God Speaking

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”

(Psalm 105: 4)

Our little baby granddaughter has reached that stage of recognising the familiar faces of the family and some friends who visit frequently, but has now become quite wary of strange faces she does not know and makes this very clear by the expression on her face. I was thinking about how important faces are for us humans when my grandson made us all laugh when he saw me when I had taken off my glasses, “Put them back on Nana. You look like a stranger.” was his response. We often say to a friend, “Oh I was so glad to see a familiar face in the crowd”.  Faces of our loved ones remain in our minds long after they have died.

So, when we read these impassioned cries of the Psalmists who long to see the face of God, we get a glimpse of what they really mean. They wanted to have an intimate relationship with him. They want to be so familiar with him, they want to please him in everyway;

“Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees.” (Psalm 119: 135)

We know ourselves that when we please those we love, we receive in return the glow of a smile and our little baby granddaughter rewards us with such a big smile when she sees our faces, ours shine as well.

So many of the verses contain a great longing to be close to the Heavenly Father especially when they are going through difficulties and long for the warmth of his presence;

“Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.” (Psalm 31: 16)

Only Moses was allowed to see God so, the longing for the rest of mankind was unfulfilled until the Heavenly Father graciously sent his Son to reflect all his beautiful, unconditional love.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness.”  Made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4: 6)

Allowing Jesus to portray the face of the Heavenly Father is an incredible gift from God, a beautiful compliment to all mankind, a becoming one with us as a sign of love, a bonding that could not be broken.

We cannot see the physical face of Jesus today, but his sacrifice for us has allowed us into the presence of the Father and the warmth of being close to him is to feel the warmth of his smile and the radiance of that smile fills us with a radiance we can pass on to others.

“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. (Psalm 34: 5)