The Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. Leviticus 6:25
The dawn seemed to struggle to appear, and when light eventually overcame the gloom of night, it was apparent that the sky was heavily overcast, and we were in for a dark day. For several hours, there was no letup in the heavy overcast, and the light remained subdued, leaving us in chill and dampness in addition to the gloom. But almost without warning, the clouds burst apart, and fled to the horizons, and we were bathed in the brightness of full sunshine, that chased away the chill and damp. It also chased away the gloomy feelings that the clouds had pressed down upon us, and we were filled with cheerfulness and comfort. The shining of the sun upon us was like the shining of the face of God upon those of us who are His.
The God Who is angry with the wicked every day is the same God Who delights to have His children draw near to Himself. His face surely shines upon us in His acknowledgment of us as the apple of His eye. He delights in hearing our worship and our prayers, and in unfolding the Scriptures to our souls. He delights in feeding our souls with truth and beauty, and He rejoices when we allow Him to give us victory over our enemies. He loves to have us approach Him in faith with our petitions large and small that He might grant those petitions that are within His will. Why is He so eager to shine His face upon us? Because He is a God of grace.
Our text speaks of a desire that God would be gracious to us. And He has been, is now, and ever will be. The term gracious speaks of dispensing grace. Surely our Lord has done that! Ephesians 2:8 tells us that it is by grace that we are saved. Grace is undeserved favour, which we received when we trusted Christ as Saviour. But it is much more than that, despite the flawed wording of modern-language Bible versions, which place Ephesians 2:8 in the past tense – by grace you were saved. While that is indeed precious, it is every bit as true that by grace we are saved every day from the power of sin, and the moment is fast approaching when by grace we will be forever saved from the very presence of sin.
How wonderful to know that the face of the Almighty will beam upon us today in loving kindness and in a bountiful display of His gracious character. – Jim MacIntosh