Unveiling God's ShineSýnishorn

In Psalm 67 the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:22-27 is given redemptive purpose: the experience of God’s grace, blessing, and shine isn’t a possession, it is a mission. The shine is intended to draw others to God’s saving power. The Psalmist reveals the missional power of God’s shine when it is reflected in us, a theme picked up later by Paul when, quoting Isaiah, he explains his mission to share the good news with those who were not Jewish, “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:18).

Our prayer for God to bless us with his radiant presence is given an explicit purpose—so that His way may be known on earth, His saving power among all nations. We don’t pray for God’s blessing simply to bask in the shine; we long for God’s blessing so that we can pour it out onto the world. God’s people were meant to be mirrors of his radiance. Our reflected shine should be an invitation for others to draw near to the light. As Jesus challenged in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

This critical connection between God’s shine and the redemption of the nations is further enriched by the prophetic vision of Isaiah 60: 

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising…(Isaiah 60:1-3)

Isaiah foresees the coming of the radiant glory of the Lord and envisions the way God’s people will reflect and diffuse that glory among the nations. When the brilliance of God’s glory is seen in us, nations turn toward the light. Between the first coming of Christ and his second coming, God has called his people to fill the gap by lighting up the world with His shine. If at first blush that task sounds abstract, Isaiah suggests some very concrete ways that divine light is most clearly seen in us. In chapter 58, he says “your light will break forth like the dawn,” when you “loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke…set the oppressed free…share your food with the hungry, and provide the poor wanderer with shelter, when you see the naked, to clothe them” (Isaiah 58:6-14). If we marry Isaiah’s vision of God’s glory shining through us in acts of mercy and social justice with Paul’s insight that we shine through “proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light,” then we get a powerful sense of how God’s light flows through his people to the nations.