The Love-Light of God’s Smiling Face
The Love-Light of God’s Smiling Face.
“Lift up the light of your face (‘panim‘) upon us, Yahweh. Let your light-filled presence smile on us. You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.” (Ps. 4:6-8).
The Righteous Brothers Turn On Your Love Light
The Bottom Line, Here at the Top: When lovers of God in Scripture (whether Moses, David, the psalmists and prophets, or the New Covenant saints) earnestly sought to be with God, to be in God’s presence, their love words tended to be about seeking God’s face. They were in the midst of declaring their love for God in an almost breathless desire to be with God intimately, as if in a love affair with the Almighty, desperately yearning for God’s presence like a lover with the beloved. Turn on your love-light, Lord, I want to give myself to you, they are saying. This type of love language tells us something, doesn’t it? That perhaps romantic love between husband and wife reaches its fulfillment in the love affair God wants with each of us. There’s a good chance that marital union between a man and woman is a profound foretaste of something even greater… God’s intense desire to be with the people He has created. The earthly marriage relationship is the best picture God could provide of the ultimate marriage in heaven celebrated at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The sacrament of marriage is evidently an appetizer in the full feast in our destiny with Him. Intimate human love on earth is not meant to completely satisfy the lovers, but instead be a joyful and meaningful picture of our union with God in heaven, which starts right here on earth. To seek ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction in human romance is destined to be unsatisfying, because it’s not intended to be the final experience of ecstasy. As beautiful and glorious as it is, marriage is the warm-up act for the main event. There is no marriage in heaven, since the eternal purpose of marital union has reached its fulfillment in God. Marriage is God’s way of telling us that He desires a deep union with each of us, that He yearns for an intimate fellowship with each person He has created, if only we would say Yes to His proposal. God wants to spiritually marry each of us, to enjoy a mutual indwelling with each of us, in which He is inside of us, and we are inside of Him. Two-as-One, somehow inside of each other.
“May the Lord bless you and keep you; May the Lord make His face (‘panim‘) to shine upon you and be gracious to you; May the Lord turn His face (‘panim‘) toward you and give you peace (‘shalom‘).” (The Blessing of Aaron, Numbers 6:23-25).
“Panim” (paw-neem) = The Hebrew word usually translated as presence, countenance, or front, or in front of. The root word means to incline towards or to turn to. Panim is recorded over 2,000 times in the Hebrew Bible (OT), and is a very significant idea all through Scripture. The face of God in the Hebrew sense was a poetic attempt to describe the personal presence of God, since God is a spirit and does not have a body, and so doesn’t have a literal face. The face of God in the Hebrew Bible, then, was a substitute word for the intimate presence of God, the entire Person of God.
“Shalom” = The ancient Hebrew word translated as peace: completeness or wholeness, as in the joining together of opposites; integrity, as in the effective holding together of separate pieces; to give/restore harmony; fulfillment; health; security; abundant well-being; the state of having the vitality needed to thrive and flourish; tranquility; freedom from disquiet and disorder; reconciliation; resolution of conflict/war; healing of division; prosperity. The Greek word for peace in the New Testament is “Eirene,” and means the same thing as “Shalom” in the Hebrew Bible.
U2-Elevation live in Chicago 2005 (2005 Vertigo Tour)
Love Songs. It’s easy to see how human love songs are mirrored in Scripture by spiritual love songs to God. There is very little difference between a love song to a person and a love song to the Lord. Notice on the love songs included in this article how easily one can redirect the lyrics towards heaven in a love song to God. The best human love songs are actually rooted in spiritual songs expressing the passion of a love affair with God.
Nina Simone: To Love Somebody (Live in Antibes, 1969)
Seeking His Face. Being in the light of His presence with His face shining on us in love speaks to the level of intimacy we enjoy with the Lord. When we seek the face of God, we are saying that we earnestly want to be closer to Him. When we seek the face of God, we are asking for a more intimate sense of His presence. When God hides His face, He is in a sense turning His back and becoming less intimate in His relationship with us. But we will see later in this series that God doesn’t turn His back on us unless we first turn our back to Him. And even if God hides His face, He is still present. When God hides His face, He is, in His wisdom, deciding not to be as close as He could be. There is an eternal with-ness of God that is a part of His nature. He will not completely withdraw His presence, He will not hide His face, but he may withdraw His intimacy for a time if that is what is needed. As David and other psalmists in the spirit of David said countless times in his psalms, seeking God’s face is a life-long quest for growing intimacy with the Lord God.
Ben E. King / All Star Band – Stand By Me (The Prince’s Trust Rock Gala 1987)
How else can one say this? David and the other psalmists were in love with God and continually sought His intimate presence. If His presence seemed threatened, they felt vulnerable and bereft, like jilted lovers. For God to hide His face was an unthinkable tragedy, a catastrophe, a fate worse than death. “Do not hide your face from me, or I will die, like those who go down to the pit.” (Ps. 143:7). For David and the others, that wasn’t a lover’s hyperbole, that was the simple truth. The psalmists’ holy land was in his heart, where he could passionately bask in God’s presence and spiritually gaze upon the face of his Lover in worship.
Moses and Yahweh, Face-to-Face. “So the Lord Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:9,11); “But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom Yahweh Lord knew face to face.” (Deuteronomy 34:10). The face-to-face interaction between Yahweh and Moses, most would say that this biblical term is a metaphor, a figure of speech, that means “presence to presence.” In other words, God and Moses were intimately present with each other. Face-to-face is a way of describing the strong bond of deep friendship that God and Moses enjoyed. Face-to-face conveys a two-way relationship, with no third party involved. It meant one Person was able to personally communicate clearly and directly with another person. It’s not unlike another phrase we use and know not to mean literally… a “heart to heart’ conversation. Of course, our hearts are not actually interacting with each other. Face-to-face is similar to that, in which there is the implication of deep personal contact. Moses reported a similar figure of speech in Numbers 12:8, when the Lord said, “With Moses I speak mouth to mouth.” With Moses I can have a meaningful conversation, says the Lord.
Aaron’s Blessing. “May the Lord make His face to shine upon you.” That thought in Aaron’s blessing could be put in other words like this… May the Great I AM, the Lord of Life, shine His face upon us in friendship. May His eyes light up with fondness when looking upon us. May He deepen our intimate friendship with Him, our spiritual union with Him. May the radiance of His presence shine on us by taking pleasure in us, like a lover with his beloved, or like a loving parent smiling in pleasure when with his or her child. May the face of the Lord smile upon us, revealing His divine approval. May His shining presence reveal the light of His glory to us in a personal way. May His shining face upon us be like the brilliant sun shining on the surface of the earth to bring about growth and blessing. May your face pulsate with heavenly light, Lord, and be the love-light of our world. May we see a smiling face when we see God in the holy ground of our heart.
A Love Affair with God. It seems that the psalmists brought the yearning for God’s face to another level entirely, from the desire for a strong friendship to a practically a spiritual lust for a love affair with the divine. Look at the profound desire for God in so many Psalms, and the language sounds remarkably similar to the expressions of love between a man and a woman. In many passages, the psalmist’s desperate desire for God sounds identical to what two romantic lovers would say to each other in their intimate moments, with an almost erotic intensity… I am desperate for you; I faint with longing to be in your presence; I pant for you with a desperate thirst; I just want to see your face and be in your presence; I want to give myself to you. The lover of God seeks the light of His face with the same zeal that a lover seeks the face of his beloved. How many times did the psalmists yearn for God to turn on the love-light of His face, to shine the love-light of His face onto His zealous lover? As crazy as it sounds, when a believing person expresses a fervent love for God, it is only in response to our God who took the first step bu expressing His spiritual hots for us.
Robert Palmer Addicted To Love Song And Lyrics – YouTube
“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! I languish, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of Yahweh. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God! Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God! What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises.“ (Psalm 84:1-4).
“As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God! My whole being thirsts for God, for the living God. I want to drink God, deep draughts of God. When shall I come and see the face of God?” (Ps. 42:1-2);
“Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my spirit is failing! Do not hide your face from me, or I will die. Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting in you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.” (Ps. 143:7-8);
“Lift up the light of your face upon us, Yahweh. Let your face smile on us. You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.” (Ps. 4:6-8);
“When my heart whispered, ‘Seek God’s face,’ my whole being responded and I replied, ‘I am seeking your face with all my heart!’ Do not hide your face from me!” (Ps. 27:8);
“Blessed are the people who know the words of praise and celebration, who shout on parade in the radiant presence of God. Delighted, they walk, O Lord, in the light of your face!” (Ps. 89:15);
“Desperate, I throw myself onto you, for you are my God! Make your face shine upon your servant, and deliver me in your steadfast love!” (Ps. 31:16);
“May God be gracious to us and bless us with His favor; and make His face to shine upon us.” (Ps. 67:1);
“Restore us, O God; light up your face and smile on us, let your face shine that we may be rescued!” (Ps. 80:3).
John Prine – Glory of True Love – Fair & Square – YouTube
A Desperate Desire. David and the other psalmists seemed to know instinctively the secret to a flourishing relationship with God. Desire Him in a deep way, in a way that is like spiritual lust. Find your fulfillment in the Lord’s intimate presence. Develop a hunger to personally experience God in an increasingly meaningful way. It’s only right that David, “the sweet psalmist of Israel,” (2 Samuel 23:1), has the last word at this point : “Glory in His name! Shine and make your joyful boast in Him, you lovers of God! Let’s be joyful and keep rejoicing no matter what! Seek more of His strength! Seek more of Him! Let’s always be seeking the light of His face and alert for His presence!” (Psalm 105:3-4).
The Sacrament of Marriage. The psalmists seem to speak of a desperate yearning for God that sounds a lot like being spiritually married to God. In fact, there certainly is a mystery here, but might marriage be the best picture that God can give us of His desire to be in an intimate fellowship with us, with every human being ever created?
“Haven’t you read the Scriptures about creation? The Creator made us male and female from the very beginning, and for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, sticking to her like glue. He will be literally joined with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Husband and wife will be two persons united into one.” (Mathew 19:4-6).
Marc Cohn – True Companion Lyrics HD
The Spiritual Bedroom. Let’s consider the spiritual aspect of marital relations. Stretching way back to the beginning of the universe, it looks like Creator God designed a secret plan to have intimate fellowship with all those humans of His, all made in His image. God has desired fellowship with us since the beginning. He instituted marriage with that in mind, in which a man and a woman join into a union of 2-becoming-1 flesh. Hebrew scholars have noted that “flesh” in this Genesis context actually suggests something close to a blood relative. That’s how intimate this marriage was to be. God designed marriage to be pleasurable, fruitful, fulfilling, satisfying. And God wanted the marriage to be a foretaste of the desired union with each of us. God, believe it or not, yearns to be intimate with each of us, and what better illustrates that union than a joyful experience of a marital union at the human level? Marriage is a sign that points to the spiritual unity planned for us inside God. So the intimate, pleasurable and fruitful marriage is actually meant to be a sacramental sign, pointing us to our destiny as believers, a spiritual union with Christ! The physical union signifying the spiritual union, the physical reality of marital relations giving us a vivid picture of the spiritual reality of living within Christ. The sexual act, as wonderful as that is, is not intended to be the end of the story. It is meant to point directly to the spiritual relations we could enjoy with God. Marriage reveals the type of relationship God wants with each of us. Physical sex, which pretty much involves every aspect of our being, is a profound part of what it means to be human. Sexual activity in a marriage enables each spouse to give pleasure to the other out of love and devotion. Dare we say that our intimate fellowship with Christ, which also demands our all, is a spiritual version of marital sex?
Half the Story. Imagine if someone has gone through a long life of the Christian faith, being told that one side of the story is the complete story. Yes, that’s me. I grew up being taught that the believer’s relationship with God involved God inside of me through the Holy Spirit, which of course is true. But that’s the incomplete part. I was never really instructed as to the importance of the believer being inside God. There is a double mystery here, and our union with Christ actually goes both ways… God inside of each of us, and each of us inside of God. Christ enters us through the Holy Spirit, and His Spirit delivers us into the Person of God. Christ dwells within me, and I dwell within Christ. This double mystery, God in me and me in God, is well-mentioned in the New Testament: “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am inside my Father, and you are inside of me, and I am inside of you.” (John 14:20); “Remain inside of me, dwell in me, continue to draw life from me, and I will remain inside you.” (John 15:4-7); “God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live inside Him, and He inside us.” (1 John 4:13); “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives continually inside of me, and I live inside him.” (John 6:56); “Those who obey God’s teachings remain inside Him, and He inside them.” (1 John 3:24).
Bruce Springsteen – If I Should Fall Behind (from In Concert/MTV Plugged) – YouTube
Mutual Indwelling. Our union with God is obviously full of mystery, the kind of sacred secret that the Lord needs to unpack for us. Some scholars call this the “Mystical Union,” while others refer to it as the “Double Union.” For a flesh and blood finite person to join with and into the supreme Lord of the Universe, a human being intimately united with the world’s Creator and vast spiritual presence, is way beyond our understanding. In thinking about being united with Christ, we tend to say things in faith that we ourselves don’t even comprehend, truths that we trust at some time God will reveal to us… that our double union with Christ must mean that somehow God and the believer are inside of each other; that when we unite with God, we somehow become one in spirit with Him; that we are inside of God, which means we are welcomed into the fellowship of the Holy Trinity; that since we are inside Christ, we can participate in the interior life of Christ; that to pray “in the Spirit” might actually mean we are literally praying inside the Spirit; that our living inside Christ means we can acquire the very mind of Christ; that we only become new creatures when we are enfolded into Christ, spiritually hidden inside of His character.
Distorting the Design. Marriage is God-defined, God-designed, and God-ordained. No human person has the right to redefine marriage, tear apart God’s plan, or remove its sacred foundation. God’s plan from the beginning was to create a home in which a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife in a permanent, faithful relationship. The 2-in-1 union of husband and wife was intended to be, among the other obvious joys, an exciting reflection of the relationship between God and a believer. So what happens when a society tries to dismantle God’s design? A same-gender relationship, for instance? Or sexual activity outside of a faithful marriage of husband and wife? When that happens, God’s plan is torn asunder, it tragically obscures the understanding of God’s desired union with us. If the sacred illustration of God’s purposes for each of us is broken or rejected or distorted, then the true picture of spiritual union with God will become unknowable. There will be no reference point. Without a pure human experience to point to, how could anyone even begin to imagine the type of relationship that Christ wants us to have with Him? It’s no wonder that the breakdown of marriage and family spells the downfall of the Christian faith in a society.
Tupelo Honey | Van Morrison | Lyrics ☾☀ – YouTube
The Union Between Christ and His Church. It looks like Paul wanted to focus on the worldwide community of believers more than the individual believer in his letter to the Ephesians 5:30-32. After quoting Genesis 2:24 like Christ did, Paul goes on to say, “Yes, I truly believe that we are all living members of Christ’s body, and as I relate this to marriage, it is indeed an enormous mystery. I may not understand all of this, but I can tell you this… the marriage of 2-becoming-1 is meant to be a vivid picture, a clear illustration of the union between Christ and the Church, the oneness that exists between Messiah and His universal household of faith.” Isn’t it amazing to think about the fact that Christ wants to contain the whole world inside Him if it comes to that? Since creation, God has wanted to enjoy an intimate unity with His people. As individual believers, we are inside Christ, and as a universal body of believers, we are likewise inside of Christ. God is our eternal home base of love, and fortunately Jesus says that the more the merrier!
Living Within Christ means: Participating in the life of Christ; in spiritual union with Jesus; woven into oneness with God; inseparably joined with Christ; when we started trusting in Jesus, His Holy Spirit hand-delivered the believer into the very Person of Christ; we are tightly wrapped into His nature and essence; our spirit is inside His Spirit, and He is inside of us; our human identity is hidden within Christ; we belong to Him, and He is in possession of each of us; we are intimately connected within each other; by uniting with Jesus, we married into His family, and are embraced within the fellowship of the Trinity; we have a permanent location within Christ and are not lost somewhere in the cosmos. Inside of Christ, we are super-glued to Him and He is stuck with us, and we go wherever He goes, including His ministry, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and now in the heavenly realms. We were baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), are united into His being, and thus our union with Him enables us to be with Him right now seated with Christ at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2:4-7).
Sting with Stevie Wonder – Brand New Day (Sting 60th Birthday)