Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
Psalm 80:19
Three times in Psalm 80 we read the same words (v.3, 7, & 19). Each time the Psalmist cries out to the Lord that He would cause His face to shine upon us. The face of God is found in over seventy verses in the Bible. (There maybe more, but that’s how many I counted.) One of the greatest longings of the people of God is to see God’s face—often referred to as having the face of God “shine on us.” That shining is symbolic of God’s richest blessing.
There is only one problem. No one can see God’s face and live. (Exodus 33:20 & 23, and others).
Why this prohibition? Because of God’s grace. You see, God is so holy, no sinner can look on Him and live to tell the tale. But God is so kind, He disallows us to see His face in this life in order to spare our lives. Thank You, Lord!
The good news is that the ultimate blessing of seeing God’s face will one day be given to the redeemed when we are glorified and free from even the presence of sin.
1 John 3:2 looks forward to the day when the redeemed will see God’s face, saying: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
Revelation 22:3-4 promises “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.”
Oh glorious day!