Psalm 27:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, Lord, do I seek."

NIV: My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, Lord, I will seek.

NASB: When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'I shall seek Your face, Lord.'

CSB: My heart says this about you: "Seek his face." Lord, I will seek your face.

NLT: My heart has heard you say, 'Come and talk with me.' And my heart responds, 'Lord, I am coming.'

KJV: When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

NKJV: When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

David knew the Lord wanted him to seek His face. In fact, this is God's desire for all people: the word translated "seek" from the original Hebrew of this verse is addressed to a group of people, not just one person.

To "seek God's face" is to strongly desire His presence and blessing. David responded to the Lord's invitation wholeheartedly. Perhaps, as David wrote Psalm 27, he recalled the Lord's words in Deuteronomy 4:29, 31: "You will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul…For the LORD your God is a merciful God, He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them."

In Jeremiah 29:13 the Lord promises: "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart." Our prayers for an awareness of the Lord's presence and blessings must never be halfhearted or complacent. We must pray fervently with the whole heart and in faith (James 1:5–8; 5:16).

Psalm 27:7–14 reveals that David, while he commits his faith to God, is not immune from fear. In the prior section of this psalm, David stated his reasons to be confident in the Lord. Here, however, David seems to be pleading for those exact protections. Like anyone else, David experienced anxiety. Rather than succumbing to fear, however, David chose to trust God, remind himself of God's protection, and come to the Lord in prayer. This is concluded with another expression of trust in God.

David lays out the reasons he should be confident in God's protection. David then transitions, almost abruptly, into heartfelt pleas for God to rescue him from his enemies. The impression is that David is experiencing natural human anxiety and responding by reminding himself of God's goodness. The psalm ends with the same assurance expressed when it began.

Most Bible scholars believe David wrote Psalm 27 when he was in exile, with King Saul in hot pursuit. If so, the psalm aligns with other writings David composed during this time. Psalms 21, 26, and 28 are good examples. Others think this might have been written when David was fleeing from his violently rebellious son, Absalom. For the most part, Psalm 27 expresses David's confidence in the Lord as his guide and deliverer, but he also demonstrates his human fears by pleading with God for the exact thing he has been so confident of.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 3/28/2025 11:41:15 PM