God’s Shining Face

Scripture — Psalm 80:1-7, 17-1 (NRSV)

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
O LORD God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved. . . .
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.
Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Devotion

Psalm 80 begins by asking God, who is “enthroned upon the cherubim,” to “shine forth.” In the Bible, cherubim are glorious heavenly, winged creatures. To be enthroned upon the cherubim, therefore, is to assume the place of greatest honor, power, and brilliance in the universe. The psalm writer is likely picturing God as even brighter than the sun: glowing, piercing, utterly glorious. Asking God to “shine forth” is a poetic way to express what is stated more literally in verse 2: “Stir up your might, and come to save us.”

The association of God’s salvation with God’s light is emphasized repeatedly in Psalm 80:
Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved (80:3).
Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved (80:7).
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved (80:19).
When God’s face shines upon God’s people, they will experience God’s mercy through salvation and restoration.

Light features prominently in our celebrations of Christmas. We celebrate the fact that “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). One of our most popular Christmas carols, “Silent Night,” begins with the phrase “All is calm, all is bright, Round yon virgin mother and child.” In the third verse, this brightness comes from the face of the baby Jesus:

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!

Notice the combination of themes here: God’s love as “pure light;” “radiant beams” from the “face” of Jesus, the “dawn of redeeming grace.” What was once said of God in Psalm 80 is now applied to Jesus. His shining face projects the love and grace of God. Yet this love and grace isn’t distant, enthroned in highest heaven upon the cherubim. Rather, in Jesus, the shining face of God is personal, intimate, and inviting.

When I think of the shining face of the baby Jesus, my mind immediately jumps back to a miraculous moment that happened 30 years ago. Linda’s and my daughter, Kara, was born on November 4, 1994. Linda, of course, was devoted to Kara day and night, feeding her, rocking her, embracing her. You might say Linda’s smiling face was shining brightly on Kara.

Kara, however, didn’t at first respond in kind. In fact, in the third week of Advent, she smiled quite plainly . . . at me! (No, it wasn’t gas. It was a real smile.) Linda was happy for me, of course. But she felt a bit disappointed. Why hadn’t Kara smiled at her?

On Christmas Eve, our family participated in the Christmas pageant at church. Linda was Mary. I was Joseph. Kara was the baby Jesus. Because Kara always cried in the evening, sometimes incessantly, we were worried that this might be a disaster. But, amazingly, Kara didn’t make a peep when she was playing Jesus. Away in a manger . . . no crying she makes? It seemed like a miracle. Plus, Kara never again had fits of crying in the evening.

On Christmas morning, Linda was rocking Kara, smiling at her and talking to her softly. All of a sudden, Kara smiled back at Linda. This was not some little smile like I had received a few days earlier. It was a giant, enthusiastic, glowing smile. I ran to get my camera, sure that by the time I got back, that smile would be gone. But, no, Kara continued to look at Linda’s face, beaming with love and delight. It was truly like “radiant beams from thy holy face.”

Throughout history, artists have portrayed the baby Jesus with a glowing face, a traditional halo. Whether or not his face actually shone with radiant beams, we cannot know. But what we can know is that Jesus did indeed embody “love’s pure light.” He was the “true light” who had come into the world, bringing “grace and truth’ And whether his face actually glowed or not, the “beams” from his face did indeed project the “dawn of redeeming grace.”

In this age, you and I won’t see the real face of Jesus. As it says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “now we see in a mirror, dimly.” But that’s not all. Verses 12 and 13 continue, “but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Here, something wonderful is added to our Advent hope. In God’s future, we will see Jesus “face to face.” We will know him completely. Our hope will be realized as we come to know the fullness of Christ’s love for us.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Turn Us Again!.