When I was a young child, I remember drawing pictures with my box of crayons, and whenever I drew the sun, I often put a nice big smile on that sun. Sometimes if I drew the moon, I even put a smile there. I even remember back in my teen years when wearing a smiley button was a fad. Seeing a smile makes people happy, it makes them feel good. A smile from one’s boss is always good to see, and when we want that special someone to notice us, it is a joy when we see them look up and smile at us! A smile on the face of one we love is what we wish to see. In our psalm for this week, we read about seeking God’s smile. Let’s see what our psalm can teach us.
When the sun is out, we talk about a sun-shiny day. The sunshine usually makes us happy. Constant overcast days week after week, going on over a month, can make some people depressed. We like to see the sunshine! That is why youngsters like to draw a smile on their drawings of the sun. The smile of a jury towards the defendant is a good sign they found him not guilty. It’s good to get a smile from the judge or the king. And it is especially good to know that God is smiling on us!
Our psalmist opens Psalm 67 praying for God’s mercy and blessing to come upon His people (vs. 1). He felt that if the Lord was happy with us, His face would shine, He would smile towards us. Our faces “shine” when we look with love on our family, friends, and those in our good graces. When a king smiles on a supplicant with pleasure, the petitioner is likely to receive his request. God’s smile towards us shows that we have His favor. We have His mercy and blessing. When we have God’s favor, we can readily sing His praises (vs. 3, 5).
When God’s face shines on us, He is looking towards us, and looking on us with favor. How do we gain the favor of God? As the Bible teaches, we can’t earn God’s favor by any works we do (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9). We receive God’s favor, we cause His face to shine upon us, when we accept His Son Jesus as our Savior, acknowledge that it is His shed Blood that washes away our sins. The favor of God is seen as Jesus fulfilled the purpose for which He came. Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), and turned His face to the Cross. The face of God shines on us, because of Good Friday, the day that the face of God turned away from His suffering Son.
Of course if we don’t have the favor of someone we wish the approval or benevolence of, we also can often see that in their face. A scowl from a policeman or a judge usually doesn’t mean good news for us! Children don’t like to see a frown on their parent’s face, or an adult to see his boss frowning at him! To make sure that God doesn’t change His shining face to one that is angry, we need to make sure we are following and obeying His Word, the Bible. However, first one needs to be sure that they have accepted Jesus as Savior. Without having asked Jesus as their personal Savior, no one can have God’s blessing, nor His face to shine upon them. Those who do not have His shining face will instead have His terrible wrath (Psalm 34:16).
When God’s shining face is turned towards us, we can reflect His glory to others. This is just like the moon, which does not produce its own light, and instead reflects the light of the sun onto the earth. Sometimes the reflective light of the moon can be so bright that it can even cause us to cast a shadow. After a very long and hot day, it can feel good to rest in the coolness of the moonlight! That is why sometimes as a child I would also put a smile on the moon! As believers, we need to reflect God’s light, His love, and His mercy to others. We can reflect God’s blessings in acts of love and service. We should proclaim the message of Jesus to a world lost in darkness.
Do you want God’s face to shine upon you? Do you want His mercy and blessing? I’m sure we all do. For God’s face to shine, for His smile to beam down upon you, first be sure that you have asked Jesus into your heart as your Savior. Then, be sure that you are obeying His Word. Then you can be sure that His face will shine upon you, with His love, mercy, and blessings!
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