And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
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.
- BSB 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!
- 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.
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 deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall succeed.
- 1 Cor 3:7So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
- 2 Th 2:16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
- Job 22:28You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways.
- Isa 26:12Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us, for you have also done all our work for us.
- Ps 118:25Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now.
- Ps 68:28Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.
- Ps 80:3Turn us again, God. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.
- Ps 80:7Turn us again, God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.
- 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
- Ps 50:2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.
- Ps 110:3Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.
- 2 Cor 3:18But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
- Ps 27:4One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire 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
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.