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12/19/2024
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Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. Psalm 27:7,8 NIV
When was the last time you looked into a mirror and really studied your face? Maybe you have a nightly routine of skin care when you check or maybe it's been a hot second since you last looked at your face intently. If that’s the case take a second and go look. It may feel uncomfortable at first, your eyes might be drawn to what you feel are little imperfections that are larger in your mind than they are in reality. What you may notice, however, is that although there have been changes through the years it's still the same face. During the pandemic, we experienced a strange phenomenon where half our faces were covered. Many people expressed not being able to fully connect with someone who was behind a mask. We sought each other’s faces. The Bible actually speaks of this in kind of a poetic symbolic way. The word of God is filled with references to the Face of God. Some are good, people wanting to seek God’s face like in Psalm 27:8. While other times like in Judges 13:22 Gideon declares that he has seen God’s face and must die. So which one is it? Is God’s face turned toward us good or does it mean death? Let’s find out!
God’s face is a curious thing. We don’t actually know what He looks like outside of some prophetic language. In the song Mary Did You Know we hear the line “And when you kiss your little baby you've kissed the face of God”. But what does it mean to have God’s face looking at you?
The first time that God’s face is referenced is in Genesis 32. In this story, Jacob who was about to receive a name change to Israel is wrestling with a mighty being. He does not know it is God until his struggle becomes great and God has to dislocate his hip. Once Jacob has received his blessing from God he names the place Peniel which means “face of God”, and he declares “‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’” Jacob had an understanding that seeing God face to face would mean death.
Shortly after this story of Jacob, another person encounters God. Moses in Exodus 3, is confronted by God, and when he realizes who he is speaking to, this is his reaction: “At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:6). Yet God calls him closer and they proceed to have a really fascinating conversation. Later on in his life, it is recorded in Exodus 33:11, “The Lord would speak to Moses face, as one speaks to a friend.” Moses goes from being scared to look upon God to speaking to God as one speaks to a friend. What a huge change!
So what changed for Moses? Why does the Psalmist seek God’s face when clearly some of the mightiest warriors of faith were terrified by God’s face? I think it's simple. I think it's relationship. The face of the ones we love is a comforting thing. There is something special about calling a friend up but it's even better when we get to video call and 10x greater when we can see them in person, face to face. I believe that the psalmist is seeking God’s face in order to know Him better. The face of God is a theme throughout the bible and when God’s face is turned toward you, he is paying attention to you! That's what the psalmist wants. In Pslams 30:7 David reflects saying “ You hid your face from me, I was dismayed.” He wants God to look upon him! He needs God to see his troubles and to know him. There is comfort in having the face of God see you.
When Jesus came down to earth I’m sure like the song says Mary coddled him, loved him, and looked into his face all the time. What a blessing it was for her to know the savior with such an intimate love. Marry was blessed and we don’t get that same blessing, but we do get the same opportunity to have the Savior look upon us, to turn his face upon us. The lyrics from the song Turn your eyes upon Jesus comes to mind. As the lines say “Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace” This holiday season the things of earth are bright and distracting, as they are gloomy and ominous, turn your eyes to Jesus, seek his face and allow him to see you fully so that you may know him more.
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