Bible Strands
Psalms 4:6
Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly in a moment of communal anxiety, immediately following the call to trust in the Lord after offering righteous sacrifices.
The words — The Hebrew phrase נְסָה עָלֵינוּ אֹר (ne.sa/h- 'A.lei./nu 'or) literally commands God to lift up the light of His face upon the speaker.
The thread — This petition runs through Numbers 6:26 and Psalms 80:19, where the lifting of God’s face is explicitly linked to divine favor and deliverance.
Why it lands — The text states that God alone can reveal lasting good, demanding a reader to abandon the search for human validation and accept divine favor as the only sufficient source of joy.
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
There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
Cross-references
- Psalms 80:19 Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
- Numbers 6:26 may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’
- Psalms 80:7 Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
- Psalms 119:135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes.
- 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
- Psalms 89:15 Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.
- Psalms 44:3 For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.
- Psalms 49:16 Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases.
- Psalms 21:6 For You grant him blessings forever; You cheer him with joy in Your presence.
- Psalms 39:6 Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.