God himself, whom we are seeking, will, as I hope, help our labors that they not be fruitless and that we may understand why it is said in the holy Psalm: "Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and be strengthened; seek his face forever" (Ps 104:3,4). What is always being sought seems never to be found: how then will the heart of those who seek rejoice and not rather be sad because they cannot find what they are seeking? It does not say: "the heart of those who find the Lord shall rejoice," but: "the heart of those who seek the Lord." And yet the prophet Isaiah testifies that the Lord God can be found when he is sought, when he says: "Seek the Lord, and as soon as you have found him, call upon him; and when he has drawn near to you, let the wicked man forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts" (Is 55:6-7).

If God can be found when he is sought, why is it said: "Seek his face forever"? Is he perhaps to be sought even when he is found? This is how incomprehensible things must be sought: in such a way that one does not think he has found nothing when he has been able to find how incomprehensible that is which he was seeking. Why does a man seek in this way, if he knows that what he seeks is incomprehensible, unless it is because he may not give up seeking as long as he is making progress in the inquiry itself into things incomprehensible, and he himself is becoming better and better while seeking so great a good, which is both sought in order to be found and found in order to be sought? It is both sought in order to be found more enjoyably and found in order to be sought more eagerly. The words of Wisdom in the Book of Ecclesiasticus may be given this meaning: "They who eat me shall still be hungry, and they who drink me shall still be thirsty" (Eccl 24:29). They eat and drink because they find, and they still continue to seek because they are hungry and thirsty. Faith seeks, understanding finds, which is why the prophet says: "Unless you believe, you will not understand" (Is 7:9). And understanding again still seeks him whom it has found, for, as is sung in the holy Psalm: "God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there was anyone who understands and seeks God" (Ps 13:2). This, therefore, is why one ought to have understanding: that he may seek God. (De Trinitate, XV, 2:2)