Make your face to shine on your servant. Save me in your loving kindness.
Parallel Translations
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Make your face to shine on your servant. Save me in your loving kindness.
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Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.
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(31-17) Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant; save me in Thy lovingkindness.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Psalms 31:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 4:6 Many say, “Who will show us any good?” Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us.
- Psalms 6:4 Return, Yahweh. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness’ sake.
- Psalms 80:3 Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.
- Daniel 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him.
- Romans 9:15 For he said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Numbers 6:25-26 Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’
- Psalms 67:1 May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us.
- Daniel 9:17-18 “Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake.
- Ephesians 1:6-7 to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
- Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;
- Psalms 30:7 You, Yahweh, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled.
- Psalms 51:1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
- Psalms 80:7 Turn us again, God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.
- Psalms 80:19 Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.
- Psalms 106:45 He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- Romans 9:23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.…
16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. We have said formerly, and we shall see in many instances hereafter, that this form of speech is taken from the common apprehension of men, who think that God regards them not, unless he really show his care of them by its effects. According to the judgment of sense, afflictions hide his countenance, just as clouds obscure the brightness of the sun. David therefore supplicates that God, by affording him immediate assistance, would make it evident to him that he enjoyed his grace and favor, which it is not very easy to discern amidst the darkness of afflictions. Now, God is said to lift the light of his countenance upon us in two ways; either when he opens his eyes to take care of our affairs, or when he shows to us his favor. These two things are indeed inseparable, or rather, the one depends upon the other. But by the first mode of speech, we, according to our carnal conceptions, attribute to God a mutability which, properly speaking, does not belong to him: whereas the second form of speech indicates, that our own eyes, rather than the eyes of God, are shut or heavy when he seems to have no regard to our afflictions. By the word preserve David explains what he meant by the former expression; but as there was at that time no way of safety apparent to him, he encourages himself to hope for it by setting before him the goodness of God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 31:16 Make thy face to shine upon thy…
Psa 31:16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.
Ver. 16. Make thy face to shine, &c.] Which by reason of the clouds of affliction clustering about me, I cannot for present perceive. {See Trapp on "Psa 4:6"} {See Trapp on "Psa 30:7"}
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Save me, &c.] i.e. Deliver me out of these dangers.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Manifest thy love and favour to me, by answering…
Manifest thy love and favour to me, by answering my prayers, and saving me from all mine enemies.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Make thy face to shine upon thy servant,.... In…
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant,.... In which he prays for the gracious presence of God, the manifestations of himself unto him, the discoveries of his love, the enjoyment of him in Christ, communion with him, the comforts of his Spirit, and joys of his salvation; see Num 6:25;
save me for thy mercies' sake; not for any merit and righteousness of his own, but for the sake of the grace and goodness of the Lord; which is putting salvation, whether temporal or spiritual, upon its right foot and foundation; which is never wrought out by, or is for works of righteousness done by men, but according to the grace and mercy of God.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy…
Verse 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant] Only let me know that thou art reconciled to and pleased with me, and then, come what will, all must be well.
Save me for thy mercies' sake.] Literally, Save me in thy mercy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Make thy face to shine upon thy servant -…
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant - That is, show me thy favor, or be kind and merciful to me. See the notes at Psa 4:6.
Save me for thy mercies’ sake - On account of thy mercy; or that thy mercy may be manifested. This is always a just ground of appeal to God by a sinner or a sufferer, that God would make our sins and trials an “occasion” for displaying his own character. There are, indeed, other grounds of appeal; but there is no one that is more pure or exalted than this.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Make . . . shine--(Compare Num 6:25; Psa 4:6).…
Make . . . shine--(Compare Num 6:25; Psa 4:6). Deprecating from himself, he imprecates on the wicked God's displeasure, and prays that their virulent persecution of him may be stopped.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. Make thy face to shine—A part of the…
16. Make thy face to shine—A part of the Levitical benediction.
Num_6:25. See note on Psa_4:7
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. Comp. the paraphrase in P.B.V., Shew thy servant…
16. Comp. the paraphrase in P.B.V., Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance: and see note on Psa_4:6.
for thy mercy’s sake] R.V. in thy lovingkindness, as in Psa_31:7; Psa_31:21.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Make thy face to shine.—As in Psa_4:6, an…
(16) Make thy face to shine.—As in Psa_4:6, an echo of the priestly blessing. (Num_6:24-26.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. This…
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. This expression is first used in the blessing of Moses. (Num_6:25) Its intrinsic beauty and poetry recommended it to the psalmists, with whom it recurs frequently. (comp. Psa_4:6 Psa_67:1 Psa_80:5, Psa_80:7, 19 119:135) It may be regarded as equivalent to "Be thou favourable and gracious unto thy servant." Save me for thy mercies" sake; literally, save me in thy mercy.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy…
Ver. 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Give me the sunshine of heaven in my soul, and I will defy the tempests of earth. Permit me to enjoy a sense of thy favour, O Lord, and a consciousness that thou art pleased with my manner of life, and all men may frown and slander as they will. It is always enough for a servant if he pleases his master; others may be dissatisfied, but he is not their servant, they do not pay him his wages, and their opinions have no weight with him. Save me for thy mercies' sake. The good man knows no plea but mercy; whoever might urge legal pleas David never dreamed of it.
Ver. 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. When the cloud of trouble hideth the Lord's favour, faith knoweth it may shine again, and therefore prayeth through the cloud for the dissolving of it. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. David Dickson.
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Ver. 16. A sense of divine favour.
1. Its value.
2. How to lose it.
3. How to obtain a renewal of it.
4. How to retain it.
The heavenly servant's best reward.
Ver. 16. (last clause). A prayer for saints in all stages. Note its object, save me; and its plea, Thy mercies' sake. Suitable to the penitent, the sick, the doubting, the tried, the advanced believer, the dying saint.
Psalms 31:17*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.