You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
5 They
looked [nabat] unto him, and were lightened [nahar]: and their faces [paniym]
were not ashamed [chapher]. KJV-Interlinear
5 Those who
look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. ESV
There are four types of people who have an opinion regarding God.
First, there are those who outright reject the concept of God. They think it is all a bunch of foolishness. They believe that the universe and all of its design is a total accident. They ignore the fact that people of past generations are in fact dead and that they too will one day die, but they give no thought as to what happens to them next. All restrictions and limitations on humanity are basically ignored. In their mind they believe that there is nothing after this life, and if they were right they gain nothing, but if they are wrong, then they lose everything. So their attitude is a lose, lose outcome with no hope.
Then there are those who believe in a god, but they prefer to define their own version of god and what they expect from him. Typically their god is an extension of their own lusts or personal conveniences, allowing them to justify whatever it is they want or do in life. Some want to earn their way to god, while others want to crusade using god as their excuse or reason for whatever it is that they believe. Their every intention is sin driven or sin motivated. They expect that sinful man is able to solve his own sin and correct his own path to god.
Then there are those who actually believe in God, but they want their spiritual life to be of their own design. The do not want to follow Gods rules or mandates, they want to do things themselves. Their outward behavior is one of pretense or of deception in order to draw attention to themselves. They prefer the convenience of their beliefs over the substance of truth. They are phony to be sure, and generally give Christianity a bad name.
And finally there are those who believe in God, believe in Christ, believe in the scriptures as their one and only source of information and pattern of the one and only true spiritual life. They place doctrine first and pursue it in order to learn all they can learn about God. They grow up spiritually and have their priorities correct in life.
It is this last group that is spoken of in this verse.
When life hits and God delivers us in so many simple ways, we become radiant within our understanding and orientation to life and to our own personal future. We have truth. We have a destiny. We have a hope based on solid truth and reality. We have an explanation of all of the what’s and why’s and how’s of life. We have certainty and security. And that all produces an inner relaxed mental attitude and confidence for ourselves and for our future. This is the one and only win, win situation. And in this is never any shame or embarrassment.
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