The Pursuit of God · Chapter
I: Following Hard After God explained
The chapter emphasizes the necessity of a deep, personal pursuit of God, initiated by God's prevenient grace.
What happens
The chapter emphasizes the necessity of a deep, personal pursuit of God, initiated by God's prevenient grace. It critiques shallow religion and complacency, urging believers to seek God with intense desire, simplicity, and a focus on God Himself rather than religious externals. The chapter highlights that knowing God is a continuous, conscious, and personal relationship, not a one-time event.
Themes in this chapter
The Pursuit of God
The central theme of the chapter: God initiates the pursuit through prevenient grace, and believers must respond by actively and continuously seeking Him with intense desire.
Critique of Shallow Religion
Tozer criticizes the 'stiff and wooden' quality of religious life, complacency, and the reduction of conversion to a mechanical transaction that lacks a genuine longing for God.
Faith as the Gaze of the Soul
The chapter emphasizes fixing the soul's gaze on God alone, stripping away all distractions and even theology, to focus on a 'naked intent direct unto God'.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator speaks as a Christian teacher, encouraging readers to pursue God with holy desire and critiquing the shallow religious practices of the age.
- Jesus Christ
Christ is presented as the One who waits to be wanted, the object of the soul's gaze, and the One through whom the veil is rent, enabling believers to enter God's presence.
- Moses
Moses is cited as an example of one who, having found grace, prayed to know God more deeply and was granted a vision of God's glory.
- David
David is described as having a life of spiritual desire, with his psalms expressing the cry of the seeker and the joy of finding God.
- Paul
Paul is highlighted for his burning desire to know Christ, counting all things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
- Levi
Levi is referenced as the tribe that received no land inheritance, with God saying 'I am thy part and thine inheritance,' illustrating the principle of having God as one's treasure.
Key passages
“My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”
I pursue you intensely, O God, while you sustain me with your power.
This verse from Psalm 63:8 serves as the chapter's title and encapsulates the dynamic of divine upholding and human pursuit.
“O God, show me thy glory.”
Reveal to me your majestic presence and nature.
This prayer, echoing Moses' request, is presented as the cry of those who refuse shallow religion and long for a genuine encounter with God.
“That I may know him.”
My deepest goal is to have an intimate, personal knowledge of Christ.
Paul's confession is cited as the mainspring of his life, demonstrating the priority of knowing Christ over all else.