Word of Encouragement (09/27/2022)

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Num. 6:24-26)

The second pair of blessings in this benediction is, “...the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you....” This pair brings us closer to the true essence of God’s blessing, doesn’t it? The core of God’s blessing is not some gifts God grants to His people, however precious and many they may be; the core of God’s blessing is God Himself—His glory, beauty, kindness, love, favor, etc. That is what He is doing when He makes His face shine on us.

God blesses His people by making His face shine on them. God does not just toss gifts at them. God must give Himself because He loves His people. So, He blesses them by giving Himself, by making His face shine on them. He knew that the light of His face was what we needed the most. He could not withhold from us what was best. For it is the light of His face that casts away all darkness and gloominess; it chases away the darkness of sin, the darkness of despair, the darkness of evil. Even the deep darkness of death cannot stand the light of His countenance. Paul says, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). The light that shone at the dawn of creation was but a dim shadow of the light that shines eternally from His divine countenance, which now shines on the hearts of those that are redeemed. If the sunshine brings joy and warmth to the world, how much more the light of His countenance upon the souls of men! And God promises to make His face shine on His people with the effable light of His eternal glory.

This pair goes on to say, "[The Lord] be gracious to you.” The Hebrew word translated as “gracious” “often has the sense of showing kindness to the poor and needy” (TWOT). This blessing reminds us of another truth about us: God blesses us by being gracious to us because we are poor and needy. How kind! How considerate God is! When helping others, it is so easy for us to do it with the wrong motives. We may be more concerned about showing off or easing our guilty conscience than the real plight of the needy. But God’s blessing is not about showing off His power and greatness. If anyone, He has all the reasons to do so. God does all things for His own glory. He should because He is the ultimate Good. But His glory manifests itself in blessing His people, not in exploiting and extorting them. And He blesses them by meeting their true, real needs. He blesses us by being gracious to us, by showing kindness to His poor and needy people, and by showing His saving grace to the sinful and condemned.

This benediction comes from God without us asking for it. Such is our good and gracious God. How blessed we are! How secure and rich we are because we are so loved by God! Let us give thanks to the Lord and walk in boldness even in times of trial.

‍