Psalm 31:16: “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant, save me for thy mercies sake.”
What I find interesting about this verse is that even before David asked to be saved from his trouble, he is first asking for God’s face to shine on him. The word in the Hebrew for shine is ‘or (light). This word would provide some clue. As discussed earlier and in my classes, ‘or (light) was the first thing God called into being in the creation. First He created the heavens and the earth which was without form and void. Then He amar (said), not bara (created) ‘or (light). Let there be light. Genesis 1:3
When it came to deliverance from his trouble, the first thing David did was to call for the light of God to be with him. What is this light? Where did it come from. Certainly not the sun, moon or stars as that was not called into being until much later. To the ancient Hebrews light (‘or) is direction, truth and life. The Talmud teaches that the Urim and Thummim, which the high priest possessed, were really the twelve stones on the garment of the high priest. Each stone represented a Hebrew letter, sort of like the keypad on your telephone. When you asked a question the various stones would light (‘or) up and spell out the answer. It would give one direction, truth and lead to life. Didn’t I run across this somewhere else? Seems to me Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6). Didn’t Jesus also say: “I am the light of the world.” Is He not now our high priest? Would we not go to him for direction, truth, and life? Could this be what David was alluding to when he asked for the light of God’s face to be upon him? David could have gone to the high priest and asked for direction through the Urim and Thummim, but that was not enough for David. The light shinning from the stones was just too impersonal, he wanted a direct relationship with God. He wanted maybe Jesus to be his direct guide and not some stones on a high priest garment.
Back to Psalms 31:16: This verse is literally rendered: Cause the light of your face to be upon your servant.” The word face (pani) is often expressed by the sages as the presence of God. “Let the direction, truth and life of Your presence be upon your servant.” “Let the presence of Jesus be upon your servant.” Do I see this as a messianic passage? I most certainly do. Now you can Amen this if you want to. If you don’t, that’s ok. But if you don’t, I just hope you have a long hot summer.
But clinging to my little bit of insight here, this is what I see coming at me. I get into a tight situation, I really need direction from God, I pray and then I start looking for an Urim and Thummim, something tangible to light up the answer. I wait for someone to come knocking on my door and handing me an envelop with the answer spelled out. David had something tangible he could go to. There were the Urim and Thummim, but instead he wanted his salvation to come directly from the presence of God.
I have Jesus Christ, the very Son of God living inside of me. If I need direction, truth or life, why should I go looking for signs and wonders to give me direction when all I need to do is what David did in Psalms 31:16, simply ask for the presence of Jesus to light up in me. “Well Jesus, should I choose door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3?” I point to door number 1, nothing; number 2, nothing; but when I point to door number 3 I feel the light of His presence and I know it is door number 3. Colossians 3:15 tells us “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” That word for rule in the Greek is brabeuto which means to arbitrate or umpire. In an arbitration you have one person who is called an umpire. He will listen to both sides of an argument. Both sides make some very good points, both sides seem to be right. But in such a deadlock, it is the umpire who decides the final decision. In a baseball game who half the crowd is screaming, “He’s out” and the other half is screaming, “He’s safe” the final decision is made by an umpire. The umpire or the brabeuto is there to call the close ones.
When you are seeking the Lord to make a decision or the right choice it is the choice that your feel the presence of God, the choice that feels right in your heart, the choice that you have peace about in your heart, that is the choice that is God’s will. When you are seeking the perfect will of God He will cause His face (pani – presence) shine (‘or) or give you direction.
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