Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;
And teach me thy statutes (Psa 119.135).
Who is the most blessed by God? Is it the one who prospers financially? Not necessarily, for Scripture condemns many of them. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” (Jas 5.1). What about those with all kinds of other earthly blessings, like an enjoyable family, good health, and positions of power in this world? Sometimes God’s curse rests upon people like that, too.
Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? (Job 21.7-15).
In his general benevolence and great patience God is accustomed to sustaining even his enemies in all kinds of temporal advantages. Their abundance therefore is no sign whatsoever of God’s special favor, or that anyone who has them will be blessed in the end.
So what does the Lord do in particular for those who are destined for his gracious and eternal salvation? How does he in his special love for them treat them any differently from others? The short and general answer is that he blesses them in the spiritual realm. Even as Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1.3), and proceeded to elaborate upon the graces heaped upon believers by the Holy Trinity (vv. 4-14). God the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. God the Son became man to keep the law perfectly for us and to atone for our sins by his death on the cross. God the Spirit arrests us in our insane course toward hell and turns us back to himself, applying the benefits of Christ’s finished work in each of our particular cases. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit until our full redemption at Christ’s second coming.
Our Psalm text here specifies one of the many spiritual blessings saints enjoy, whether rich or poor, healthy or sick, in a good family or very lonely, high or low. As the dominant theme of Psalm 119 is Scripture, the prophet David here focuses upon the divinely-imparted spiritual gift of a heart-and-conduct transforming knowledge of God’s Word. In other words, the Lord teaches whom he favors.
THE REALITY OF GOD’S SPECIAL FAVOR
God loves some people more than others, and the reason for this has nothing to do with anything in them, but is merely the exercise of his sovereign prerogative. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” (Matt 20.15). We all find this truth shocking and most disagreeable until and unless God graciously brings us around to his way of thinking.
We are not for a moment denying that God loves everyone in a sense and treats us all far better than we deserve. Jesus presents God’s general love for all his enemies as a model calling forth our love to all our enemies, that we may more closely resemble our loving heavenly Father (Matt 5.44-45). At the same time, God’s wrath also hangs over the head of many people now enjoying his sun and rain, and many from among them, those who never repent, will finally experience his unleashed fury at Judgment Day and beyond.
In the unspeakably great abundance of his goodness and mercy, God has and exercises a special love associated with eternal salvation toward some among the sinners, though they deserve it no more than others. It has always been the calling of God’s spokesmen to announce this special favor upon them, along with his abiding wrath upon others, and woe be to that preacher who confuses the two (Prov 17.15; Isa 5.20) or pronounces a benediction upon all indiscriminately (Jer 23.17; Ezek 13.22)!
David’s petition in the first line of this Psalm verse seems to allude to the Aaronic threefold benediction of Numbers 6.24-26,
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
This is metaphorical language denoting God’s special favor. As a father’s face beams with a broad smile—even his eyes are smiling!—upon his precious little ones in whom his soul delights; so is God in his affection and gifts toward all his elect.
Now David prays for an especially valuable manifestation of this special, saving love toward him, with all confidence that he can expect it as God’s “servant,” one who has already been graciously converted from former enmity as a sinner into a saint of habitual faith and obedience.
THE RESULT OF GOD’S SPECIAL FAVOR
The linkage of God’s favor with his teaching is conveyed by the inspired couplet. This verse does not present two petitions, but one in substance. The idea clearly is, “Lord, show me thy special favor in this way, Teach me thy statutes.”
John Gill explains that spiritual gifts are included in the Aaronic blessing, “the LORD make his face shine upon thee:”
Cause himself, the sun of righteousness, to arise and shine upon them, and give both spiritual light and heat unto them; grant his gracious presence, the manifestations of himself, communion with him, clearer discoveries of his love, of interest in him, and an increase of spiritual light and knowledge of his Gospel, and the truths of it, and of his mind and will (in loc.).
God teaches his favorites his Word, and not just in an intellectual way, but so that it sinks deeply into their ears, touches their hearts, and transforms their lives. Basically, spiritual illumination is in view. We can only learn the evangelical sense and use of Scripture by the saving grace of God.
This spiritual mark of God’s elect is highlighted by Jesus in John 6.45, “And they shall all be taught of God,” paraphrasing Isaiah 54.13. This comment of D. A. Carson shows great insight. “The passage is here applied typologically: in the NT the messianic community and the dawning of the saving reign of God are the typological fulfillments of the restoration of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile” (Pillar NTC, in loc.).
This blessing can be appreciated all the more when we contrast God’s treatment of the reprobate. He either hardens their hearts (Exod 4.21; Deut 2.30; Josh 11.20) more and more under biblical preaching (2 Cor 2.15-16), causing them to believe lies instead (1 Kings 22:22; 2 Thess 2.11-12), or he gives them completely over to their sins (Rom 1.24, 26, 28) and takes the Word away from them altogether (Amos 8.11-12). In all these cases God’s enemies stumble and fall, perishing justly in their sins.
“But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov 4.18). Because God loves his chosen people, he smiles upon them constantly as they are in Christ, his beloved Son. Speaking to the Lord on behalf of the whole church, the Psalmist wrote, “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light” (Psa 36.9). As God favors us, he imparts to us more and more of his glorious truth for our progressive purification and more perfect fellowship with him who is “light,” and in whom “is no darkness at all” (1 John 1.5).
Yet we must not presume upon our election and think that these spiritual blessings come to us automatically. See the example David sets by praying ardently! “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, and teach me thy statutes.” Earnest prayer for spiritual knowledge is one of the surest marks that one has already begun to possess it. Utterly prayerless people have no warrant for assurance of their salvation, for prayer is the breath of a soul spiritually alive.
Also, how diligently will every imitator of David attend to the Scriptures in hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating upon them! For it is impossible to beg sincerely for this knowledge of his statutes while we carelessly neglect them. No one masters the biblical content without the disciplined and deliberate effort of long hours invested in poring over them for many years.
Finally, this text suggests a very practical test for discerning whether God’s face is shining upon us with his saving favor. Are we experiencing an ever-increasing knowledge of, appreciation for, and application of his Word? Only if we are can we have a well-founded confidence that we are among the people who are the most blessed by God, and that our final end will be blessed indeed. Amen.