December 23

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands—yes, establish the work of our hands! — Ps 90:17 BSB

What is this beauty? It is "the beauty of the Lord our God." It refers to the beauty of the God-man, the loveliness, holiness, perfection, and glory that forever dwells in the Son of God. Our days of affliction and years of trouble have marred all human beauty. There was a time, perhaps, when we took some pride and delight in what we were, or what we foolishly thought we could be. Our own righteousness appeared beautiful and pleasing to us, and our religious efforts seemed admirable in our own sight. But what has become of them now? They are ruined, defaced, and polluted. How? By "days of affliction and years of evil." These have effectively ruined all the loveliness we once saw in ourselves. In short, we once loved ourselves deeply, but self has now been exposed as a hideous monster, and we have come to despise it entirely. In contrast, we have seen at times such beauty, glory, and loveliness in the Son of God that as we have fallen out of love with ourselves, we have fallen deeply in love with Jesus.

As our own beauty and loveliness have faded and been ruined, the beauty and loveliness of the Lord have risen in proportion. This has become the cry of our hearts: "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Let us stand accepted in that beauty. Let it be placed upon us by the imputation of God Himself. Let us be clothed in it before the eyes of a heart-searching Jehovah." Let the beauty of Jesus' atoning blood, His perfect righteousness, His dying love, and the holiness of His glorious Person cover all our filth, guilt, and shame. Let it spread over all our sin and pollution, so that when God looks upon us, He does not see us as we are—marred, defaced, and full of wounds—but sees us standing accepted in the Beloved, with "the beauty of the Lord our God" upon us.

What a matchless robe this is! It outshines even the robes of angels, for it is the righteousness of the Son of God. If we stand with "the beauty of the Lord our God" upon us, we can confidently face any accusation—whether from the law, our own guilty conscience, or the darts of hell.