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A Closer Walk

The Bible contains many words of blessing. Many of the Epistles in the New Testament end with a blessing or benediction. Of all the different blessings offered in the Bible this one may be foremost among them. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, "On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, '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.'" And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them,'" Numbers 6:22-27 KJV. What a profound blessing!

The Lord bless you and keep you. It all starts with the Lord. Why? "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides me there is no God..." Isaiah 45:5 NASB. Further, "That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well being and calamity; I am the Lord who does all these," Isaiah 45:6-7 NASB. It all starts with the Lord because He IS the Lord, and there is no other. Besides Him there is no God. For an illustration of this read about the confrontation between the Lord's prophet Elijah and the prophets of the pagan god Baal on Mt. Carmel, which can be found in 1 Kings 18 beginning in verse 20.
The Lord bless you and keep you. Our God has the authority and the power to bless us. He has the authority and the power to keep us. If our Lord is blessing us and keeping us, what more do we have need of? But the blessing continues. The Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you. As an illustration of the Lord making His face to shine on us, think of a person with a look of scorn, or anger, or frustration. Now think of a person with a look of joy, or welcome, or pleasure. The expression, "He was beaming with delight," comes to mind. So imagine our Lord beaming with delight to the point that His face shines. He makes His face shine on us. And He is gracious to us. "For by grace you have been saved through faith..." Ephesians 2:8 NASB. He has poured out His grace on us by sending His Son to pay the price for our sins. But He doesn't stop there.
He is gracious to us each and every day. He makes the sun to rise and to set every day. He makes the moon shine at night in its season; new moon to full moon. This time of year we enjoy the flowers blooming, and the trees beginning to leaf out. The early season grasses have turned green. And it's time to crank up the lawn mower again.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon us. Countenance means visage or facial expression, which goes along perfectly with the phrase the Lord makes His face shine upon you. And the Lord will give us peace. What a wonderful and marvelous blessing!
While this blessing was specifically directed to the ancient Israelites it is still being used today; which vouches for the timelessness of this particular blessing.
“There shall be showers of blessing: This is the promise of love; There shall be seasons refreshing, Sent from the Savior above. Showers of blessing, Showers of blessing we need: Mercy-drops round us are falling, But for the showers we plead.” D.W. Whittle 1840-1901.

 

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