May God’s Face Shine On You

May God’s Face Shine on You

Psalms 67

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

Ever since we heard those terrible words of the curse, “by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:19), people have strived to mitigate the pain of living in a fallen world through a variety of different ways. For some the key to obtaining an “easy and good” life they believe can only be found through hard work and cunning to take beyond their share of money, fame, and power to “buy” the favorable circumstances needed to make them happy. For those born of the water and Spirit (John 3:5-8) Scripture states we are to seek happiness in life not from our own abilities alone but primarily from the sovereign God who promises to always do good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). We want God to bless us beyond all measure by shining His face upon us, but we must admit that too often we struggle in both defining blessings and in seeking them rightly. For instance, is it right to ask God to take us from obscurity and being poor to fame and riches like He did Joseph or King David if this would mean it might rob us of spiritual maturity in Christ because we would buy our way out of many of our trials and tribulations? And while Jesus promises to give unto us anything asked in His name (John 14:13) surely to keep from giving us “stones masqueraded as the bread of tidings” (Matthew 7:9) He must have some criteria in which requests are granted! If there were no criteria, then even His own would be tempted to treat Him like a genie in a bottle and our selfish desires would be our god and not Him! The following sermon is going to review Psalms 67 and suggest that blessings are given not for the express purpose of making the recipients life easier but are meant to be a profound witness to the world of God’s grace and mercy.

May the Lord Make His Face Shine on You

The Psalmist begins with a song that is an “echo” of the Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26. It originally was a prayer given by God to Moses to be used in tabernacle worship by Aaron and his sons. As he reflects on the contents of this prayer the Psalmist begins his song with a cry for mercy and forgiveness of sin. Lacking any “legal hopes or claims of merit” the only way to be blessed he thought must come from God Himself shining His face upon His own. Perhaps the Psalmist thought “a shining face is the opposite of an angry or scowling face, and a face turned toward someone is the opposite of a face turned away in indifference or disgust. A shining face implies favor, the favor of the one whose face is shining, and it implies the friendliness of warm personal relationships too.” Since the material wealth of the Aaronic blessing if viewed and used improperly could become “hollow and a dangerous deception and snare,” the Psalmist focused on the far greater and more important part of Aaronic blessing, to know and be close to God who grants a personal relationship with those who seek and obey Him. Grace was the bases of this blessing and truly the only way a fallen human being under the curse could have any hope of pleasing He who is sinless, without blot or blemish and wholly other! So, the Psalmist begins by singing about this God-given, unmerited hope for here he finds is the key to not only making living in a fallen world bearable but enjoyable as well!

May thy Ways be Known Upon Earth

Psalms 67 invited Israel and us to change our way of thinking when it comes to being blessed. I remember the first time I flew in an aeroplane how small and insignificant the world appeared the higher I went up into the sky! Above the clouds all I could think was how awesome and great our God is to have created and maintain such incredible beauty! Too many of us in our day-to-day grind tend to focus on things that are of lessor importance. Israel and we too often become so focused on what was temporary and ground level that they forgot what was eternal and heavenly. For instance, in the Old Testament wealth and prosperity were often synonymous with holy living and having God’s favor. The Israelites felt this way because just before entering the promised land they had learned on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal that blessings and curses of a material nature were a direct result of either obeying or disobeying God (Deuteronomy 28). In his song the Psalmist invites us and Israel to look at the big picture when it comes to God’s blessings. Like Israel too often we are nearsighted and only choose to yearn for the temporal things of this world. Despite Abraham being materially blessed was not his primary focus to be a light of God’s grace that shined so brightly that that those who saw how he loved and lived for God might see His grace and mercy (Genesis 12:1-3)? And when it comes to blessings is not God to be our portion (Lamentations 3:24)? What specifically did Abraham take to heaven besides his faith and love of God that alone made him right in His sight (Genesis 15:6)? The Psalmist rightly began his song by saying grace and the shine of God’s face in a loving relationship with one’s creator is all one truly needs to be blessed!