“Many people say, “Who will show us better times?” Let your face smile on us, Lord. You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine. In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.”
Psalm 4:6-8 NLT
There is a lovely blessing recorded in Numbers 6, that the Lord instructed Aaron and his sons to speak out over the people of Israel. “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favour and give you his peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). There is something comforting about the thought that God will smile upon us. In human terms, to smile at someone reflects respect, acceptance, a reaching out for a social contact, and an opening of our hearts that allows a glimpse of our thoughts and emotions. Well, there is even more possible when God smiles on us. His love and grace, mercy and kindness all conspire with all that is in His character to allow us access to His very being. God isn’t a stern Heavenly policeman who only frowns at us as we stumble our way through life. He doesn’t condemn us for doing wrong, and beat us up if we sin. Instead He smiles on us, encouraging us to look to His Son at Calvary, to allow His grace to flood over us in response to our stuttering confessions and repentance from sin.
Do we pilgrims feel God smiling on us this morning? Can we feel His Spirit moving within us setting us up for the day ahead? Psalm 67 starts with the verse, “May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favour on us“. The Psalmists were always conscious of a smiling God, full of mercy and blessings. But are we pilgrims also conscious of our smiling God? Do we instead look around us at the circumstances we are facing into, agonising over them with our petitions? Should we be instead looking up into the Heavenly places where we will see our smiling God? There is an old poem, “Two men looked out through prison bars; one saw mud, the other stars”. We can be imprisoned by our circumstances and dragged down by the weight of them into depression and feelings of hopelessness. But in God, as we look up, we will find not just a smiling face, but also a remedy for whatever is troubling us.
Thank You Lord, for Your presence in our lives, but please forgive us for the times when we miss the encouragement we need and can find in the light of Your smiling face. We love you Lord. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 