Bible Strands
Psalms 31:16
Make Your face shine on Your servant; save me by Your loving devotion.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks directly to God, pleading for rescue from pursuing enemies immediately after declaring that his life circumstances are under divine control.
The words — הָאִירָ (ha.'I.ra) literally means "make shine," combined with פָּנֶיךָ (Fa.nei.kha, "your face") to form a request for divine favor. The phrase בְּחַסְדֶּךָ (ve./chas.De.kha) translates literally to "in your covenant loyalty."
The thread — This pattern of asking God to shine His face and save appears in Psalms 4:6, 6:4, and 80:3, where petitioners similarly ground their plea in God's covenant faithfulness.
Why it lands — The text explicitly commands God to act, framing deliverance as a direct request for intervention based on His character rather than the speaker's merit.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.
Cross-references
- Psalms 4:6 Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
- Psalms 6:4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver my soul; save me because of Your loving devotion.
- Psalms 80:3 Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
- Daniel 9:9 To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him
- Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Numbers 6:25 may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
- Psalms 67:1 For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song. May God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah
- Daniel 9:17 So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.
- Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
- Ephesians 2:4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,