May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands—yes, establish the work of our hands!
Parallel translations
- WEB Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.
- KJV And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
- NKJV And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.
- NASB May the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
- NLT And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
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
Moses prays for God's favor to rest on His people and to make their work lasting and fruitful.
Overview
The psalm closes asking that God's gracious favor establish "the work of our hands." Human labor gains enduring meaning only when God blesses and confirms it. In Christ, our labor is "not in vain" (1 Cor. 15:58), for He gives eternal significance to lives lived under God's favor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 16:3Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.
- 1 Cor 3:7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
- 2 Th 2:16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,
- Job 22:28Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.
- Isa 26:12O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.
- Ps 118:25O LORD, save us, we pray. We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!
- Ps 68:28Summon Your power, O God; show Your strength, O God, which You have exerted on our behalf.
- Ps 80:3Restore us, O God, and 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.
- 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
- Ps 50:2From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
- Ps 110:3Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.
- 2 Cor 3:18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
- Ps 27:4One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.
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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 90:17 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
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