heart of CHRIST shall be revealed to His people.
That heart might have been full of love, and we might never have known
it; but it is the will of GOD that "the light of the knowledge of the
glory of GOD" should be _revealed_ to us "in the face of JESUS CHRIST."

How well we know in actual life what the light of the countenance means!
How the mother's smile brings light and gladness into the heart of the
child! How the welcoming look of a friend is at once understood! In
Daniel ix. 16, 17, the prophet prays, "O Lord ... I beseech Thee, let
Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city, Jerusalem; ...
and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate." Where
there is the shining of the face we know there is more than forgiveness;
there is favour and complacence. In the thrice-offered prayer of Psalm
lxxx, "Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved," the salvation of
Israel is counted upon as the result; and in Psalm lxvii, we find that
the shining of GOD'S face upon His people is further to issue in His
way being "known upon earth, His saving health among all nations."

It is, however, when we consider Him in the relationship of BRIDEGROOM
and KING that the tenderness and preciousness of this blessing are most
fully seen. A truly royal BRIDEGROOM: "in His favour is life," and to
Him we can approach at all times, without any fear that He will hide His
countenance, or that He will not hold out to us the golden sceptre.
Queen Esther might tremble for the result of her boldness, but our KING
ever welcomes the approach of His Bride.

When her heart cries out, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of His
mouth," He is ever ready to bring her into His chambers; indeed it is
often the BRIDEGROOM who has to allure the Bride,[C] rather than the
Bride who has to seek the favour of the BRIDEGROOM. It is only when she
has treated him with neglect or disobedience that she finds herself in
darkness. And what is not His favour to a loyal and true-hearted Bride!
To a subject, the favour of the KING is "as dew upon the grass," but to
a bride is it not everything? "JEHOVAH, the BRIDEGROOM, make His face
shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee!"

What a wonderful view of the light of His countenance the favoured
disciples must have had, who were witnesses of His transfiguration: we
are told that His face did shine as the sun. To the proto-martyr Stephen
the heavens were opened, and the face of the LORD shone upon h