Week 28: A midlife facelift
- cindystumme
- Aug 31
- 5 min read
Reflections on Psalms 42 & 43, exploring how face time with God can give us a midlife spiritual facelift that others can see on the outside.
Ah, midlife! That season where we mark the years by the appearance of new wrinkles around our eyes and lines across our foreheads. It doesn’t help that Facebook provides us with a running feed of ostensibly helpful face-firming options to purchase or DIY from household items. It’s just too easy to become worried about the worry lines!
The psalmist who wrote Psalms 42 and 43—two psalms believed to have been originally one—understood that the burdens of life show up on our faces. He references long periods of crying (42:3), despair (42:5, 6, & 11; 43:2, & 5), and mourning (42:9 & 43:2), all of which inevitably weigh down our facial expressions and, truth be told, other aspects of our anatomy. Have you seen the marks of grief on a loved one’s face or even your own? If so, you understand what the Psalmist was experiencing when he considered his own appearance, given the suffering he had faced.
Maybe you can relate to some of his experiences. Psalms 42 and 43 record that he felt isolated from both God and the people of God, and that he was often challenged by the people around him to prove that God even cared for him. He lived in a godless culture surrounded by injustice and lies.
These aren’t individual experiences recorded from the life of one unnamed psalmist. These are the realities of modern midlife that we deal with every day. As a generation, we in midlife are becoming more isolated than the generations before us, and on top of that, our commitment to church attendance is lagging as well. In many ways, faith is an individual and personal practice, and thus an ultimately lonely practice for our generation. But just turn on the news and you will be reminded that many people also reject prayer and other personal spiritual practices as legitimate ways of making a difference in the world today. “Who needs God?” is the cry of the culture. “We can solve this on our own without divine help!”
The psalmist himself experienced this public rejection of his faith and belief:
As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Psalm 42:10, NASB
Where do we go when the criticism of culture and the loneliness of isolation begin to drag us down? The psalmist concludes that only God can help:
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.
Psalm 42:5, NKJV
It is interesting that the New King James Version translates that last word literally as “countenance.” Other versions use presence, salvation, or help, but the word is most simply translated as face. Imagine with me for a minute if, in our darkest hours, we could look on the face of God. Would that make a difference to us?
I think it would make all the difference, and the psalmist did, too. The next two times this refrain is repeated in 42:11 and 43:5, the psalmist changes the last line a bit. He writes,
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 42:11 & 43:5, NKJV
The help of my countenance . . . it seems the experience of being face to face with God in Psalm 42:5 has begun to have an affect on our psalmist. Not just his heart, but also his countenance has been uplifted! No creams, needles, or surgical interventions required.
What would happen if we spent so much time in the presence of God that our faces glowed? This is not without precedent: Moses’s face was so radiant after speaking to the Israelites on Mount Sinai that he had to wear a veil when speaking to the people of Israel.
While we may not reflect God’s visible radiance after communing with God, there is no doubt that spending time with God has an effect on our countenance. Who has not seen the joy on the face of one who has just been freed from some burden by Christ? Or the beauty of a fellow Christian engaged in whole-hearted worship of the Lord? We may not see the changes in our own mirrors, but those around us will notice the “peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension” (Philippians 4:7) reflected on our faces as we go about our daily lives.
So, while we take care of God’s gift, our physical bodies, let’s not forget to care for our souls! When we daily lift our faces to His light, His love shines through us for all to see. That is beautiful indeed.
Daily Readings and Reflections:
Monday’s Reading: Psalm 42
When you feel downcast or isolated, what spiritual practices help you lift your eyes to Jesus's face? How does the psalmist's example encourage you to find strength and peace in God's presence?
Tuesday’s Reading: Psalm 43
In moments when you face rejection or criticism for your faith, how do you find the light and truth the psalmist speaks of in verse three? How might praising God as the psalmist resolves to do in verse four help you to have a joyful demeanor even when you are experiencing adversity?
Wednesday’s Reading: Exodus 34: 27-35
What was Moses doing while spending 40 days and nights in God's presence? What does this say about the value God places on righteousness? How might righteous living make a difference in our physical appearance beyond simply caring for our bodies?
Thursday’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 13
How can practicing the selfless, patient, and kind love described in these verses influence how others see Christ in you? What promise do you find in verse 12? What will your first question to Jesus be? Think carefully about this one!
Friday’s Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18
Considering the unveiled freedom we have in Christ, how can you reflect God's glory in a world that often rejects faith in Christ? How does the idea of being transformed into the image of Christ by the Holy Spirit encourage you to regularly seek face time with God?
Weekend Reading: John 1:1-14
Read this testimony from a disciple who spent three years in the physical presence of Christ. How did John describe Jesus? Have you experienced Jesus in similar ways? Have you believed in Christ and become one of God's children? If not, why not?
Want to read more Bible verses about knowing Christ as Savior? Here's a good place to start:
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