ובקשתם משם... בכל לבבך, "and you will seek (God) from there with all your heart, etc. Verses 29 and 30 require analysis. [Basically, the author tries to explain why repentance is mentioned only after exile, and why exile by itself does not appear to be classified as an affliction. Ed.] Remember there are two types of penitence. There is the kind of repentance which is self-induced when people become aware they have sinned and want to rehabilitate themselves to be in good standing with their Creator. The second type of repentance is only the result of the sinner first having suffered severe afflictions at the hands of his enemies, etc. The words: "you will seek from there the Lord your God" refer to the people whose repentance was not due to their first having suffered persecution, but was motivated by their fondness of God. Moses promises "you will find Him because you seek Him with all your heart" even though you may have committed the most serious sins, such as idolatry, as detailed in verse 28. The fact that you found your way back to God will save you from having to experience afflictions.
Concerning the people who become penitents only after having experienced severe afflictions, Moses says: "when you are in dire straits and all the retributions God has warned you of have found you at the end of days, you will return to the Lord your God and hearken to His voice." Moses makes clear that this repentance is not self-induced and that is why he does not characterise this repentance as being בכל לבבך, "with all your heart." The only reason you decided to become penitents is to escape the afflictions and persecutions. These penitents will have to compensate for their lack of whole-heartedness when they decide to rehabilitate themselves by absorbing more afflictions before their account with God is finally settled. This is the precise opposite of what happens to their counter-parts who adopted the path of penitence before they had become victims of afflictions. In their case their very penitence protects them against the afflictions which they had been in line for because of the sins they had committed. According to this interpretation the words בצר לך in verse 30 belong to what preceded them. The meter of the verses then is as follows: "When you seek out the Lord you will find him because you strive for Him with all your heart;" alternatively (the second scenario), "when you are in trouble and as a result become a penitent, even though not with your whole heart, these afflictions will still find you because you have not become a true penitent. In either event, God will not destroy you as He is a merciful God, etc."
These three verses may also be explained in the following fashion. ובקשתם משם, "You will seek from there," i.e. once you find yourselves in exile amongst other nations and you pray for your daily needs. The Torah does not speak about the exiled Israelites praying for deliverance from their exile; they only pray to make their existence tolerable. The Torah goes on ומצאת, "and you will find," i.e. God is approachable even in exile. Otherwise you would perish in exile. The Torah uses the singular, i.e. "you (singular) will find," as not every Jew who prays on foreign soil, in exile, will find Him responding to him. The reason only selected individuals will find that God responds to them even when they are in exile is that they seek God with their whole heart. Prayer in exile has to be far more intense than prayer on holy soil in order for God to respond favourably.
When Moses mentions בצר לך, "when you are in trouble," this is an assurance that there will come a redemption, i.e. at a time in exile when things appear totally intolerable, "when all these afflictions have found you and you have been reduced to greatly diminished numbers." This will be a sign that the end of days is at hand and that what you experience are the birthpangs of the Messiah. The Torah promises that at least at that time God will encourage the exiled Jews to do תשובה. This is the promise contained in the words ושבת עד ה' אלוהיך ושמעת בקולו, "and you will return to the Lord your God and hearken to His voice." The Torah explains the reason for this promise by saying that "the Lord your God is merciful."
Perhaps this is the argument of the angel Michael about whom the Zohar Chadash page 30 writes "here the end of days has already arrived and God has still not encouraged the hearts of the Jews to become penitents!" I have explained that passage elsewhere in a different context. Meanwhile our eyes are trained on God and we anxiously await that He will open His treasure of pure spirit to open blind eyes and to incline our hearts in order for us to appreciate how invaluable it is to enjoy His friendship.