Tag: The Lord

46.c. “Wilderness” – 10.i. “The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you”

Num 6:25  the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

 Psalms 21:6   For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

 Psalms 31:16    Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!

 Psalms 67:1    May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us

 Psalms 80:3   Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

 Psalms 119:135    Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.

 Daniel 9:17    Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.

 Malachi 1:9    And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. 

 Exodus 33:19    And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

 John 1:17    For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Happy the people whose king makes God’s strength his confidence, and God’s salvation his joy; who is pleased with all the advancements of God kingdom, and trusts God to support him in all he does for the service of it. All our blessings are blessings of goodness, and are owing, not to any merit of ours, but only to God’s goodness. But when God’s blessings come sooner, and prove richer than we imagine; when they are given before we prayed for them, before we were ready for them, nay, when we feared the contrary; then it may be truly said that he prevented, or went before us. (Henry)

the blessings which are laid up in Christ for his people, and which he imparts unto, them, and they are blessed with in him; so that he is made a blessing, or rather blessings to them; such as redemption to free them from, bondage, righteousness to justify them, sanctification to make them holy, wisdom to direct and guide them, and strength to assist and support them; through whom they have the forgiveness of sins, by whom they have peace with God, and from whom they receive all their joy and comfort, and at last eternal life and happiness; and all these are for ever, they are irreversible blessings, are never repented of, nor taken away. (Gill)

The “face” of God is his personality as turned towards man, or else turned away from him. His face hidden or turned away is despair and death (Deuteronomy 31:17, 18; Job 13:24); his face turned against man is destruction and death (Leviticus 17:10; Psalm 34:16); his face turned upon man in love and mercy is life and salvation. (Unknown)

There are uncomfortable situations and heart-hurting things that we experience. Some are of our own accord and others are at the hands of others. We don’t know why sometimes we are protected from them and other times we must walk through them. God knows. He will lead us and guide us and give us strength to rest in Him for resolution.

45.a. “Wilderness” – 9.g. “Please show me your glory.”

 

Exodus 33:18  Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

Job 11:7    “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

 Job 26:14     Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

 John 1:18     No one has ever seen God; the only God

 1 Corinthians 13:12    For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

 1 Timothy 6:16    who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

All that he had yet seen of God was insufficient—only raised his desire, only sharpened his appetite to see more. (Ellicott)

Moses speaks as one who dreaded the thought of going forward without the Lord’s presence. God’s gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in prayer.  (Henry)

 So long as we are clothed with this body, which was destined, indeed, from the very first to be transformed into the glorified state of the immortality of the spirit, but has become through the fall a prey to the corruption of death, we can only walk in faith, and only see God with the eye of faith, so far as He has revealed His glory to us in His works and His word. (Keil)

Moses asks for something very personable – “Show me Your glory”. Moses was closer to God than any man since Adam, and he asked for more intimate closeness. He wanted to be closer still. He was in the presence of God. He was near God. He spoke with God and God with him. He saw the hand of God do miracles and wonders. He pleaded with god for the restoration of Israel. And Moses still wanted to be more intimate with his understanding and knowledge of God by actually seeing His glory. 

Do we seek to be more intimate with God? Do we want to be in His presence and experience His glory? Do we want to be known by God in a personal way so that we are not only fully devoted servants but a friend of God too?  I wonder if we want to be blessed by God and given the comforts of His blessings without wanting to be close to Him. When we see His creation and have been given glimpses of His awesome power, protection, peace, presence, joy, grace, mercy, and love, do we want to be closer still, or just be a benefactor? That is the question, isn’t it? 

Just wanting to be close enough to receive goodness is not worthy of His holiness, grace, and mercy. That is like wanting to be friends with a very generous person for what they give to you, but never ever wanted to truly be their friend in an indebted way. How shallow is a friendship that only desires to be given something by that friend? Isn’t it shameful? 

Every single person has been given the beginning knowledge of God and who He is.  God wrote it on their heart and minds. He stands at the door to our souls and seeks to come into our lives, invited in. He had His Word written down so that we might know Him and of His grace, mercy, power, wisdom, holiness, goodness, and one million more adjectives that only begin to explain how awesome All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Ever-Present He is. He sent His one and only Son to die and redeem us from eternal torment, Hell. He promised eternal life. He sent His Holy Spirit to fill us with His continual presence. He promised to never leave us or forsake us. He promised to be our rock and refuge. 

What has He asked of us, His creation? – To believe, rely upon, and trust in His Son and to honor and glorify Him in all we think, say, and do. 

Examine your life, your wants, where you spend time, what you think about, who you listen to, what you say, what you do, and where you place importance. Can you say that you truly are seeking and desiring to know and understand more and more of God and be closer to Him?