10:19-24 says “having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holies by the blood of Jesus. By a
new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to
say, His flesh. And having an high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. And let us
consider one another to provoke to love, and good works”.
God made the way for us to draw near to Him (Jeremiah 30:21b-22) “I will cause him
to draw near, and he shall approach to Me; for who is this that engages his heart to
approach to Me, says the Lord Yahweh. And you shall be My people, and I will be
your God”. (Jeremiah 31:3) says “ the Lord Yahweh has appeared of old to me
saying, yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn you”. Jesus says in John 6:44 “no man come to Me, except
the Father which has sent Me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day”.
(Jeremiah 31:33-35) says “but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord Yahweh, I will put My law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be My
people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, know the Lord Yahweh, for they shall all know Me, from the least of
them to the greatest of them, says the Lord Yahweh, for I will forgive their iniquity
and I will remember their sin no more. Thus says the Lord
Yahweh, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon
and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof
roar, the Lord of hosts is His name”. This is repeated in Hebrews 8:10-12.
We are warned to draw near with a pure heart (Isaiah 29:13-15) “wherefore the
Lord said, forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their
lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward
Me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a
marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder for the
wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men
shall be hid. Woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord
Yahweh, and their works are in the dark, and they say, who sees us? And who
know us?” Jesus says in Matthew 15:7-9 “you hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy
of you saying. This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with
their lips, but their hear is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for
doctrines, the commandments of men”.
Jesus tells us to “love the Lord with all our hearts, and with all our sould, and with all
our minds” (Matthew 22:37). When you love someone, you generally want to be
with them all the time. Yet a lot of people say that they love God and only visit Him
once a week for a few hours. You draw near by reading and meditating in His
words, remember John 1:1 says “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God”. Remember that Jesus is the vine and we are
the branches. The branches has to stay connected to the vine to get its life (John
15 explains this in verses 1-7).
James tells us to “submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8a).
psalms 73 is the psalm of Asaph verse 1 says “truly God is good to Israel, even to
such as are of a clean heart”; verses 23-28 says “nevertheless I am continually with
You, You have held me by my right hand. You shall guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven, but You? And there is
none upon earth that I desire beside You. My flesh and my heart fails, but God is
the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. For lo, they that are far from You
shall perish. You have destroyed all them that go a whoring from You. But it is
good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may
declare all Your works”.
As we draw near to God, joy arises because “in His presence there is fullness of
joy”, and “in His presence there are pleasures forevermore”. Remember, it is God’s
desire for us to draw near.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: July 1, 2008
Drawing near involves spending time with God. David spent much time with God
while watching the sheep in the wilderness. He is known as a man after God’s own
heart. David is a good example to follow, because he often would draw near to God
and ask Him for guidance. David sought the Lord Yahweh when David returned to
find Ziklag burned and all the women and children had been captured. David was
greatly distressed, because the people spoke of stoning him for the soul of all the
people was grieved, every man for his sons and daughters, but David encouraged
himself in the Lord Yahweh his God (I Samuel 30:7-8) “and David said to Abirathar
the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray you, bring me here the ephod, and Abirathar
brought from there the ephod to David. And David enquired at the Lord Yahweh,
saying, shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered
him. Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all”. In
verses 18-21 we see the fulfillment “and David recovered all that the Amalekites
had carried away; and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking
to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor
anything that they had taken to them; David recovered all. And David took all the
flocks and the herds, which they drove before those, either cattle, and said, this is
David’s spoil”.
David prayed in Psalm 69:13-18 “but as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord
Yahweh, in an acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy hear me, in
the truth of Your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me
be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water
flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her
mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good; turn to
me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And hide not Your face from
Your servant; for I am in trouble; hear me speedily. Draw near to my soul, and
redeem it, deliver me because of my enemies”.
As Israel would turn again to the Lord Yahweh, and sought Him, they were
protected (II Chronicles 15:1-4) “and the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son
of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him, hear you me, Asa, and all
Judah and Benjamin; the Lord Yahweh is with you, while you be with Him; and if you
seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. Now
for a long season Israel has been without the true God, and without a teaching
priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn to the Lord God of
Israel and sought Him, He was found of them”. God told Solomon “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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land”. Because God is the same yesterday, today and
forever, we too have the assurance and as Hebrews 10:19-24 says “having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holies by the blood of Jesus. By a
new and living way, which He has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to
say, His flesh. And having an high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. And let us
consider one another to provoke to love, and good works”.
God made the way for us to draw near to Him (Jeremiah 30:21b-22) “I will cause him
to draw near, and he shall approach to Me; for who is this that engages his heart to
approach to Me, says the Lord Yahweh. And you shall be My people, and I will be
your God”. (Jeremiah 31:3) says “ the Lord Yahweh has appeared of old to me
saying, yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn you”. Jesus says in John 6:44 “no man come to Me, except
the Father which has sent Me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day”.
(Jeremiah 31:33-35) says “but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel, after those days, says the Lord Yahweh, I will put My law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be My
people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, know the Lord Yahweh, for they shall all know Me, from the least of
them to the greatest of them, says the Lord Yahweh, for I will forgive their iniquity
and I will remember their sin no more. Thus says the Lord
Yahweh, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon
and of the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof
roar, the Lord of hosts is His name”. This is repeated in Hebrews 8:10-12.
We are warned to draw near with a pure heart (Isaiah 29:13-15) “wherefore the
Lord said, forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their
lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward
Me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a
marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder for the
wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men
shall be hid. Woe to them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord
Yahweh, and their works are in the dark, and they say, who sees us? And who
know us?” Jesus says in Matthew 15:7-9 “you hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy
of you saying. This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with
their lips, but their hear is far from Me. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for
doctrines, the commandments of men”.
Jesus tells us to “love the Lord with all our hearts, and with all our sould, and with all
our minds” (Matthew 22:37). When you love someone, you generally want to be
with them all the time. Yet a lot of people say that they love God and only visit Him
once a week for a few hours. You draw near by reading and meditating in His
words, remember John 1:1 says “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God”. Remember that Jesus is the vine and we are
the branches. The branches has to stay connected to the vine to get its life (John
15 explains this in verses 1-7).
James tells us to “submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8a).
psalms 73 is the psalm of Asaph verse 1 says “truly God is good to Israel, even to
such as are of a clean heart”; verses 23-28 says “nevertheless I am continually with
You, You have held me by my right hand. You shall guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven, but You? And there is
none upon earth that I desire beside You. My flesh and my heart fails, but God is
the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. For lo, they that are far from You
shall perish. You have destroyed all them that go a whoring from You. But it is
good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may
declare all Your works”.
As we draw near to God, joy arises because “in His presence there is fullness of
joy”, and “in His presence there are pleasures forevermore”. Remember, it is God’s
desire for us to draw near.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: July 1, 2008
