THE BLESSING OF THE LORD – “MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON THEE”

Man with all his flaws and his sin, is utterly undesirable… detestable, to be precise. When God created man, our Creator expressed, “It is good.” After the sin, and our rebellion, we became the exact opposite, and much more. In essence, we became the very evil, that tripped us, by temptation. God, instead of hating us for our disobedience and rebellion, and punishing us as a consequence of the same, He showed mercy, grace and love towards us. God went even further, to not only forgive us, our sins, but has plunged Himself headlong into redeeming us, and restoring us back, to the original image that God had, when He created us.

When we read the divine benediction, and the blessing, from Numbers 6;24-26, we see the heart of God. We see the undeserving and fallen human beings, being blessed because of God’s grace, mercy and love. YAHWEH chose to bless all who seek Him with a sincere heart. What love is this, that it should love the unlovable?
– “24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” – Numbers 6:24-26

Let us look at the third blessing, of this six blessing benediction, for our meditation this morning – “The LORD make his face shine upon thee,”

The LORD in His grace, mercy and love, chooses to make His face shine upon His Chosen People; the ones who wish to see the God of all creation, with an honest heart. What kind of a heart would choose to love and care for the unlovable and the detestable?

The blessing, if we understand properly, is the initiative of God Himself. Not only that, the blessing reveals that, God chose the best and the ultimate aspects among all His blessings, to bless us with. The key aspect of this blessing is, the “LORD’s FACE” and the “SHINE” is the effect of God’s face turning towards the person. 

The LORD is desiring to make His face to shine upon us. He is willing to look upon us kindly. He is desiring to be gracious towards us. He is wanting to be generous towards us. He is eager to love us with unconditional love. What heart is the heart of God, that it should love us in such a manner?

YAHWEH is the Light, and in Him is no darkness. *Man, who has no light in him, except darkness, should seek the LORD, so that, God’s pure and divine light would shine upon us, upon our hearts, upon our minds, and upon our physical bodies,* which would result in blessings to fall upon us, and then flow through us, to others, who seek the LORD for His light.
– “12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” – John 8:12
– “6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 4:6
– “14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

When the LORD’s face is turned toward us. When the LORD makes His light to shine upon us, then everything changes, from inside out. He becomes the light that resides in us. This is precisely the reason many a child of God had sought God’s face, asking Him to shine His divine light upon them.
– “​1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.” – Psalm 67:1
– “16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.” – Psalm 31:16
– “19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” – Psalm 80:19
– “135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.” – Psalm 119:135
– “6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.” – Psalm 4:6
– “​1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” – Isaiah 60:1

O dear Christian brother and sister, do we comprehend how blessed we are, that the LORD Himself has turned His face towards us? Do we understand that YAHWEH, the God of all creation, chose to radiate His divine and glorious light, upon us? Do we realise that the heavenly radiance of His countenance, is falling upon us, because God wants it so? Do we need any more blessings than this? Don’t all other blessings, simply fade into oblivion, in the light of God’s divine and glorious countenance? It sure does. 

May we always seek the LORD, and desire to obey Him, the One who chose to turn His face towards us, and make His light to shine upon us, unconditionally, even though there is nothing desirable in any of us. Even so, the LORD help us.