The Lord is ever present with his people. He is always thinking of us, looking out for our interests, guarding us in danger, providing for us in temporal and spiritual things, reading our hearts, marking every impulse of loving devotion to Him, shaping the influences around us for our discipline and refining, and hearkening to our faintest call for aid or sympathy or fellowship with Him. He is never for a moment off guard, whether we call Him in the busy noon hours or in the silent watches of the night. How blessed the realization of such abiding faithfulness! And no real child of God is devoid of this evidence of his adoption.
The word here translated presence means face. The Lord's face represents His favor. His disfavor to the race has been manifested by His turning His back to them; as when His favor shall return, His face will beam with kindness, healing and benediction upon them. Now the Lord gives His people His favor as their special portion. Whatever else we lack its possession makes us supremely rich. His favor guarantees that we will overcome our spiritual enemies; and after our victory we will be blessed with a Canaan rest of eternal peace from sin, error, selfishness and worldliness in wisdom, justice, love, power and Kingdom-mindedness—God's ideal of real rest.
Psa. 5:12; 11:7; 41:11, 12; 102:13; Prov. 16:7; Ezek. 39:29; Luke 2:52; John 14:16-23; Acts 10:35; Eph. 1:6; Heb. 4:14-16; 1 Pet. 2:9.
