#180: Does God Actually Hide His Face?

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Psalm 44

I have often wondered: ‘If we’re all made in the image of God, God must really have an interesting appearance; His face to begin with.’ The word of God in John 4:24 however tells us that God is spirit, and as such does not literally have a face. So, by this we know that God’s face in today’s context is merely anthropomorphic, and represents His presence and favor in a life. We would notice the blessedness of God’s face from Aaron’s blessing for the children of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26, where it says:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”

How beautiful can this be?

What then does it mean for God to hide his face?

God’s face is said to be hidden when it is obvious that His divine presence and favor can no longer be felt. It is a feeling of deep sadness and spiritual emptiness, which often arises in the heart and stems out to affect output. The Psalmist in verses 1-8 of Psalm 44 tells a story of God’s wonderful works which He had done in times past. There is however a plot twist from verse 9, where the Psalmist no longer feels the blessedness of God’s face and laments:

“But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies.”

Note that this is not always as a result of sin. It may be caused by other circumstances of life which God allows to come to us, as was the case with Job (See vs 20).

Does God actually hide his face away from us?

Generally, God cannot behold iniquity because He is holy, and so turns his face away from sin. He turned His face away from His only begotten Son on the cross as He became sin for our salvation. In today’s context however, I would say that God does not hide his face from us.  When things aren’t going as well as we expect them to, it is normal for us to feel sad and worried. This describes the experience of the Psalmist in Verses 8-16 of Psalm 44. This is just a feeling, and it doesn’t mean that God is no longer present in our lives. The Bible speaks about godly sorrow, which is His tool of drawing our hearts to Him (2 Corinthians 7:10).

What then can we do when we feel like God has turned His face away?

In such moments, we must remember that God has promised never to leave us, and so He is ever near. (Deut, 31:6; Hebrews 13:5) Plus, the word of God in Isaiah 59:1-2 says:

“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

It’s the guilt and burden of our sin that hinders us from seeing God in our lives, and so He feels distant. This is a call to seek God’s face and return to Him in prayer and supplication. (Hebrews 4:16).

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Dawn28 November 2021 at 10:33

    God bless you for this. It reminds me of a post i saw yesterday with the caption: "IF YOU FIND YOURSELF FAR FROM GOD, REMEMBER: HE ISN'T THE ONE WHO MOVED."

    God is faithful. He has promised to never leave us. His mercy endures forever.

    Another quote from Pastor John Piper: "God has given me the grace not to think in terms of God’s absence, but only of my dullness, my disobedience. Therefore, my experience is not of God’s absence but of my absence, my dullness, my faithlessness, my disobedience. I don’t fight to get God’s objective presence. It’s there. I fight to get His manifest presence, experienced presence. That’s my experience of His reality, which really means that the key changes have to happen in me — not in Him. His location is not the issue. My faith, my sanctification, is the issue, and that’s the battle of my life every day."

    ReplyDelete
  2. ROYAL RUBIES5 December 2021 at 12:50

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. ROYAL RUBIES5 December 2021 at 12:51

    Profound!
    👏

    ReplyDelete

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