The Light of God’s Countenance

ALMIGHTY GOD! we use the same prayer and lift up to Thee the same supplication as Thy child did of old, when he cried unto Thee: “Lord! Lift Thou up the Light of Thy countenance upon us!”

Almighty! teach us where is the Light of Thy countenance, and what it is? May we behold it in all the goodness and brightness there is in Nature; and more especially may we see it in all the goodness and truth there is in Man. May we know it to be the Light of Thy countenance when the conscience is tender and the tongue speaketh for that which is righteous and just and good and true. May we see the Light of Thy countenance when the little babe doth smile and seem to tell of a home the soul hath once been in, from which it hath brought the holy sweetness, scarce of this earth. May we see the Light of Thy countenance when the sea shines with wondrous brightness, when the sun is upon it; the Light of Thy countenance in the putting forth of the beauteous things of the earth; the Light of Thy countenance in the faces of those that love; the Light of Thy countenance in the glory of friendship; the Light of Thy countenance in the splendour of genius; the Light of Thy countenance in the ripples that come over the face of those who are stirred by the divine things of Art. But teach us that the sweetest Light of Thy countenance is that which speaks of love and pity, of mercy and truth. Let us watch the mother as she leans over her child and sheds upon her little one that sweet light of love, and know that there is seen the Light of Thy countenance. And as we read in the stories of old that the face of the first martyr of Christ shinèd with the light of Heavenly brightness, teach us that it was the Light of Thy countenance that was upon him. And when men speak things that are deep and true, just and right, and the face doth shine and the countenances of those to whom they speak grow bright, may we know that it is the shining of the face of God; for, Lord God, they saw of old, after Moses had spoken with Thee, when he came to speak to the people, his face did shine: he beheld Thee and shone,—he spake and was glorified. And when Thy Son was upon the mountain and for a while transcended time and space, He too shone with the Light of the countenance of God.

Lord God, look upon those to whom this world is dark: pity the lonely and sad-hearted, the forsaken and forgotten, the penitent and remorseful, the sinful and the miserable: teach them that the Light of Thy countenance can find its way through prison bars, and pierce through the thick black clouds of misery. Show them of little hope, the bow in the cloud: how it is made by the light of God shining upon the darkness of earth. So shine upon our steps and so shed the Light of Thy countenance upon our tears, that we may see the bow of Hope glorious in the cloud, giving us hope that above and beyond this world of trial and change there may be days of happy rest and fields of Heavenly glory: that we, through all this mist and darkness of time may still have the shining Light of Thy countenance upon us, and though we may not be happy, we may yet have the blessing of Almighty God.

Help us to learn the true deep wisdom that righteousness exalteth a nation, and that the true life of Man is in his conscience rather than in his thought: that the deepest and truest life, the life that saves men, is the life of justice, righteousness and truth. And being fully convinced thereof, strive above all things to build in righteousness, “foursquare in truth” according to wisdom and justice, by the lines of verity, that so built up in righteousness, we may stand in strength and end in glory.

Of Thy mercy hear us, through Jesus Christ our Lord.—AMEN.