There is a simple, common word that we use all the time that amazingly is not found in the common English translations of the Bible: "smile" (the KJV concordance goes from "smell" to "smite"). Smiles brighten our lives; does God ever smile at us? If your only beloved one gives you a smile with eyes shining, your heart is lifted. But if only God would give you such a smile, how your inmost heart would sing for joy! Actually, all our yearnings for human love are in reality a longing for God's smile, to see His eyes shining upon us.
The idea of God smiling upon us (or frowning!) is in the Psalms of David: "There are many who say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart" (4:6, 7). God's people "perish at the rebuke of Your countenance" (that is, His frown, 80:16). "How long will You hide Your face from me, ... having sorrow in my heart daily?" (13:1, 2). When David built himself a new house, he dedicated it to the Lord. He wrote: "His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life. ... You hid Your face, and I was troubled" (30:5, 7). "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous [obviously shining and smiling] ... The face of the Lord is against those who do evil" (34:15, 16). If you can't see His smiling face, you are depressed: even for the "innumerable teeming things" of creation ... [if] You hide Your face, they are troubled" (104:25, 29).
Can you earn a smile from God by good works and obedience? "Many" think so, for in the judgment day they will "say," "Have we not ... done many wonderful works?" (Matt. 7:22). What they thought was a "smile" for their good works only fed their complacent ego. We are on safer ground when we appreciate that when the Father "smiled" on Jesus at His baptism ("This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased") He was smiling on us also (Eph. 1:6).
Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
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Daily Bread - Readings about life and the Word of God.
