There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
Many ask where any good can be found, while the godly answer by asking the Lord to turn the shining light of His favor upon them. That lifted light is His own gracious presence and blessing resting upon His people like precious sunlight, which is Jesus Himself and the daily gift of the Holy Spirit and His power. It is enjoyed by believing, trusting, and loving God, drawing near and surrendering all to Him, emptied of self and weaned from looking to human agents for help. When He answers He puts a gladness in the heart greater than when corn and wine increase, giving peace, rest, courage, and safety so His people lie down and sleep secure. Those who walk in that light are changed into Christ's image and treat others as one brotherhood, serving, encouraging the weak, and carrying the light onward to draw souls.
Words and Setting
Many ask who will show any good, while the godly pray for the Lord to lift the light of His countenance upon them. The verse belongs to the experience of the sons and daughters of God who receive and believe in Christ as their Redeemer. That experience is joined to knowing that the Lord hears when the godly call, to standing in awe and sinning not, to offering the sacrifices of righteousness, and to putting trust in the Lord. It is to be committed to memory as part of Psalm 4:1, 3-8. The prayer is answered with gladness put in the heart, greater than the gladness when corn and wine increase, and with lying down in peace and sleep because the Lord only makes His people dwell in safety.
It is a comforting passage to read to the sick and the dying, a precious assurance from the treasure house of God's Word for those in distress, given for encouragement and consolation to rely on. In illness the plea expresses a longing for that divine light, which is His favor and presence.
The prayer is made when the heart is sad and discouraged and one cannot understand his position or work. It is made when convictions, fears, and exercises of mind cannot be expressed to others because they cannot appreciate the feelings or understand the mind and cannot help, so that God alone can help, and the soul mourns for the light of His countenance and faints for His salvation. The verse is a plea for the Lord to let His light shine upon His people.
Meaning of the Light
The light of the countenance is the light of God's presence and favor, His blessing and prospering hand resting upon His people. It is precious sunlight from His presence, given to help, guide and strengthen, even to a family. To live in that light is not to remain gloomy or under a cloud, but to be cheerful without becoming frivolous or light-minded, and to live forever in it is the hope of meeting the Redeemer. Living in it means treating those less favored from the Bible standpoint and not the world's, using opportunities and advantages to serve others and showing all are one brotherhood. It is enjoyed by earnest, consecrated dependence, by drawing near to God and submitting the will to Him.
The light is the presence and glory of Jesus, which His faithful people, made immortal, will behold and endure when He comes and will praise Him forever. The prayer for the light to shine is a prayer for the Holy Spirit and His power. It is to be offered day by day, and meetings among believers should be made occasions of this pleading, because time is too precious to spend so much in meeting among themselves when great truth is committed to them and thousands are unwarned and the Lord is coming soon, and the Spirit's power does more in one minute than talking can ever accomplish. To pray to stand in the lifted light of His favor is to walk humbly with God, to examine the Scriptures with the spirit of Christ as those who want light and not with prejudice, to receive heaven-sent truth, and to learn continually in the school of Christ with the meekness of Christ.
When Christ lifts up His countenance, glorious light shines from His face upon the human agent and makes all things clear. By this the great Teacher gives His servants a key to the truths of His Word so that many mysteries are now comprehended, teaches the meaning of sanctification through the Spirit, and applies truth to the intellect and to the heart. God Himself is the light of the countenance and the Light of the world, to be praised with thanksgiving because the Lord is good and His mercies endure forever. His lifting the light of His countenance is His shining upon men in richest blessing, calling out of darkness into marvelous light and making every provision for temporal and spiritual needs, for He is the source of all efficiency and power. Receiving His mercies and blessings calls for using the gift of speech to sound forth His praises and to speak words of hope and comfort to others instead of remaining silent.
The lifted light is God Himself as healer and precious light, bringing safety, courage, freedom and healing to those who cling to the Redeemer with all their might and surrender all they have and are to Him instead of taking their case in their own hands for an instant. It is taken by claiming heaven's rich blessings and His promises with unwavering faith and never letting go. The Lord Jesus gives grace and strength and the light of His face to His people, and this gift is found in the blessed promises of the Word, so that reading and studying the Word brings encouragement. The verse presents the Lord as upholding His servant and being his light and God, a source of help and reassurance. Therefore there is no need to worry, but to have courage and faith and hope in Him and to trust in Him.
Conditions for Receiving
The light is enjoyed by believing in God, trusting Him, and loving Him because He is good, and that enjoyment brings His blessing and prospering hand in peculiar trials and afflictions with good courage and talk of faith and hope. Drawing near to God and submitting the will to Him is the way to live in that presence and favor. The light is lifted upon those who cling to the Redeemer with all their might and surrender all they have and are to Him instead of taking their case in their own hands for an instant, claiming heaven's rich blessings with unwavering faith and never letting go, and that shining favor is God Himself as healer and precious light bringing safety, courage, freedom, and healing to those who trust in Him.
The prayer is prayed when emptied of self while seeking and cleaving to Jesus in full faith that He can help, asking for the light in order to cooperate with God in forming a character for the future immortal life instead of living to serve and please self under His displeasure. It weans the heart from all other confidences and from looking to human agents for help and pleasure and satisfaction. Standing in the lifted light means walking humbly with God and learning continually in His school. It means examining the Scriptures with the spirit of Christ as those who want light and not as those who shut it out with prejudice, receiving heaven-sent truth, receiving the Holy Spirit day by day, and having the meekness of Christ. The light is given only when a person humbly acknowledges God's hand in all His workings and submits to Him, for shutting the eyes to what He has wrought shuts out that light, while humble submission receives it and makes it possible to glorify Him.
Living more in the light comes through greater consecration and earnest, consecrated dependence on God's favor and presence. That life comes by exercising the mind more upon Bible truth and by closer application that accustoms the mind to dwell upon important truth. Believers catch the light of His face upon them when they lay aside jealousy and suspicion and are one together, looking unto Jesus. Taking a decided position for God places one right in clear light with no cloud darkening the mind, where nothing but light is seen.
The light is lifted upon a person at conversion, when one wrestling in prayer for his soul gives up the bondage of worldly honor to stand for truth and pledges to cut loose from temptation, and the Holy Spirit comes in and converts him so his face shines with the light of Christ's countenance and he is free and happy and full of praise to God with heart and soul and voice. Those who accuse and condemn their struggling brethren place themselves where God cannot give them His favor. The favor was not enjoyed when the church was spiritually sickly and morally dark, with an unhealthy influence spreading spiritual death. The light is God's approbation resting on one He has called to important work, so that when one knows for herself that she is moving in His counsel she can confidently trust He will stay near to strengthen, sustain, and keep her in His love, lending grace and power to keep herself, with His approval and favor giving sweet satisfaction every day in knowing He called her to the work.
Blessings the Light Gives
The promised light lifts those who trust out of darkness and unbelief into favor that shines upon them. Jesus does not abandon those who trust Him to fall under temptation, but keeps them in that light. It means coming out of the dark cellar into the bright upper chamber above, refusing to stay down in dark corners looking at darkness and talking about how dark it is, since dwelling on darkness never makes it lighter. The light of the divine presence and favor can drive away terror even in the darkest night. To live in it is not to remain gloomy or under a cloud, but to be cheerful without becoming frivolous or light-minded. It brings blessing and a prospering hand in peculiar trials and afflictions, producing good courage with talk of faith and hope, and it brings joy as Jesus stands with the oppressed.
The Saviour's countenance is cheering and gives springback power, restoring strength when ambition and strength are gone through anxiety and exhausting labor, sustaining expectation of recovery when given a fair chance. That favor is actively given to workers as health and strength for labor, bringing harmonious progress, encouragement to believers, and success in speaking to outsiders and insiders. Its lifting is vindication of the oppressed, turning favor upon the suffering servant who has sacrificed health and strength in service while in affliction and under unjust treatment. It means personal presence helping in every time of need, guiding to the place desired, holding up with everlasting arms underneath, strengthening and encouraging in trouble with assurance and comfort, giving the joy of salvation and aid in ways beyond thought or expectation, so receivers should be full of gladness and praise instead of murmuring over future possibilities of disappointment. It gives a conscious sense of presence and favor more precious than the praise or honor of the greatest, bringing peace and rest and fullness in Christ, a new life of abiding with heart, mind, flesh and will given to do the divine will, and a living sense of being under the protection of One who never slumbers nor sleeps, sustained by preserving power in every step, heartbeat and pulse. Remaining in that unclouded condition with no cloud darkening the mind gives boldness to keep at the work, to go into gatherings of unbelievers and into homes to teach families, and to carry the light onward until listeners are stirred by divine power.
Living Out the Light
The prayer for the lifted light is prayed emptied of self while seeking and cleaving to Jesus in full faith that He can help, to form a character for immortal life by cooperating with God rather than living to serve and please self. It weans the heart from all other confidences and from looking to human agents for help and pleasure and satisfaction. Happiness is then sought not in outward surroundings but in inward adorning and inward grace, so that Christ reshapes the character and the lost moral image of God is restored. By beholding Jesus the soul is changed into His image instead of making self the center, and no longer seeks admiration from human beings.
Living in that light means treating those who are less favored from the Bible standpoint and not the world's, using opportunities and advantages to serve others. It brings influence to bear against the prevailing customs and practices of the world, opposing the world's customs by Christian effort where it is most needed. It elevates the standard of character, teaching how Christians should live by exemplifying the Spirit of Christ and showing that all are one brotherhood. For white people it means the work of elevating the colored race, acting nobly and courageously in the sight of God and the Saviour no matter the gain or loss, holding that all men white and black are free and equal, not being cowards before the world and before heavenly intelligences, treating the colored man just as respectfully as the white man, and winning others to this course by precept and example. The Saviour's favor in this light shines on self-sacrificing women who serve under the influence of the Spirit, giving them power for gospel work. The precious sunlight of His presence is given to help and bless families, to strengthen and bless His people and to guide them, and it is to be sought in earnest prayer.
Meetings among believers should be made occasions of this pleading for the Holy Spirit and His power, because time is too precious to spend so much in meetings among themselves when great truth has been committed to them and thousands are unwarned and the Lord is coming soon, and the Spirit's power does more in one minute than talking can ever accomplish. Walking in Christ's light means following Christ as Leader instead of human leading and finding Him a present help in every time of need, pressing on in the way illuminated by the Sun of Righteousness. The light shines as believers receive strength from the Life-giver and move forward in obedience to His commands, sustained from strength to strength and from grace to grace. Submitting to His guidance lifts from the low level where sin left them to the loftiest heights of grace by becoming more and more Christlike, giving plainer evidence of completeness in Christ even when professing Christians dishonor Him in thought, word, and deed. To be all light in the Lord is to show that Christ is light and in Him is no darkness at all, and to refuse to darken life by talking of one's own imperfections or the imperfections of others.
Living more in that light through greater consecration, by exercising the mind more upon Bible truth with closer application until the mind dwells upon important truth, makes a better laborer with a clear and decided voice in the great congregation and before readers on points of present truth, so that whosoever will may come and be sanctified through the truth. Receiving His richest blessing as the Light of the world, who calls out of darkness into marvelous light and makes every provision for temporal and spiritual needs as the source of all efficiency and power, calls for using the gift of speech to sound forth His praises and speak words of hope and comfort to others instead of remaining silent. Those who receive the light become one in Christ Jesus and make God known as never before, with conversation in heaven that draws souls to His attractive loveliness. They present truth in every line of prophetic history step by step to the close of time with the wonders of the cross, where the Saviour's love vindicates the immutability of the law and magnifies it, and where grace, peace, pardon, and eternal life are for all who are obedient, the sacrifice having purchased immortality for all who look to Christ and live.
Standing in the light means standing where God approves, with right judgment and loving care for His children. It means strengthening the weak and discouraged, praying for them and calling down God's blessing upon them, and encouraging them in every way amid darkness and wicked influences. It means holding fast faith with humility and never letting the destiny of a soul hang on dreams or impressions. Those who do not stand in that light are very wrong, push God's children toward destruction, draw His frown, and risk having His mercy withdrawn and being left wholly to themselves without hope.
Many ask where any good can be found, while the godly answer by asking the Lord to turn the shining light of His favor upon them. That lifted light is His own gracious presence and blessing resting upon His people like precious sunlight, which is Jesus Himself and the daily gift of the Holy Spirit and His power. It is enjoyed by believing, trusting, and loving God, drawing near and surrendering all to Him, emptied of self and weaned from looking to human agents for help. When He answers He puts a gladness in the heart greater than when corn and wine increase, giving peace, rest, courage, and safety so His people lie down and sleep secure. Those who walk in that light are changed into Christ's image and treat others as one brotherhood, serving, encouraging the weak, and carrying the light onward to draw souls.
Words and Setting
Many ask who will show any good, while the godly pray for the Lord to lift the light of His countenance upon them. The verse belongs to the experience of the sons and daughters of God who receive and believe in Christ as their Redeemer. That experience is joined to knowing that the Lord hears when the godly call, to standing in awe and sinning not, to offering the sacrifices of righteousness, and to putting trust in the Lord. It is to be committed to memory as part of Psalm 4:1, 3-8. The prayer is answered with gladness put in the heart, greater than the gladness when corn and wine increase, and with lying down in peace and sleep because the Lord only makes His people dwell in safety.
It is a comforting passage to read to the sick and the dying, a precious assurance from the treasure house of God's Word for those in distress, given for encouragement and consolation to rely on. In illness the plea expresses a longing for that divine light, which is His favor and presence.
The prayer is made when the heart is sad and discouraged and one cannot understand his position or work. It is made when convictions, fears, and exercises of mind cannot be expressed to others because they cannot appreciate the feelings or understand the mind and cannot help, so that God alone can help, and the soul mourns for the light of His countenance and faints for His salvation. The verse is a plea for the Lord to let His light shine upon His people.
Meaning of the Light
The light of the countenance is the light of God's presence and favor, His blessing and prospering hand resting upon His people. It is precious sunlight from His presence, given to help, guide and strengthen, even to a family. To live in that light is not to remain gloomy or under a cloud, but to be cheerful without becoming frivolous or light-minded, and to live forever in it is the hope of meeting the Redeemer. Living in it means treating those less favored from the Bible standpoint and not the world's, using opportunities and advantages to serve others and showing all are one brotherhood. It is enjoyed by earnest, consecrated dependence, by drawing near to God and submitting the will to Him.
The light is the presence and glory of Jesus, which His faithful people, made immortal, will behold and endure when He comes and will praise Him forever. The prayer for the light to shine is a prayer for the Holy Spirit and His power. It is to be offered day by day, and meetings among believers should be made occasions of this pleading, because time is too precious to spend so much in meeting among themselves when great truth is committed to them and thousands are unwarned and the Lord is coming soon, and the Spirit's power does more in one minute than talking can ever accomplish. To pray to stand in the lifted light of His favor is to walk humbly with God, to examine the Scriptures with the spirit of Christ as those who want light and not with prejudice, to receive heaven-sent truth, and to learn continually in the school of Christ with the meekness of Christ.
When Christ lifts up His countenance, glorious light shines from His face upon the human agent and makes all things clear. By this the great Teacher gives His servants a key to the truths of His Word so that many mysteries are now comprehended, teaches the meaning of sanctification through the Spirit, and applies truth to the intellect and to the heart. God Himself is the light of the countenance and the Light of the world, to be praised with thanksgiving because the Lord is good and His mercies endure forever. His lifting the light of His countenance is His shining upon men in richest blessing, calling out of darkness into marvelous light and making every provision for temporal and spiritual needs, for He is the source of all efficiency and power. Receiving His mercies and blessings calls for using the gift of speech to sound forth His praises and to speak words of hope and comfort to others instead of remaining silent.
The lifted light is God Himself as healer and precious light, bringing safety, courage, freedom and healing to those who cling to the Redeemer with all their might and surrender all they have and are to Him instead of taking their case in their own hands for an instant. It is taken by claiming heaven's rich blessings and His promises with unwavering faith and never letting go. The Lord Jesus gives grace and strength and the light of His face to His people, and this gift is found in the blessed promises of the Word, so that reading and studying the Word brings encouragement. The verse presents the Lord as upholding His servant and being his light and God, a source of help and reassurance. Therefore there is no need to worry, but to have courage and faith and hope in Him and to trust in Him.
Conditions for Receiving
The light is enjoyed by believing in God, trusting Him, and loving Him because He is good, and that enjoyment brings His blessing and prospering hand in peculiar trials and afflictions with good courage and talk of faith and hope. Drawing near to God and submitting the will to Him is the way to live in that presence and favor. The light is lifted upon those who cling to the Redeemer with all their might and surrender all they have and are to Him instead of taking their case in their own hands for an instant, claiming heaven's rich blessings with unwavering faith and never letting go, and that shining favor is God Himself as healer and precious light bringing safety, courage, freedom, and healing to those who trust in Him.
The prayer is prayed when emptied of self while seeking and cleaving to Jesus in full faith that He can help, asking for the light in order to cooperate with God in forming a character for the future immortal life instead of living to serve and please self under His displeasure. It weans the heart from all other confidences and from looking to human agents for help and pleasure and satisfaction. Standing in the lifted light means walking humbly with God and learning continually in His school. It means examining the Scriptures with the spirit of Christ as those who want light and not as those who shut it out with prejudice, receiving heaven-sent truth, receiving the Holy Spirit day by day, and having the meekness of Christ. The light is given only when a person humbly acknowledges God's hand in all His workings and submits to Him, for shutting the eyes to what He has wrought shuts out that light, while humble submission receives it and makes it possible to glorify Him.
Living more in the light comes through greater consecration and earnest, consecrated dependence on God's favor and presence. That life comes by exercising the mind more upon Bible truth and by closer application that accustoms the mind to dwell upon important truth. Believers catch the light of His face upon them when they lay aside jealousy and suspicion and are one together, looking unto Jesus. Taking a decided position for God places one right in clear light with no cloud darkening the mind, where nothing but light is seen.
The light is lifted upon a person at conversion, when one wrestling in prayer for his soul gives up the bondage of worldly honor to stand for truth and pledges to cut loose from temptation, and the Holy Spirit comes in and converts him so his face shines with the light of Christ's countenance and he is free and happy and full of praise to God with heart and soul and voice. Those who accuse and condemn their struggling brethren place themselves where God cannot give them His favor. The favor was not enjoyed when the church was spiritually sickly and morally dark, with an unhealthy influence spreading spiritual death. The light is God's approbation resting on one He has called to important work, so that when one knows for herself that she is moving in His counsel she can confidently trust He will stay near to strengthen, sustain, and keep her in His love, lending grace and power to keep herself, with His approval and favor giving sweet satisfaction every day in knowing He called her to the work.
Blessings the Light Gives
The promised light lifts those who trust out of darkness and unbelief into favor that shines upon them. Jesus does not abandon those who trust Him to fall under temptation, but keeps them in that light. It means coming out of the dark cellar into the bright upper chamber above, refusing to stay down in dark corners looking at darkness and talking about how dark it is, since dwelling on darkness never makes it lighter. The light of the divine presence and favor can drive away terror even in the darkest night. To live in it is not to remain gloomy or under a cloud, but to be cheerful without becoming frivolous or light-minded. It brings blessing and a prospering hand in peculiar trials and afflictions, producing good courage with talk of faith and hope, and it brings joy as Jesus stands with the oppressed.
The Saviour's countenance is cheering and gives springback power, restoring strength when ambition and strength are gone through anxiety and exhausting labor, sustaining expectation of recovery when given a fair chance. That favor is actively given to workers as health and strength for labor, bringing harmonious progress, encouragement to believers, and success in speaking to outsiders and insiders. Its lifting is vindication of the oppressed, turning favor upon the suffering servant who has sacrificed health and strength in service while in affliction and under unjust treatment. It means personal presence helping in every time of need, guiding to the place desired, holding up with everlasting arms underneath, strengthening and encouraging in trouble with assurance and comfort, giving the joy of salvation and aid in ways beyond thought or expectation, so receivers should be full of gladness and praise instead of murmuring over future possibilities of disappointment. It gives a conscious sense of presence and favor more precious than the praise or honor of the greatest, bringing peace and rest and fullness in Christ, a new life of abiding with heart, mind, flesh and will given to do the divine will, and a living sense of being under the protection of One who never slumbers nor sleeps, sustained by preserving power in every step, heartbeat and pulse. Remaining in that unclouded condition with no cloud darkening the mind gives boldness to keep at the work, to go into gatherings of unbelievers and into homes to teach families, and to carry the light onward until listeners are stirred by divine power.
Living Out the Light
The prayer for the lifted light is prayed emptied of self while seeking and cleaving to Jesus in full faith that He can help, to form a character for immortal life by cooperating with God rather than living to serve and please self. It weans the heart from all other confidences and from looking to human agents for help and pleasure and satisfaction. Happiness is then sought not in outward surroundings but in inward adorning and inward grace, so that Christ reshapes the character and the lost moral image of God is restored. By beholding Jesus the soul is changed into His image instead of making self the center, and no longer seeks admiration from human beings.
Living in that light means treating those who are less favored from the Bible standpoint and not the world's, using opportunities and advantages to serve others. It brings influence to bear against the prevailing customs and practices of the world, opposing the world's customs by Christian effort where it is most needed. It elevates the standard of character, teaching how Christians should live by exemplifying the Spirit of Christ and showing that all are one brotherhood. For white people it means the work of elevating the colored race, acting nobly and courageously in the sight of God and the Saviour no matter the gain or loss, holding that all men white and black are free and equal, not being cowards before the world and before heavenly intelligences, treating the colored man just as respectfully as the white man, and winning others to this course by precept and example. The Saviour's favor in this light shines on self-sacrificing women who serve under the influence of the Spirit, giving them power for gospel work. The precious sunlight of His presence is given to help and bless families, to strengthen and bless His people and to guide them, and it is to be sought in earnest prayer.
Meetings among believers should be made occasions of this pleading for the Holy Spirit and His power, because time is too precious to spend so much in meetings among themselves when great truth has been committed to them and thousands are unwarned and the Lord is coming soon, and the Spirit's power does more in one minute than talking can ever accomplish. Walking in Christ's light means following Christ as Leader instead of human leading and finding Him a present help in every time of need, pressing on in the way illuminated by the Sun of Righteousness. The light shines as believers receive strength from the Life-giver and move forward in obedience to His commands, sustained from strength to strength and from grace to grace. Submitting to His guidance lifts from the low level where sin left them to the loftiest heights of grace by becoming more and more Christlike, giving plainer evidence of completeness in Christ even when professing Christians dishonor Him in thought, word, and deed. To be all light in the Lord is to show that Christ is light and in Him is no darkness at all, and to refuse to darken life by talking of one's own imperfections or the imperfections of others.
Living more in that light through greater consecration, by exercising the mind more upon Bible truth with closer application until the mind dwells upon important truth, makes a better laborer with a clear and decided voice in the great congregation and before readers on points of present truth, so that whosoever will may come and be sanctified through the truth. Receiving His richest blessing as the Light of the world, who calls out of darkness into marvelous light and makes every provision for temporal and spiritual needs as the source of all efficiency and power, calls for using the gift of speech to sound forth His praises and speak words of hope and comfort to others instead of remaining silent. Those who receive the light become one in Christ Jesus and make God known as never before, with conversation in heaven that draws souls to His attractive loveliness. They present truth in every line of prophetic history step by step to the close of time with the wonders of the cross, where the Saviour's love vindicates the immutability of the law and magnifies it, and where grace, peace, pardon, and eternal life are for all who are obedient, the sacrifice having purchased immortality for all who look to Christ and live.
Standing in the light means standing where God approves, with right judgment and loving care for His children. It means strengthening the weak and discouraged, praying for them and calling down God's blessing upon them, and encouraging them in every way amid darkness and wicked influences. It means holding fast faith with humility and never letting the destiny of a soul hang on dreams or impressions. Those who do not stand in that light are very wrong, push God's children toward destruction, draw His frown, and risk having His mercy withdrawn and being left wholly to themselves without hope.