Psalm 119:135

It has been over two weeks since I submitted my last meditation online.  Some extra things are going on this summer, which is not unusual for me.  I write and edit these blogs as I am able.  So off we go with today’s meditation as we near the end of the octave of Psalm 119 entitled Pe. 

Psalms 119:135  Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Now just what is the psalmist asking of the Lord when He prays: make thy face to shine upon thy servant?  As usual, we define our terms. 

To shine upon:  to look favourably upon, be favourable to, said of a star, or (in biblical language) of the face of God.

This definition I have cited is taken from a secular dictionary.  Hence, it includes both pagan and Christian usages of the terms.  Being Bible believers, we immediately dismiss any notion of being looked upon favourably by a star.  We are not pagan stargazers.  But we do covet being looked upon favourably by the face of God. Therefore, this prayer is a prayer for God’s favour, which is a synonym for God’s grace. 

This prayer is echoed in Paul’s prayer for the churches:

Galatians 1:3  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ....

The priests of ancient Israel were commanded to bless the people with the following words:

Numbers 6:24  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.

Observe in this passage that connected with the Lord making His face shine upon us is His blessing and keeping of us, His graciousness unto us, His light and peace upon us.  What better could be desired than to have all that from the Most High God? 

Psalms 4:6  There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance (face) upon us.

7  Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

The shining face of God is a good that exceeds in value and brings greater joy than the most abundant harvest or the most robust financial gains. 

And if God make His face to shine upon us, we shall be saved.  The following petition is found in verses 3, 7, & 19 of Psalm 80:

Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

If in whatever condition you find yourself you would be saved, plead for the favour and grace of God and you shall be saved, for His grace “is sufficient for thee” and is able “to help in time of need” (2Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 4:16).

As we have noted in several other verses of this psalm, the psalmist speaks of himself as thy servant when he addresses his Lord.  Being God’s servant his chief delight was the favour of his Master, a favour to be desired far above the favour of men.  As God’s servants our greatest happiness is in the shining of God’s face upon us, whereas our greatest misery is in the hiding of His face from us.

Then notice the thought that the psalmist connected with his prayer for God’s favour:  and teach me thy statutes.  When the Lord is teaching us His statutes and we are increasing in His knowledge, this is one of the clearest evidences of His face shining upon us.  If the Lord is favouring you with instruction and growth in His word of truth, then you will have the means to cope with any situation life throws at you, for God’s “truth shall be thy shield and buckler” (Psalms 91:4).  This is what Peter calls growing “in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2PE 3:18).

And these things I write unto you are not just flowery, nice-sounding platitudes.  These things are the actual experience of those who seek the favour of the Lord and the knowledge of His word.  I write out of my own experience and the experience of others.  Right now I have a man under my ministry who has been in a battle with colon cancer.  This brother in the Lord is drawing his comfort from his Bible and rejoicing in the realization that the face of God is shining upon him, his cancer notwithstanding. 

I close today’s meditation with another prayer taken from the psalms:

Psalms 67:1  God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.

2  That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

When God’s face is shining upon us, He is dealing mercifully with us and blessing us.  The favour of God upon His people is the health that saves them and the witness they have among all nations upon the earth.