22 The LORD said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “‘“The LORD bless you
and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:22-27
Sometimes our own sinfulness clouds out the truth about how God views us. It makes us unwilling to accept that God would feel this way about us, or it makes us feel like because we don't deserve God's affection we don't have it.
In John Wesley's explanatory notes on this passage, he comments that peace represents all blessings from God, both material and spiritual. That God desires us to have peace with him, with ourselves and our consciences, with others, and that desires that human beings should prosper. That he looks on us with pleasure and love, not with disdain, hatred, anger, or disappointment. His desire is that peace should permeate every aspect of our lives.
