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Psalm 67:1-3 – May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You!
Children call out to their parents, “Look at me!” In these verses the psalmist prays, “Look at us!” He wants the Lord to turn His shining face toward His people. The psalms are filled with prayers for that kind of attention from the Lord, asking Him to lift up the light of His face on His people (see Psalm 4:6) or to turn toward them instead of hiding His face from them (see Psalm 69:16-17). Other psalms point out that the Lord does not smile on those who do what is evil (see Psalm 34:16). We want the Lord’s full attention. We do not want Him to look away from us in anger, but to turn toward us in love and grace.
God gave His blessing to Israel: “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” (Numbers 6:24-26). Through the words of this familiar blessing, God promised to put His Name on His people. He would not look away from His people in anger and judgment. He assured them that His shining face was turned to them in favor and forgiveness. In the light of His countenance, His people would have peace.
In this psalm the Lord’s attention toward us has a special purpose. His face shines on us so that His way will be known on earth and His saving power will be known among all nations. We ask God to bless us so that we, in turn, will be a blessing to others. We have seen “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6b). The people who knew Jesus during His earthly ministry saw the face of God veiled in human flesh. It was a face turned toward others in love and compassion. Even as the Savior hung from the cross, His bruised and beaten face turned to others in love as He forgave His tormentors, provided care for His mother, and promised paradise to the repentant thief. Yet on the day we call Good Friday, the Father turned His face from His Son. Jesus was abandoned to the suffering of the cross so that we would be saved. Through faith in our crucified and risen Savior, we know that God will never turn away from us. Confident that we have the Lord’s loving attention and empowered by the Spirit, we have work to do. We will make His saving power known among the nations!
WE PRAY: Lord, Your face is turned to me in love. Lead me to look on others with Your love. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.
Reflection Questions:
- How our nation needs prayer in this new year! Would you take some time to pray for our country and the world this week?
- What can we do as citizens to make God’s mercy and compassion known where we live?
- Why can we be confident in God’s love and care for our lives? How has He shown us this?
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