Seek God When He May Be Found

(Psalm 32:6)

Mike Johnson

In Psalm 32, David describes what might be called the “blessedness of forgiveness.”  In this Psalm, David speaks of the agony of sin and of the joy of receiving forgiveness from God.  In the course of doing this (V. 6), he speaks of the need to seek God when He “may be found.”  Cannot God always been found by the penitent sinner?  In a sense, the answer is “yes,” but something else is involved here.  The fact is that God is not hiding from the sinner, but the sinner may not have the opportunity to find God. Many events in life can happen, which take away opportunities to make ourselves right with God.  Consider three circumstances/events, which can occur: 

1. Our conscience can become hardened or seared. Hebrews 3:13 speaks of a person being “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin;” Romans 2:5 described an “impenitent heart;” 1 Timothy 4:2 speaks of those “having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” People often want to repent and confess their sins to God because their conscience bothers them.  However, as time goes on, and they continue to ignore conscience, it then ceases to bother them and becomes hardened or seared. They have lost their opportunity.
2. We can die at any time (James 4:13-17). We are going to be judged based on that which we have done in our body (2 Cor. 5:10).  After death, it will be too late.
3. Christ can return at any time (Mt. 24:36-44, II Pet. 3:10). At a time when we least expected it, time, and our opportunity to repent can end on this earth.

The point is clear.  We must take advantage of the time we have now to receive forgiveness lest we lose the opportunity, i.e., we must seek forgiveness “in a time when God can be found.”  II Corinthians 6:2 says, “… Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  All of us should seek God now while we can find Him.