God of Blessings

Thank you for that music. That was beautiful. What a wonderful, full sound. Wasn't that wonderful? Really nice. Nice words. I couldn't quite catch all the words, but it was wonderful. Just thank you so much. Really fitting, beautiful words. It was a blessing for us to hear that, wasn't it? Think about a day of blessings. And blessings come in many forms. You've probably heard that the beatitude that goes something like, Bless are the flexible, for they shall never be bent out of shape.

Right? So that's a wonderful blessing. In fact, as I was thinking about the sermon for this afternoon, I ran across an interesting survey that was done. And it had to do with the kind of God that people think of when they imagine the all-powerful Creator, what comes to people's minds when they consider who God is and what He's like. And this particular study was done by Baylor University, and it was one of the most extensive studies done in religion in America. They did a huge study. Thousands of people were contacted on what they thought and answered all kinds of different questions.

And one of the things that these researchers asked about was how people view God. And they basically were able to categorize people's view into four different areas. One of the gods that they were able to identify in people's thoughts, the way they imagined what God was like, was an authoritarian God. Many people pictured God as an authoritarian – 31%, in fact. 31% of the people they polled thought God was an authoritarian God.

In other words, this is a God that's involved with life, He's involved with world events, but that He's an angry God, and that He would punish those that are unfaithful and ungodly. So it's an interesting perspective that many people had. Now, there was also another category that these views fell into, and it was a distant God. A distant God. How many do you think felt God was distant? God doesn't interact with people. God's more of a force, a cosmic being. He sets things in motion, and then He leaves.

24% of the people polled felt God was a distant God. He wasn't really involved in life very much. And then there was a third area. The third area was a benevolent God. A benevolent God, a God who is involved with everyday life, but He's a positive God, and He really doesn't want to punish people. And so 23% in this particular poll found that God was a benevolent God. Now, there's one more category. The fourth category that they could subdivide between those people polled was a critical God.

A critical God. A God who doesn't really interact much, but He's not happy. He's not happy with the world. He's not happy with what's going on, and He's ready to judge. He's ready to condemn the world. 16% of the people polled felt that way. So which one is it for you? What kind of God is your God? How would you describe Him? Is He an angry, punishing God? Is He a God that's distant? Is He a God that's far removed? Is He a God that's ever-present? How would you describe your God, our God? I think the way we approach God affects us in so many ways.

And I wonder if we get stuck in a particular view of who God is. Because some people view God as the Creator, and they've got Him locked into only being the God of creation. Others worship the prophetic God, and they are totally into revealed prophecy. And that's who their God is all about.

Some people worship the Old Testament God. Some people only worship a New Testament God. Some people only look forward to the God that's going to set things straight and can't wait for judgment. Now, it's interesting that each of those views hold some shred of truth. And yet, is there something that might be missing? Do you think of your God as a God of blessings? God is a God of blessing. Do we worship the God that wants the best for us? What is our view of God? I thought it might be helpful to take a few minutes to look at the characteristic of God that shows that He is a God of blessings.

He's a God of blessings, and I think today reminds us of the great blessings that God wants to pour out upon us. Now, if you were to start opening your Bible to an area that would show that God is a God of blessings, is there a particular passage that might come to mind for you?

Well, the one that I chose is in all places, the book of Numbers. The book of Numbers, all the way back in the Old Testament, the book of Numbers, Numbers 6, probably begins to remind you of ancient Israel coming out of Egypt. They were slaves there. Now they're wandering around in the desert, the Promised Land. Oh, they were so disobedient to God. What would God do to them, for them, to help them? You know, it's interesting. They're moving from slavery to the Promised Land. And it's interesting that right at the beginning, as Israel was becoming established as a people, as a nation, God wants them to understand how He feels about them, what kind of God He really is.

And so here at the beginning of the book of Numbers, Numbers 6, verse 23, we find a tremendous example of how God is the God of blessings. Notice what He says. Numbers 6, 23, it says, So as Israel begins as a nation, we see God wants to set them apart. He gives them some remarkable truths about His very character, who He is, what He's all about. And I think there's so much that we can discover about God in just these few short verses here in Numbers 6, because it shows us that God is a God of blessings. In fact, just these four little short verses here, it's divided up into three sections, and each section has two parts.

I thought it might be helpful to dissect this little passage to show this characteristic of our God, this God we have of blessing. Notice the first truth I think God wants us to understand. Notice where He starts here in verse 24. He starts by recording, The Lord bless you. You see, God wants us to understand that He wants to bless us. God wants to bless us. First and foremost, He wants us to understand that. More than even we want to be blessed.

Would that be fair to say that? That God wants to bless us more than we even can understand, because this is a wonderful word, bless. God wants to bless us. And think about it for a minute. How old are blessings from God? Don't they go all the way back to the beginning? They go all the way back to the beginning.

Blessings are as old as the Bible. You know, in the very beginning, on the days of creation, did God bless it? Well, sure He did. Sure He did. Did He bless Adam and Eve? No doubt. Did He bless Noah after the flood? Absolutely. Did He bless Abram and call him out of his own co...

Absolutely He did. And so over and over and over again throughout the Bible, we see God is a God of blessing. We fast-forward to the New Testament. And like today, we see Christ carrying through on those blessings with the little children. One of probably the most important messages Christ gave was in the Beatitudes. And what are the Beatitudes? Blessed are the humble. Blessed are the meek. Those are blessings.

Those are all various blessings that God pours out on His people. And you go to the book of Revelation. What's found in the book of Revelation? Doom and gloom, right? No.

Yeah, there's a lot of things that are going to happen to this world, but you know that God of blessings carries over all the way to the end. What does it say at the beginning of Revelation? Blessed are those who read these words, who hear. That's how the book of Revelation starts. It starts with a blessing on those who would read the Word of God. And you fast-forward to the end of the book of Revelation. And what does it talk about? It talks about blessed are those who do the commands of God.

That's how the book of Revelation ends. The Bible starts with blessings, and it ends with blessings. God is a God of blessing. And so He wants us to understand that amazing truth, how much He wants to bless us. You could say that's the rhythm of the Word of God, the rhythm of the Bible. Directed at everyone here in number 6. This is how you bless the children, the group, the congregation.

But you know, it's also interesting that the pronouns that He uses here are personal pronouns. Even though the whole group is being blessed, He says, you. You, as individuals, God wants to bless. He blesses the whole by blessing the individuals. He blesses the individuals by blessing the whole. Isn't that an amazing thing? God is pretty amazing in that way. And so He reveals that His people know who they are because they're blessed, because they are blessed. If you were to look that word up in Hebrew or to look it up in the Greek, there's some interesting things, some interesting connections to those words.

In the Hebrew, the word for blessing is really a declaration that this is a fact that God wants to bless us. If you were to look it up in the Greek in the New Testament, it can mean to be happy. Like, oh, how happy are those who are blessed by God? In fact, that word seems to have its root in the Isle of Cyprus.

Cyprus was an island, and the Greek word for blessing or for happy is connected to that island. And you might say, well, why in the world would that be? Why would the word to bless have anything to do with an island? Well, if you think about the island of Cyprus, the Greeks knew that if you lived on that island, and maybe it was like some of you who went to Hawaii for the feast. If you went to Hawaii for the feast, boy, you had it made, didn't you? I felt so sorry for those who came back dark and suntanned and, you know, just had terrible weather every single day. You know, they just suffered through their feast.

Well, that was not much different than the Isle of Cyprus. If you lived on Cyprus, the people felt it was paradise, it was wonderful. What could compare to the beauty? It was self-contained. You had everything you could ever want if you lived on Cyprus. They had it all. And so no wonder the word to bless was connected with that. Because if you're blessed by God, you've got it all. You've got everything you could ever want. And so as God's people, don't we have it all?

Hasn't God wonderfully blessed us as a people, as a congregation, as a church? And each of us as individuals, God has blessed us. You know, in Cyprus, did you have to go to the mainland to get anything you needed to survive? Nope. You had it all. So there was no reason to go to the outside world. And as God's people, is there any reason we need to go to the outside world? Do they have something that we need? No, absolutely not. Even though things from the outside bring pressure and bring difficulties and challenge us, we don't need that. We don't need that. And God's there, God's there with His blessings.

I think of one of the passages that David was so famous for, Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. And it reminds me of Cyprus. It reminds me of the blessings that God has in mind. What did David say? The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. I've got it all. Everything I ever need. It's interesting, if you look up that particular passage in Psalm 23, the different ways that's translated. I have everything, the New Century says, I have everything I need.

The contemporary English version says, I will never be in need. I shall not want. I'll never be in need. I'm not lacking for anything. I don't need a thing. Why? Because our God is a God who wants to bless us. What a remarkable thought when you think about it in those words. It's not just words, but it's actions. God does it by His actions.

There's an interesting passage that He spoke to those coming into the Promised Land. Back in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 30, verse 19, God puts words and actions together here. In His expectations for His people, Deuteronomy 30, verse 19, something interesting comes about as the people are coming into the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 30, verse 19, it's a reminder that sometimes we might not feel real blessed. We might feel like, boy, sometimes I feel like I'm under a curse.

Life doesn't seem to go the way that I expect it to or want it to or wish it would. But here in Deuteronomy 30, in verse 19, notice what He says. It says, And so does God want to curse us? And some people read this and say, oh, boy, heaven and earth is witnessing against me. I'm in trouble now. I'm going to be cursed. And God is going to curse me.

Well, why would that be? Why would that be? Well, it comes down to our choosing. See, God chooses to bless us. But you know, He's not going to force us, is He? He's not going to force us. So here He says, I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, He says, good luck choosing. No, He doesn't say that. He says, choose life.

How badly does God want to bless us? He sets life and death before us. That's just the ways of the world. That's what life is all about. We have our choice. And He says, which one do I want you to choose? I want you to choose my blessing. I want you to choose life. I want you to choose the best way. And so that's what God wants for us. You know, and that's not just an Old Testament thing. That's also a New Testament thing. Christ said the very same thing. He said it in different words, but you might just write down Luke 12, verse 32.

Luke 12, 32, He said, fear not, little flock, for it's your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. That's what God wants. He wants to give us life. Not just a nice physical life, but He wants us to have eternal life. He wants us to be a part of the family forever. He wants us to be in the kingdom. It's His good pleasure. That's what He most wants for every one of us. And not just for us, but God so loved the world. God loves everyone and can't wait to give the entire world that opportunity to choose life. God wants to bless everyone. He wants to bless you. So what a wonderful truth we see at the beginning of Numbers 6, verse 24. The Lord bless you. In fact, if you kept your place there in Numbers 6, maybe you could go back there if you didn't, put a little marker there if you've got one. In the second half of that first section, He says, the Lord bless you, but it also says, and keep you. And keep you brings us to a second truth, that God wants to keep us.

God's not willing to let us go. The God of blessings that we serve, He wants to reassure us, that He's watching over us. He's watching over us physically. More importantly, He's watching over us spiritually. This word in the Hebrew means to guard us, to watch over us, to preserve us, to treasure us. It also means.

I like the way that sounds. God wants to treasure us up. So not only does He look at us, looks at us as valuable to Him, but He treasures us up. And I often think of that when you think of the little ones, especially as grandmas and grandpas. Do you treasure the times with those little ones? And you just treasure that moment that you can spend. They just sometimes seem so few and far between. And you remember those things. Of course, we're going to be doing that this afternoon as well. We've treasured up memories from the feast. We're going to rehearse some of those things. And we're going to look at pictures, and we're going to have fun, and we're going to laugh and enjoy those times that we had at the feast.

And in a sense, that's what this word means, that God treasures up. He remembers those things and wants to keep us close to Him. He wants to reassure us that it's okay, that life is going to be okay. How do we know that? When life gives us difficulties, when we're in the midst of a storm, when we're in the middle of a trial, when our health is challenging, we have to remember that God is still treasuring us up.

He's protecting us. And we know that to be true, not because of our feeling, but because of who the source is. Who is the source? Who is the source of the one who keeps us? Well, it's God. In fact, if you hold your place here in Numbers, go to Psalm 121. In Psalm 121, God shows us how much He wants to keep us. He wants to keep us close. He wants to preserve and protect us. He wants to treasure us up like a good memory. And He wants to guard us. Psalm 121. Also, the lyrics of this particular psalm are found in our hymnal. This is a song of a sense when they would go up to Jerusalem, when they would rise up to the heights of coming to worship God in Jerusalem.

And of course, it's that song, To the hills I lift my eyes. In the New International Version, it says this in verse 1, Psalm 121, it says, I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? Answer? My help comes from the Lord, from the one who keeps me, who watches over you.

God watches over you. Verse 3, He will not let your feet slip. He watches over you and will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber or sleep. Verse 5, The Lord watches over you, the Lord your shade at your right hand. The sun won't harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm. He'll watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming, and you're going both now and forever more. So God keeps us.

When we stay under that protection of God, He watches us. He guards us. In fact, we know that to be true because we know what Satan accused Job of. Remember the story of Job? I won't turn over there, but right at the very beginning of that chapter, Satan was whining and complaining to God because God put a hedge around Job.

Remember how it's worded there? Right at the very first chapter of Job, Satan was the big complainer. He said, well, yeah, I can't get at him because you're protecting him. What was God doing for Job? Nothing different than He does for all of us. God's put a hedge around all of us. When we stay within that hedge, when we stay within that protection, God keeps us. He treasures us. He watches over us. He blesses us.

Just like Job – no different than Job, Job. God's not a respecter of persons. And so God has a hedge around us as well. And so He preserves us and He keeps us, and He watches over us. I like the way 1 Peter 1.5 says – you don't have to turn there, but just write that one down. 1 Peter 1.5 says that we are kept by the power of God.

Isn't that a great verse? It's not by what I do. It's a good thing. Nothing that I had to do. I've got to make sure I stay with God. It's true faith that that happens. We're kept by the power of God. And so sometimes I imagine, you know, as these little ones grow up, there's going to be times we've got to cross the street. And as a little one, you want to hold on to their hand because here we go. We're getting ready when the light turns green and the sign comes on.

We're going to walk. We're going to go. And boy, it's perfect when that little one grabs your hand and holds on tight and you walk across together. But have you ever tried to take a little one somewhere where they didn't want to go? It's not just a nice little walk across the street then, right? Because then they're pulling and they're tugging and they want to go that way. No, we're going this way. You've got to really hang on. And I think of that in these terms. You know, are we like that with God sometimes? God's got us by the hand and He wants to take us where we will be blessed, where life will turn out for the good.

And yet we're, wait, I don't want to go that way. I want to go that way, God! And God's saying, no, this is the way to go. This is the way we should walk in. And yet we're pulling and we're tugging and resisting that. I think that's where we get outside of the protection of God. Not when God does it, but when we choose to go a different direction.

And so I think of that image, you know, as God wanting to keep us. God's not going to let go of our hand. He doesn't want that at all. Now we can pull out of His grip and we can choose a different way. But God wants us to choose safety. He wants us to choose His protection. He wants us to choose for us to be the keeper. He wants to keep us. Too often times we think, well, these bad things happen to me.

So God's not much of a keeper. He must not be watching over me. Well, I think sometimes we've got to come back to reality a little bit. You know, did some of the great heroes of the Bible find themselves in pretty tough circumstances? Boy, I guess they did. Were the Israelites up against the Red Sea or not?

Yeah, absolutely. That was a tough one. They all said, we're going to die. Here come the chariots. Life is over. That was a situation that came about. How about Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah? They didn't have life all good. Those were the guys thrown in the lion's den.

Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? That wasn't all peaches and cream, was it? Some pretty tough things. But yet in the fiery furnace, whether it was the lion's den, whatever it might have been, when you put your faith in God, God's going to be the keeper. God's going to watch over us. And so whether it was Peter being in prison or Paul's shipwrecked, God was still keeping them and watching over them.

God sees those as precious opportunities to show His might and His power. Because even when we have those challenges, does God provide strength? Does God provide comfort? Does God provide the blessings of encouragement, even in those most difficult circumstances of life? He even says, precious in my sight is the death of my saints. He pronounces a blessing even on the dead that are in Christ, because that's not the end of the story.

And so what a great reminder. God knows what's best, and He wants to keep us. All right, that brings us to the second section, back in Numbers 6. Notice verse 25. Notice verse 25. There's this third truth in this second section.

Verse 25 says, The Lord make His face to shine upon you. You might say, ooh, that sounds just like a greasy mess, right? Maybe you put different creams and things on your face. But this is interesting, because this shining face, a shining face is a wonderful example for us. I know when I walked in today, did we see some shining faces today when we came in? Maybe people we hadn't seen for a couple of weeks, because we've been gone, and we walked in, and here are these beautiful shining faces.

Not literally shining, but people's faces were lit up. It was good to see each other. And that's what God's talking about here. God's face is looking at us, and He's not this stern, mean God that has a scowl on His face, ready to point the face. But God's face is lit up and shining toward us. God doesn't turn His back to us and say, well, if I have to say hello, I guess I will. That's not the kind of God we have. God's face is turned toward us.

He's directed to us, and it's lit up, wanting to bless us. And so we don't worship an angry, mad deity. It's not the way God is. He doesn't want more sacrifice. He's not a God that can never be satisfied. He's not the God that says, there's nothing you can do that's good enough in my eyesight. God's face is toward us. It's shining at us. He's looking us in the eye, and there is warmth in the face of God. That's what I think He has in mind here, that He wants you, He wants us to be His people.

There's a great psalm. It's in Psalm 86. Psalm 86, I think, is a more thorough description of what He's getting at here in this third truth, that God is here. You know, God is shining. God's face is upon us. In Psalm 86, notice verse 5.

Psalm 86, verse 5. This is such a wonderful song that reminds us of this character trait of God, that His face is shining toward us. He is right here with us. Verse 5, it says, He says, He says, His face shines. His face shines. Verse 9, You see, God's called us, not to some impersonal relationship, but one where we can be engaged with a close relationship with God. He wants to be a part of our life.

He can't wait to hear about what's going on in our life. He already knows, but He wants to hear it from us. And He's looking at us. He's looking towards us. And He's called us to experience the tremendous deep love and joy that He has in mind for us. His care, His comfort, His concern. All of that transcends the difficulties, the trials, the darkness that we're faced sometimes with life.

And so God overcomes the dark by shining His face. His face is lit up toward us. Isn't that a wonderful image in your mind when you think about God looking for the best for us? Now He continues that thought in the second half of that passage. The fourth truth, back in Numbers 6, verse 25, not only does He say, The Lord make His face shine upon you, but it says, And be gracious unto you. You see, this fourth truth shows that God is kind. God is gracious. The reality of who God is, one thing that we need to be constantly reminded of, is the fact that we live in a world that isn't very thankful.

They're not very gracious. We live in an eye-for-an-eye kind of world, don't we? I know some of us on our jobs live in that kind of world, and out to get you kind of world. They can't wait to take you down. Many of us have jobs that were only as good as, you know, our last success. Right? We live in a, what have you done for me lately kind of world, don't we? Many times that seems to be the way that it is out there. That's what we have to face every single day.

You're only as good as your latest success. And yet, God is gracious to us. We are shown favor. Literally, that's what that means, to have a favorable regard. You know, when God thinks of us, what does He think of? Have you ever wondered that? When I come to God's mind, what does He think of? Oh, boy, what a mess. You see, God thinks gracious things towards us, positive things towards us. God thinks favorable things. You just think of God's plan. He offers us unmerited pardon.

You see, we have a gracious God. God's the God of grace because we don't deserve it. It's not the God of justice, right? The God of justice is the God that gives us what we deserve. Not that God isn't just because He is, but sometimes when we think of it in those terms, we're going to get what we deserve. If God was that kind of God, how many of us would be here today? It would be all somewhere else, wouldn't we?

You see, God isn't just justice getting what we deserve. In fact, mercy, we think of mercy sometimes. Mercy is kind of the opposite, not getting what you deserve. And maybe that's the next step, but grace. Grace, maybe in the simplest sense, is getting what you don't deserve. Getting what you don't deserve. Because do we deserve the love of God? Not really. Do we deserve His support? Do we deserve His forgiveness? And yet, God is so gracious. God is so kind and loving. He gives us what we don't deserve. He loves us in spite of ourselves.

I mean, I think oftentimes what the relationship must have been like between Peter and Christ. Remember what Christ said to him at one point? He said, Simon, Simon, Satan wants to just sift you like wheat. Just like to rake you over the coals. And Christ said, so I'm going to let him go ahead and do that so you can learn a lesson.

No, He told him, listen, I prayed that your faith would be supported, that it wouldn't fail. That it wouldn't fail. And what a wonderful, gracious God. That is, He sees what's best for us. And so I think in this statement here, number six, God is gracious to us. He wants us to understand, to take that graciousness to heart, that love, that mercy, that unmerited pardon, that grace, that nourishes us and helps us to grow, just like these little babies today.

That we can grow spiritually and have that kind of support that can only come through our God. And that nourishes our faith, that grows our faith, that supports our faith. Helps us to grow in grace and knowledge and supports us so that we can become mature spiritually through the grace of God. Now in Numbers, it takes us to the last section, the third section of the graciousness, the wonderful blessings that come from God. Notice what He reveals in this fifth truth, back in Numbers 6, verse 26.

It says that, He lived His countenance upon you. He lived His countenance upon you. As I was thinking about this particular section of this blessing, a circumstance came to mind. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, and you're talking to them, and they're telling you something that's just really serious, something that's serious has happened in their life, and they're pouring their heart out to you, or maybe you've noticed somebody else in this kind of particular situation.

And they're pouring their heart out to them, and then the other person's phone rings, and you go, excuse me for just a second, hello? Well, so much for that. Or maybe you're in a discussion with your mate, and you want to watch what's on TV, and they're trying to tell you something that's critically important that's going on. That's pretty easy, isn't it? That's hard! How can you get their attention? You can't get their focus, right?

God's not like that. God is not like that. He doesn't answer the phone when we're in a conversation with Him and say, oh, hold on, oh, you're in trouble? Well, hang on just a second, right? Let me talk to them first, and I'll get back to you on that. You see, God doesn't do that. When we're with God, He lifts His countenance towards us. It literally means He focuses on us. He focuses on us. God's noticing. He's looking. He's interested in what our life is all about. In other words, when we have His countenance lifted upon us, we've got God's full attention. Isn't that great? We've got His full attention! In fact, look that up in various translations. I have this 26 translations of the Bible. It's pretty cool, because whenever there's a different translation than the King James, it lists what those other translations say. And in this particular passage, it's got a whole line of the way that these words are translated. So not only lift His countenance upon you, one of the translations says, it pays special attention to you. God pays special attention. God watches over you. God shows you His favor. God lifts His approval upon you. There are all different ways that this phrase can be translated. And so it shows us this wonderful character of God as He turns His face and lifts His countenance upon us. Now, if we were looking for maybe something that's equivalent to that, you know, as something we would do, an action that we would do, I think what equals this lifting His countenance upon us is that God smiles on us. God smiles on us. Now, remember before, He looks us in the face and His face shines on us. Well, here it's not just shining, but here it's smiling. God's lifting His countenance. He's smiling on us. He turns His graciousness upon us with a friendly smile. Doesn't that just paint a beautiful picture? I think an interesting example of this is over in the book of Daniel. Let's look at a quick example. Daniel 9, verse 20. Daniel 9, verse 20. It's an interesting one because here Daniel is praying to God. Daniel is praying to God. And in the New International Version, it might be a little bit different than your New King James or your King James. I printed this one out because it put it just a little bit differently. That was kind of interesting. Notice Daniel 9, verse 20. Here Daniel says, While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill. Here he's giving us a little insight about some of the things he's praying about. His own repentance, how he's coming before God with his sin, how he's praying for his people, they're in captivity. He's making his request, he's praying about Jerusalem. He's looking forward to the blessings of God, bringing his people back out of captivity. And he says, While I was still in prayer, verse 21. While he's in the midst of this prayer, notice what happens. He says, Gabriel, the man I had seen in an earlier vision, this is the angel Gabriel, who came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. Verse 22, Gabriel instructed me and he said, Daniel, I've now come to give you insight and understanding. Verse 23, As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I've come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and the understanding of the vision.

Was God smiling on Daniel?

I think He was. And when did He start smiling on him?

He was listening. He had his full attention before Daniel even started to pray. He says, right in the midst of this, he was listening. He was in the process of sending that angel already before Daniel could even finish.

That is such an amazing thing. That's the kind of God that we have. He is so ready to bless us. He is lifting His count... It shows that He's already in the process of doing that while we're in the midst of praying, while we're in the midst of asking, while we're petitioning God. He's already doing something about it. He's already got a smile on His face. He's already acting in our best interest before we can even get the words out of our mouth. That's the kind of God that we have. He is so ready to lift His countenance on us and smile upon us.

Now back in Numbers 6, let's notice the sixth truth. An amazing truth in this short little blessing. Numbers 6, the sixth truth at the end of that particular verse, end of verse 26, He says, not only does God lift His countenance upon you, it says, He gives you peace.

God gives us peace. What a blessing that is! I've heard lots of different blessings that don't necessarily wish peace for people. There's that traditional blessing. Maybe you've heard it before. It says, May those who love us love us. And those that don't love us, may God turn their hearts. Sounds very nice, doesn't it? Well, then the rest of the blessing goes like this. It says, If He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles so we know who they are.

That's not the kind of blessing God's got in store here at the end. He says, give you peace. Give you peace. A peace of heart, a peace of mind. And what's so great about this word for peace here, He's not just talking about a peace that's kind of the absence of war. He's not talking about, well, you're not in a fight at the moment. You're not arguing at the moment. At least you put that on hold.

And so it's not that. That's not the kind of peace that God's talking about here. It's not just being in the midst of trouble and discord at the moment. It's really the opposite. He's saying that we can have security. We can have a frame of mind that's complete. That no matter what the circumstances are around us, that we're made whole. We're made right with God. That God really blesses us with a positive outlook. Even though circumstances may be difficult, they may be challenges, they may be the worst trials of our life, but we can have a different perspective.

God can give us His peace of mind because of perspective. Because we realize who's watching over us, who is blessing us, who is shining His face on us, who is smiling upon us, who is the one that can see us through the circumstances to the right perspective. Here we begin to see it. It's not the kind of peace the world has, right? It's not the peace of this world.

But Christ said it's the kind of peace that surpasses understanding. I think is the way that He put it. In fact, maybe we should turn to that. I think here Paul is probably using the teachings of Christ to quote this. Philippians 4-4, I think, is where that's at. Let's see if that is the one that comes to mind. I know there's a little kiddie song that's based on Philippians 4-4, so I hope I've got the right passage here of Philippians 4-4. Yeah, that is it. Okay. It says, Rejoice in the Lord always. There's this little kids song that goes, Rejoice in the Lord always again.

I say, Rejoice. The kids love that song because they can really do some cool actions to it. And the purpose for this joy, the purpose for the Rejoice, I think, is found in what follows this particular section about having such deep-seated joy, not just a surface joy, but really a deep-seated joy because of our perspective.

Notice, he says, Be anxious for nothing. Yeah, but the thing is, in my life, there's a lot of things I should worry about, and I am worried about. But see, he says, with God's perspective, he says, Let your requests be made known to God. Verse 7, The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You see, through Christ, we can have a different perspective on our challenges, on those difficulties, on our relationships, on the things that want to get in the way of our spiritual growth. We can have a right perspective because God guards our hearts, watches over us, and wants to give us peace.

The kind of peace that, boy, most people won't be able to understand why we're still in a good frame of mind, even though life is giving us all kinds of challenges. That's the kind of peace that God can give us. And of course, then this goes on to show the perspective that we can have are the things that frame our thinking, the things that are good, the what-so-evers, the what-so-evers that follow this.

Those are the kinds of things that bring peace of mind. When we focus on not the difficulties or the challenges or the trials, but we focus on the spiritual side of things, the things that are pure, the things that are lovely, the things that are of a good report, the things that are lovely, those are the things we're thinking about, meditating on. And that's what God has in mind to give us. In fact, that's not only what He has in mind, that's what He's chosen for us.

That's the blessing that He's chosen for us. And what's really cool is He's chosen the best for last. You flip back to Numbers 6. There's one more here at the very end. In verse 27, He saved the best for last because when you get through it all, when all is said and done on how He wants to bless His people, of course, physically for Israel, but that translates beautifully, spiritually for us.

Spiritually, we see in verse 27 that we have a giving God, a giving God. God gives to us. Verse 27, So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them. No doubt there. No question. He says He will. Now does God do what He says He's going to do? Absolutely. Absolutely. So He says, I will do it. It's an emphasized declaration. And of course, this is the seventh one in the series.

It makes that complete, that number seven oftentimes throughout the Bible, shows completeness. We have the ultimate, complete blessing from God. And we don't have to doubt it, because we all know, maybe we're like that. I say, well, okay, I'll take out the trash. Yeah, I'll do it. I'll take care of it. And then I forget. Did you take out the trash? Oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot. I missed trash day.

Oh, no. We know people like that. We know sometimes we're like that. But that is such a contrast to God. God says He will do it, and He's not going to free... That's what makes Him God. God's not going to fall short. He will do it. And He emphasizes that fact by saying, I'll put my name on them. My name will be a part... That's not like an ex marks the spot. That's not what He's talking about there. He's not talking about a mark, you know, in your forehead or on your hand or in any other place.

He's not talking about that. We're talking about the all-encompassing, mighty, omniscient, omnipotent God pulling us and making us a part of His family. That's putting His name on us, the name of God. God names us a part of His family. He places the God name on us.

We ask that these babies would be set apart to be a part of the family of God. And so here we are. This final act of blessing that God talks about is placing His name on His people. That's the plan of God. That's God's plan in a nutshell to bring people to His family, to His spiritual family. And it reminds us, as God brings us into His family, where's God supposed to be? God's supposed to be in the center of our family, in the center of our lives, just like the tabernacle. Where was it in Israel as this blessing was said? It was in the center. All the tribes gathered around the tabernacle. God was there. His presence was in the center of His people. It shouldn't be any different today. As a family, God should be at our center. As an individual, God should be in the center of our life. You know, where's the temple of God today? It's us. Us as a people, us as individuals. So individually, in our life, our life is to be the centerpiece of God. We're to live our life that God is in us, in the Holy of Holies. His presence, His Spirit is in us. And so He emphasizes that fact by this final truth, that He puts His name upon us. And He shows us that our actions, our life, our thinking should be that living sacrifice to Him. What an amazing truth. And I think it brings us all the way around then. What is our image of God? What do we think of when we think of God? Is it the authoritarian God? Is it the benevolent God? Is it the critical God? Or is it the distant God? You see, when you look at Numbers 6 and verse 24, God paints the whole picture of who He is. He says, I'm the Lord that blesses you. I'm the Lord that keeps you. I'm the Lord that makes my face shine upon you. And I'm the Lord that is gracious to you. I'm the Lord that lifts His countenance upon you and gives you peace. And I don't stop there. I'm the Lord that puts my name on you. And I will bless you. And that's the reality of who God is. So as we think about the kind of God that we have, as we think about the blessing on these beautiful little children, as we come back from the feast and the tremendous blessings that we had at the feast, as we rehearse those blessings today, as we see the picture, let's never forget. We worship the God of blessings.