January 17

may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’ — Num 6:26 BSB

When we offend someone, their face is no longer turned toward us as it was before. This was true for Laban with Jacob, and if we have caused a friend or superior’s displeasure, we instinctively watch their expression—does it frown or smile? Are the eyes turned toward us in affection, or have they turned away? We can sense the change immediately if we know the person well. In the same way, the blessing asked in Scripture is, “The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,” as a loving parent looks tenderly on an obedient child, or as a devoted husband gazes warmly at his wife. This is how God is to His people—as both Father and Husband.

Yet, as His children, we often provoke Him to hide His face from us. When our disobedience causes Him to turn away, we feel that absence keenly, as if a cloud has passed between us and His light. The prayer then becomes, “The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,” meaning that His face would shine upon us once more—full of grace, forgiveness, and tender mercy—so that we can come boldly into His presence. Just like a child who has disobeyed and shrinks away from their father’s displeasure, we too hesitate to approach God when we feel the weight of our own sins.

But oh, the transformation when that frown disappears and a smile returns! The child is gathered back into the father’s arms, and the tears of regret are wiped away. How much more so in our relationship with God, when He kisses away the tears of the disobedient heart, just as He did for the returning prodigal. There are no sweeter kisses than those of forgiveness, mercy, and restoring grace.

“And give you peace.” Oh, what a blessing! As poet William Cowper wrote, “I’ll lay me down and sweetly sleep, for I have peace with God.” This peace is what makes the pillow soft in life and, ultimately, will make the pillow of death a place of rest—peace with God through Jesus Christ, peace through reconciliation, and peace through the cleansing blood of Christ. It is the “peace of God, which passes all understanding.”

Many people seek great things—gifts of eloquence, knowledge, influence, and popularity. Yet what did God say to Baruch? “Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.” Ministers may seek grand achievements, but the things that truly matter—the things that make the soul blessed now and forever—are simple and gracious. The blessing that the soul most deeply craves is peace. While peace may not make the heart leap like joy, nor melt the heart as love does, it is, in some respects, sweeter than all because it settles the soul into a quiet assurance. This peace is nothing less than the realization of Christ Himself, for “He is our peace,” and may be called the crowning blessing of all.