Look and be lightened

“They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.”

Psalm 34:5 [KJV]

I was sitting with a group of friends at a function, when dessert was announced. Instantly, one of the men’s faces lit up with a huge smile.

“Wow,” I joked, “You must really like dessert, you’re beaming!”

The man looked confused, then laughed, “Oh no,” he said, “My wife just came back into the room. I was smiling at her.”

Aww! There’s something special about the way a person’s face lights up in response to something or someone they love. They radiate joy and love. Well, did you know that there is a Bible verse that talks about people doing exactly that in response to looking at God? Psalm 34:5 says, “They looked unto [the Lord], and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.” The word ‘lightened’ means to ‘radiate’ or ‘be cheerful’. I was quite taken by the pictures in this verse, so this fortnight we’re going to consider what it means to look to God, then how this results in being lightened and not ashamed.

Psalm 34 is David’s testimony of the Lord’s deliverance from his fears and troubles. It’s also an encouragement that the same deliverance David experienced is promised to those who look unto the Lord. Verse 7 says, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”

So, what does it mean to look unto God? This look is not a glance, but an intense, careful study of God and His will. It means to “search for [God] with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13b), and to “seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29b). We are commanded to “seek his face continually” (1 Chronicles 16:11b). We do this through prayer, with the Psalmist declaring, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17), and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 urging us to “Pray without ceasing.” It also involves dealing quickly with our sin because sin prevents us from seeing God’s face (Isaiah 59:2). As James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded”.

Looking to God means prioritising reading and studying Scripture, because, as Jesus declared, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).  We will err, if we don’t know the Scripture (Matthew 22:29) because God’s Word “is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). Through God’s Word, we know Him better. It’s the same way that reading something someone has written, or having a conversation with them, reveals a person’s character and values. Truly looking to God also means prioritising what God values, “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33a). We look, expecting God to tell us what to do, a sentiment expressed in Psalms 123:2, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.” God blesses those who look to Him. Lamentations 3:25 says, “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him”, while Hebrews 11:6c says, “he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Our verse, Psalm 34:5 lists two benefits of looking unto God: we are lightened, and our faces are not ashamed. Let’s look at these two benefits in turn.

People who look to God are lightened. According to Strong’s Bible Dictionary, the word lightened originally referred to the way a flowing stream or river sparkles in sunlight. Over time, it came to refer to a glowing, radiant face. You know, if we must – and for short times – we can all fake a smile that we don’t feel. But a radiant face cannot be faked. It’s the natural outcome of a joyful heart. As Proverbs 15:13a says, “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance”.  How do we make our hearts joyful? Actually, we can’t. Scripture clearly teaches that joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and a gift from the Lord, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13). The Psalmist draws a clear link between closely following God and a joyful heart: “I have set the LORD always before me …Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope” (Psalm 16:8-9). Our hearts, and hence our faces, are made glad when we look to the Lord, and meditate on such things as His great love for us (Romans 8:35-39), His provision of all our needs (Philippians 4:19), and His guidance in all of life’s difficulties (Psalm 37:23-24).

People who look to God will also not be ashamed. We’ve all felt the shame and disappointment of discovering something or someone we trusted in let us down. Yet Psalm 34:5 says of those who look to God, “their faces were not ashamed’.  For Christians, this truth has several applications. Firstly, there’s the fact that because Christ bore the penalty for our sin (1 Peter 2:24), we will not be judged with the unrighteous for sin when Christ returns. Jesus said in Luke 9:26, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.” Conversely, Matthew 10:32 says, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”

Secondly, not being ashamed directly ties in with daily surrender to the Lord. In 1 John 2:28, the Apostle says, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” Someone shared with me recently how they always try to keep one room of their house somewhat tidy. That way, they explained, if someone calls in unexpectedly, they are ready for visitors and aren’t ashamed of how messy their house looks. Jesus shared the parable of the ten virgins, who waited with the bride for the arrival of her bridegroom (Matthew 25). Five of them had oil ready in their lamps so that they would be prepared, no matter what time of night or day he arrived. Jesus, the bridegroom of the church (Ephesians 5:32), could return at any moment (Mark 13:33). When Jesus comes, will He be grieved to find us living in sin? Or will He find us watching, serving and living holy lives, and reward us with “well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21)? The only way this will happen is through looking to the Lord constantly, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thirdly, we will never be ashamed or disappointed, because God is faithful to His promises (2 Thessalonians 3:3, Numbers 23:19). “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11)

In summary, God blesses all those who trust in the Lord. May you be encouraged to be faithful as you meditate on Psalm 34:5, “They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.”