Make Your face to shine upon Your servant

Posted : 27 Jul, 2013 02:19 AM

Psalm 119:135 Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; and teach me Your statutes.



If the Lord deliver us from the oppression of man, and "make

even our enemies to be at peace with us;" still, if we are in

spiritual health, we shall be restless and uneasy, until He

make His face to shine upon us. And in the Scripture

revelation of God, "dwelling between the cherubim s," and

therefore on the mercy-seat-with the "rainbow," the emblem of

"the covenant of peace"- "round about the throne," as if to

invite the access of sinners from every quarter-have we not

full warrant to plead-"You who dwell between the cherubim s,

shine forth; stir up Your strength, and come and save us?

Turn us again, O God; and cause Your face to shine, and we

shall be saved." Others we see eagerly asking, "Who will

show us any good?" Alas! they will discover in the end, that

they have "spent their money for that which is not bread, and

their labor for that which satisfies not." The believer's

incessant cry is-Let me see "the King's face." This is a

blessing worth praying for. It is his heart's desire, his present

privilege, and what is infinitely better-his sure and everlasting

joy, "They shall see His face."

It is both important and interesting to mark the repetitions always new-in this beautiful Psalm. David had just before

prayed, "Look upon me, and be merciful unto me." Perhaps

another passing cloud had darkened his sky. Again he darts

up the same prayer, Make Your face to shine upon Your

servant. Such cries in the mouth of this holy servant of God,

must have been most hopeless petitions-no, the expression of

the most daring presumption- had he not been acquainted

with the only true way of access to God, joyfully led to

renounce every other way, and enabled diligently to improve

this acceptable approach to his God. Indeed whatever

obscurity may hang over the question relating to the faith of

the Old Testament believers, their confidence at the throne of

grace shows them to have attained a far more distinct

perception of Christian privilege, through the shadowy

representations of their law, than is commonly imagined. Else how could they have been so wrestling and persevering in

their petitions; overcoming the spirit of bondage, and

breathing out the spirit of adoption in the expression of their

wants and desires before the Lord? The prayers of the Old

Testament church are not more distinguished for their

simplicity, spirituality, and earnestness, than for their

unfettered, evangelical confidence. When they approached

the footstool of the Divine Majesty, with the supplications Make Your face to shine upon Your servant,-You who dwell

between the cherubims, shine forth-it was as if they had

pleaded-'Reconciled Father-You who sit upon a throne of

grace, look upon us-Abba, Father, be gracious to us!'

Many, however, seem to despise this child-like confidence.

They go on in heartless complaining and uncertain

apprehensions of their state; as if doubting was their life, and

as if they might rest upon the presumption, that the shining of

God's face upon them is not indispensable to their salvation.

But will they then be content to "be saved, yet so as by fire,"

instead of having an "entrance ministered unto them

abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and

Savior?" Is it enough for them to be just alive, when "the

things that remain," from want of being duly cherished, "are

ready to die?" If they can be safe without a conscious interest

in the favor of God, can they be so without the desire for it? Is

not this assurance attainable? Is it not commanded? Is it not

most desirable? This cold contentment clouds the integrity of

their profession. For God's real people are living habitually

either in spiritual enjoyment, or in restless dissatisfaction.

Their dark seasons are times of wrestling supplication seasons of deep humiliation, tenderness of spirit, and

constant waiting upon God, until He makes His face to shine

upon His servants. They can dispense with ordinary comforts.

But it is death to be without Him. "All their springs are in Him."

They estimate their happiness by the shining-and their misery

by the clouding-of His face. This is the true principle of assurance, even if this most important blessing be not

sensibly enjoyed.

How then stands the case between us and God? From

ourselves originates the mist, which darkens the shining. His

sovereign free grace blots the cloud away. We raise the

mountains of separation. The Almighty power of our great

Zerubbabel removes them. To ourselves then be all the

shame. To Him be all the praise!

But how may we realize more constant sunshine?-Apart from

the hindrances just alluded to, others are mainly to be found in

mistaken or contracted views of the Gospel. Hence, therefore,

the value of enlarged apprehensions of the Gospel of the

grace of God-of its fullness, satisfying every claim, and

supplying every want-of its freeness, unencumbered with

conditions, and holding forth encouragement to the most

unworthy-of its holiness, restraining the sinful hindrances to

enjoyment-and of its security, affording permanent rest in the

foundations of the covenant of grace. The life of faith will thus

be maintained in more full contemplation of Jesus, and

renewed reliance upon Him; and walking in closer communion

with Him, our hope will be enlivened with the constant sense

of reconciliation and love.

We need not wonder at the Psalmist's persevering

determination to seek the shining of the Lord's face. This high

privilege is connected no less with the Christian's public

usefulness than with his personal enjoyment. For who is most

likely to win others to the love of the Savior, and to the service

of God- to enliven the drooping soul, or to recover the

backslider? Is not he, who lives most in the sunshine of the

Gospel, and who therefore has most to tell of its heavenly joy?

But you say, 'My heart, alas! is so cold and barren, my

affections so languid, my desires so faint, my sky so often

clouded. I do not forget that I am a child; but a child in disgrace is too often my dishonorable character and wretched

condition.' Then exercise your faith in going where David was

accustomed to go. As a penitent child, "Arise and go to your

Father"-"only acknowledge your iniquity"-tell your complaint

before Him-resort much and often to Him; be importunate; be

patient; plead the name and merits of Jesus; and you will not,

you cannot plead in vain; you will once more walk happily,

holily, as well as confidently, in the light of your Father's

countenance. And in marking more carefully His gracious

dealings with your soul, you will be kept from formality,

hardness, and despondency.

But we cannot expect this shining, save in the paths of God;

and he who looks for comfort, while careless of duty, is only

the victim of his own delusions. Well, therefore, does the child

of God-longing for higher enjoyment, and learning more of his

own ignorance, add this petition-Teach me Your statutes. And

He who taught us this petition, will Himself, according to His

promise, be our teacher in the way of holiness. And if, under

His teaching, in the pathway to glory-our God makes His face

to shine upon us, what more want we to beguile the toil and

weariness of the way? And if one beam of His countenance,

though but dimly seen through this sinful medium, exceeds

the glories of ten thousand worlds-what will it be to live under

the perpetual cloudless shining of His face!

Believer! does not this prospect invigorate every step of your

journey? Your Lord is at hand. Soon will He appear to gladden

with His inexpressible smile every soul that is in readiness for

Him. Oh! seek to realize His approach, and with holy

aspirations and joyful expectancy respond to His welcome

voice.

"He which testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly:

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"



by

Charles Bridges

Post Reply