Verse:
Psalms 27:8
[When thou saidst], Seek (seek / baqash) ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek (seek / baqash).
Verse 8. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face Source
How much labour and skill have been employed to make sense of this verse as it stands in our translation! The original words are the following, from which our Version has been forcibly extracted:-
lecha amar libbi bakkeshu panai; eth paneycha, Yehovah, abakkesh; of which I believe the true rendering to be as follows: "Unto thee, my heart, he hath said, Seek ye my face. Thy face, O Jehovah, I will seek. O my heart, God hath commanded thee to seek his face." Then, his face I will seek. Which may be paraphrased thus: Unto thee, his Church, God hath said, Seek ye, all who compose it, my face. To which I, his Church, have answered, Thy face, O Jehovah, I will seek. On referring to Archbishop Secker, I find that he, and indeed Bishop Horsley, are of the same mind.
I had formerly proposed another method of reading this difficult verse. Suspecting that some error had got into the text, for bakkeshu panay, "seek ye my face," I had substituted abakkesh paneycha, "I will seek thy face;" or with the Vulgate and Septuagint, bakkesti paneycha, "I have sought thy face," exquisivit te facies mea, ??????????? ???????????. And this small alteration seemed to make a good sense: "My heart said unto thee, I have sought thy face, (or, I will seek thy face,) and thy face, O Lord, I will seek." I have not only done what it was my duty and interest to do, but I will continue to do it. Some have proposed to mend the text thus: lech lecha, amar libbi, "Go to, saith my heart," nebakkesh peney Jehovah, "Let us seek the face of Jehovah." This is rather a violent emendation, and is supported by neither MSS. nor Versions. The whole verse is wanting in one of Dr. Kennicott's MSS. On the whole I prefer what is first proposed, and which requires no alteration in the text; next, that of the Vulgate and Septuagint.
The old Psalter paraphrases thus: Til the saide my hert, the my face soght: thy face, lord, I sal seke. "The gernyng of my hert that spekes til god, and he anely heres: saide til the my face, that es my presence soght the and na nother thyng. And fra now I sal seke thy face lastandly, til my dede; and that I fynd my sekyng:" i.e., To thee, said my heart; thee my face sought: thy face, O Lord, I shall seek. "The gerning of my hert, that spekes til God, and he anely heres, til the my face; that es, my presence soght the and no nother thyng: and fra now I sal seke thy face lastandly, til my dede, and that I fynd my sekyng:" i.e., The yearning strong desire of my heart, which speaks to God, and he alone hears; my face is to thee; that is, myself sought thee, and none other thing, and from now I shall seek thee lastingly till my death, and till that I find what I seek.
Commentary by Coffman
Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with my voice: Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. [When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek. Source
(Psalms 27:7). Prayer is not merely a silent, or a mental thing; it is an audible petition. From the Cross itself Jesus cried with a loud voice, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. We worship God with the fruit of our lips (Hebrews 13:15). So-called silent prayer indulged upon many occasions is in no sense equal to one that is vocalized. It reminds one of the way the Quakers once observed the Lord's Supper, with no words, no emblems, no prayers, and no edification!
The king of Nineveh ordered his subjects, "To cry mightily unto God," if perhaps they might be heard of the heavenly Father (Jonah 3:8).
Ps. 27:8 is admittedly a difficult passage in the Hebrew text; but the ASV has here achieved a very understandable rendition of it. What is emphasized is the spontaneous and unwavering trust of the worshipper. As Yates noted, this implicit trust in God is one of the strong elements that bespeaks the unity of the whole psalm. This is the very same attitude encountered in the first six verses.
Commentary by John Gill
[When thou saidst], seek ye my face my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek:
To seek the face of the Lord is to attend his house and ordinances, where he grants his presence; and with this view to enjoy his gracious presence, and the light of his countenance, not being content with bare attendance without it; it is to seek the Lord himself, and communion with him through Christ, the brightness of his glory, and the Angel of his presence; for the right way of seeking the Lord is in Christ, who is the way of access to him, and of acceptance and fellowship with him; and that by prayer and supplication for his sake, and with all the heart and soul; and this the Lord calls upon his people to do, in his word, in his providences, and by his Spirit moving upon their hearts, and inclining them to it, as follows; Source
it is an encouragement to believers to seek the Lord when he calls them to it; for it is a command with promise, that they shall find him, see his face, and enjoy his favour; and he never says to any, "seek ye my face, in vain"; and they always find it good for them to draw nigh to him: and as it is the best way of seeking God, when the heart is engaged in it, so it is a token for good; and it looks as though the Lord had a mind to manifest himself, and grant the favour sought for, when he inclines the hearts of his people to pray unto him for it; and this the psalmist makes mention of as taking encouragement from it, to hope and believe that the Lord would hear and answer him, and have mercy on him; because he had bid him seek his face, and he found his heart ready to do it.
Commentary by Matthew Henry
2. He takes hold of the kind invitation God had given him to this duty, Psalms 27:8. It is presumption for us to come into the presence of the King of kings uncalled, nor can we draw near with any assurance unless he hold forth to us the golden sceptre. David therefore going to pray fastens, in his thoughts, upon the call God had given him to the throne of his grace, and reverently touches, as it were, the top of the golden sceptre which was thereby held out to him. My heart said unto thee (so it begins in the original) or of thee, Seek you my face; he first revolved that, and preached that over again to himself (and that is the best preaching: it is hearing twice what God speaks once)--Thou saidst (so it may be supplied), Seek you my face; and then he returns what he had so meditated upon, in this pious resolution, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Observe here, Source
(1.) The true nature of religious worship; it is seeking the face of God. This it is in God's precept: Seek you my face; he would have us seek him for himself, and make his favour our chief good; and this it is in the saint's purpose and desire: "Thy face, Lord, will I seek, and nothing less will I take up with." The opening of his hand will satisfy the desire of other living things (Psalms 145:16), but it is only the shining of his face that will satisfy the desire of a living soul, Psalms 4:6,7. (2.) The kind of invitation of a gracious God to this duty: Thou saidst, Seek you my face; it is not only permission, but a precept; and his commanding us to seek implies a promise of finding; for he is too kind to say, Seek you me in vain. God calls us to seek his face in our conversion to him and in our converse with him. He calls us, by the whispers of his Spirit to and with our spirits, to seek his face; he calls us by his word, by the stated returns of opportunities for his worship, and by special providences, merciful and afflictive. When we are foolishly making our court to lying vanities God is, in love to us, calling us in him to seek our own mercies.
Psalms 145:16 Psalms 4:6,7
You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
6 Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD .
7 You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
(3.) The ready compliance of a gracious soul with this invitation. The call is immediately returned: My heart answered, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. The call was general; "Seek you my face;" but, like David, we must apply it to ourselves, "I will seek it." The word does us no good when we transfer it to others, and do not ourselves accept the exhortation. The call was, Seek you my face; the answer is express, Thy face, Lord, will I seek; like that (Jeremiah 3:22), Behold, we come unto thee. A gracious heart readily echoes to the call of a gracious God, being made willing in the day of his power.
Jeremiah 3:22
"Return, faithless people;
I will cure you of backsliding."
"Yes, we will come to you,
for you are the LORD our God.
About Commentary Authors
Prepared by William C. Barman for George Young Memorial United Methodist Church -- Palm Harbor, FL on 9/15/03; 1:40:08 PM