HEBREW WORD STUDY – SEEK  – DARESH – דרשׁ  

Isaiah 55:6: “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”

This verse has always mystified me.  I mean to seek the Lord while He may be found suggest that there will be a time He cannot be found.  Then call upon Him while He is near. Does that mean He is not always near?  I thought he was omnipresent, everywhere. 

We need to examine these word in the original language.  The word for seek in Hebrew is daresh which has the idea of seeking, visit, frequent, search, inquire, consult, to promote, apply oneself to something or in a passive form to apply oneself.  

“While He may be found” is all one word: behimase’u. It comes from the root word matsa which means to find or obtain something that is of personal benefit. The word obtain for me would be the best as this is a Niphal infinitive which is reflexive It has the idea of obtaining something for yourself, your personal benefit.  In the context of this verse, it seems that what you are seeking is knowledge of God’s heart.  The infinitive form would make this an overwhelming find a major, life-altering find.  I believe the syntax would imply that once you find this knowledge, then you must call upon Him while He is near. The word near is qarav in Hebrew which really means approachable to gain deep knowledge or understanding.  Once you find this knowledge of God’s love, His heart, God is ready to be approached in an intimate way. Qarav is a play on the word qara’ which is the word for call but also has the idea of inviting. 

My father helped start a Rescue Mission in the inner city of Chicago.  The man chosen to be the director of the mission was a man named Tom who was once a homeless, an alcoholic who had wandered the streets of Chicago. As he told his story he said: “I one day wandered into a mission and I heard the Gospel.  Another time I wandered into the mission and I heard the Gospel.  A few days later I wandered into the mission and I heard the Gospel.  Then I wandered into a mission and I HEARD THE GOSPEL.”   Tom was daresh(ing) seeking, applying himself to finding  God to matsa find something that would be of personal benefit.  Each time he heard the Gospel it was drawing him closer to God until one day he qarav drew close enough to God that the Holy Spirit made him aware of the fact that he needed to qara’ invite God into his heart.

I believe the message here is that if you have been praying and witnessing to someone and they don’t seem to respond, don’t give up.  If he is daresh(ing) seeking for something that will be a matsa personal benefit when found, then as he continues to receive the knowledge of God, God will be drawing that person qarav closer and closer until he realizes he needs to qara’ call out or invite Him into His heart.  We really have no idea how long God has been dealing with someone’s heart so don’t give up. Sometimes qara’ comes quick, sometimes softly, slowly, but eventually God’s qarav, near presence will bring about a qara’.