Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
Parallel translations
- WEB Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.
- KJV Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
- NKJV Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
- NASB God, restore us And make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.
- NLT Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A refrain pleading for God to restore His people and let His favor shine on them so they will be saved. Restoration begins with God turning to us, not us turning ourselves.
Overview
This recurring refrain (vv. 3, 7, 19) frames Psalm 80's lament over a devastated nation. To ask God to make His face shine is to seek the restoration of His gracious presence, echoing the Aaronic blessing (Num. 6:25). Salvation is portrayed as God's gift, granted when He turns back to a people unable to save themselves, a hope ultimately fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Lam 5:21Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,
- Num 6:25–26may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
- Ps 85:4Restore us, O God of our salvation, and put away Your displeasure toward us.
- Ps 80:19Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
- Ps 80:7Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.
- Ps 4:6Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
- 1 Kgs 18:37Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”
- Ps 119:135Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes.
- Ps 80:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
- Ps 67:1For 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
- Ps 60:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A Miktam of David for instruction. When he fought Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. You have rejected us, O God; You have broken us; You have been angry; restore us!
- Jer 31:18–19I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 80:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.