The Lord directs us to look in his face and to enjoy his favor. That is what it means to seek his face (Psalm 27:8–9). That is what it means to have his face “shine upon us” (Numbers 6:25).

But the link between the face of God and the favor of God is not so obvious. We are aware of our sin, and conscious that the Lord sees and hears our private sins as well as our thoughts. We can think of the face of God more like mom walking into the kitchen at the moment we are stealing a cookie. We do not want the face of mom then.

But God says he sings and rejoices over his people (Zephaniah 3:14–17).

He sings over those for whom he has removed his judgements (verse 15).

He sings over a rebellin…

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