SOUNDING OUT:
How To Be Radiant
Well, we have seen how
to be miserable: by looking within and relying on your
own understanding. (Of course Proverbs 3:5 tells
us not to lean on our own understanding, but to rather
acknowledge Him in all our ways.) We have also
seen how to be distracted by looking at others around
us. (Paul also tells us in II Corinthians 10:12
that when we measure ourselves by ourselves, and comparing
ourselves among ourselves, we are not wise.) Asaph
got himself out of the funk he had gotten into by looking
to God and setting his affections on things above.
Now in Psalm 34 we will see David rejoicing in
God's great deliverance. He makes a statement
of truth in Psalm 34:5 whose simplicity continues to
elude people today. When people look to God they
are radiant. When they look anywhere else, they
will be disappointed. Setting our affection on
God and the things of God will make a difference in
our lives.
David declares this truth in Psalm 34.
Psalm 34:1-5:
I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall
continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall
make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear
thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the
LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
[WHY?]
4 I sought the LORD,
and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
[Then to show how this principle is applicable to
all of God's people who will set their affection on
things above he says...]
5 They looked unto
him, and were lightened [NIV & NAS have radiant]:
and their faces were not ashamed.
Two of my
earliest teachers taught me secrets to victory in Psalm
34:5. One called this verse, “The Secret
to Radiant Living.” While the other called
it, “The Secret to a Holy Life.” I'm
teaching it today for the same reason they did - that
it no longer remain a secret.
The result of looking unto God is radiance.
It's a countenance that reflects the glory of God to
a needy world. God is light and in Him is no darkness
at all. Any light that we have comes from Him.
This is the secret of peace and happiness and of real
progress in Christian living. No matter how much
we look at ourselves... No matter how much we
look at others... Those efforts only defeat and
frustrate. They never enable us to live the abundant
life that Jesus Christ came to make available.
So instead of looking to Him to be enlightened,
we have followed Asaph's example and looked either at
ourselves or at someone else. Therefore we have
manifested frustration and fear in our lives and have
not tapped into the secret of living.
David sought the Lord, Psalm 34:4 tells us.
For the most part people do not do that. Instead,
they seek what the Lord can do for them. You will
find people today doing the same thing. They seek
the blessing rather than seek the Blesser, the One who
has blessed them. They are in it for what they
can get and go after it with “full speed ahead!”
Problems arise, however, when they get the things they
sought, because they do not provide the satisfaction,
meaning, or contentment that was anticipated.
Only a relationship with the Blesser can fulfill the
longing in our hearts. Then the things He gives
mean so much more to us because we know the love with
which He gave them.
Ephesians 1:3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed [past tense] us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ.
If this is true, then,
are we blessed? Then we need not seek the blessing;
we need to seek Him Who is the Blesser. We seek
Him in love and gratitude for all He has done for us.
Only knowing Him as a loving heavenly Father will ever
fill our soul' s most sincere desires.
How do we look unto a God who is invisible?
We look at him in the scriptures and in the face of
Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 12:2a
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith...
So the Christian believer
has to quit looking at himself and look at Christ!
We have to look at what the scriptures teach us that
we are in Christ Jesus. That is the secret to
living. To quit looking at ourselves and to look
at God Who shed abroad in our hearts His presence and
power by the holy spirit. We can also look unto
Jesus for as he said in John 14:9, “He who has
seen me has seen the Father.”
Hebrews 12:2a [New
English Bible]
Our eyes fixed on Jesus on whom faith depends from
start to finish...
The Greek word for “looking”
is aphoraō. It is a compound word
made up of apo, “away from” and
horaō, to perceive with the eyes, used
of bodily sight. Bullinger translates it “to
look away from one thing so as to see another.”
Bauer's lexicon says it means “to fix one's eyes
trustingly on someone.” A good translation
of Hebrews 12:2 would be, “Looking away from all
else unto Jesus...”
We look to Jesus because he is the author, the
archēgos. He is the founder, the
originator, the leader, the one who breaks the ground
and sets the standard. Thayer says archēgos
means the one who takes the lead in anything and thus
affords an example. Jesus stands at the head to
lead. As dearly beloved children of God, let's
play follow the leader with him. He has
blazed the path for us. Let's walk in his steps.
Not only is Jesus the author, he is the finisher,
teleiōtēs. He is the perfecter
or consummator. He is the one who alone brought
faith's work to completion. In him we find God's
work of faith brought to completion. Hebrews 12:3
continues, making the choice we have to make very clear.
Hebrews 12:3:
For consider him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint
in your minds.
Not only are we to look
to Jesus, but we are also to “consider him.”
“For” is the Greek gar that we
studied in Romans 12:3. Thayer says it is a particle
of affirmation and conclusion. “Truly therefore”
consider him. It explains fully how we are to
look to him by directing us to further action —
to consider him, analogizomai. Analogziomai
is in the middle voice which means we are to think for
ourselves, no one can do it for us. It is one
of eleven Greek words translated “consider.”
It is also a compound word, comprised of ana,
which is used as a prefix to show repetition and intensity
and to strengthen the action of the verb and logizomai
meaning “to reckon or think it through,”
or “to come to a correct and logical conclusion.”
A literal translation according to usage of Hebrews
12:3 could be: “Truly therefore consider
for yourself in detail how Jesus Christ bore up under
pressure and be strengthened as you think it through
again and again realizing that he is in you...”
The choice presented to us in this verse is to consider
him in detail or to faint in our minds. We can
look to him by considering in detail what he endured
for us realizing that same strength is in us, or we
can faint in our minds. We can look to him and
be radiant, or we can look to anything else and be overwhelmed.
Hebrews 3:1,2a:
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus;
2 Who was faithful
to him that appointed him...
By looking at his example of faithfulness
we, too, can become faithful. This is part of
what God has made available to us in Christ Jesus.
Jesus Christ was faithful to Him Who appointed Him,
and we can be, too.
