The Old Testament seekers of God also prayed that the Lord’s face would shine upon them. Psalm 119:135 says, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.” This thought is based upon the second aspect of the priests’ blessing in 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.” No doubt, this threefold blessing refers to the blessing of the Trinity: the blessing of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. With respect to the Son’s blessing, there is mention of the Lord’s face shining upon the people. Prayer for the shining of God’s face is also found in Psalm 4:6 and in 80:3, 7, 19, where the psalmist prays, “Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine.” The Old Testament seeking saints were not people who merely endeavored to keep the law in letters. They lovingly sought God in an intimate way, even asking Him to cause His face to shine upon them.
If we do not have such a heart to seek the Lord, we shall not care for the shining of His face. Even if He caused His face to shine upon us, we would not be conscious of that shining. To sense the shining of the Lord’s face we need a seeking heart. If we are those who seek the Lord in an intimate way, we shall sense the shining of His face. According to 2 Corinthians 4:6, we can experience this shining: “Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Praise the Lord that we can experience the shining of His face!
If the Lord’s face shines upon us, we shall automatically walk in His presence. In 119:168 the psalmist declares, “All my ways are before thee.” This indicates that his goings were in the Lord’s presence. This is a clear indication that the psalmist was one with the Lord.
Although the matter of oneness with God is revealed in a full way in the New Testament, there are also indications of this in the Old Testament. Psalm 90:1 says, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” Written by Moses, this verse indicates that he experienced the Lord as his dwelling place. God was his home, his habitation. But notice that Moses speaks of “all generations.” This tells us that the Old Testament saints in all generations had the experience of dwelling in God. The seekers of God in the Old Testament dwelt in Him; they were one with Him. To dwell in God is to be one with Him. How could these seekers dwell in God without being in God and one with God? If we study the Psalms carefully, we shall see that the seekers of God in the Old Testament became one with Him through their appreciation and enjoyment of the law. They not only walked in God’s presence; they dwelt in God, experiencing Him as their dwelling place.
Time and time again the writer of Psalm 119 speaks of the law of God as the word of God. There is a significant difference between the law and the word. The law is a matter of commandments which make demands on us or require that we keep certain regulations ordained by God. Although the law demands, it cannot in itself supply life. Paul refers to this in Galatians 3:21: “For if a law was given which was able to give life, righteousness would have indeed been of the law.” Although the law cannot give life, the word of God does supply us with life. The words spoken by God are His breath (2 Tim. 3:16). According to the Bible, God’s word is also life, food, and water. It should be our daily life supply. However, if we treat the law only as the law and not as God’s word, we shall not receive the supply of life through the law. For us, there will be no breath, food, water, or nourishment. Rather, we shall take the law in the same way the Judaizers did. But if we regard the law not only as the law but also as God’s word, we shall receive life, breath, food, and living water through the law. According to the word of the Lord Jesus in John 6:63, His words are Spirit and life. At least thirty-seven times in Psalm 119 the psalmist refers to the law as God’s word. Instead of simply declaring that he loved God’s law, the psalmist declared that he loved God’s word. This proves that he thought of God’s law as His living word.
The Bible is the word of God. But if we take the Bible only as letters in black and white and do not contact the Lord directly as we read, it will become a dead book to us. Paul said, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). The Greek word for letter in this verse is the same word used by Paul in 2 Timothy 3:15 in speaking of the holy Scriptures. If the Bible is taken only as letters, it will kill. However, the spirit gives life. If we contact the Lord in our spirit as we read the Bible, the Word will become spirit and life to us. In our spiritual experience, it will be God’s breath. Whenever we read the Word, we need to touch the source of the Word, and this source is God Himself.
We have pointed out a number of times that through the Word, which is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), we can breathe God into us. Certain faultfinders have twisted our words, quoted us out of context, and criticized us for teaching that believers can breathe God into them. They call this blasphemy and a work of the flesh. According to the Scriptures, God’s word is His breath. Oh, how God desires that we breathe Him into us! We thank Him for making this real in our experience.