Psalms 90:16

¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil. ¹⁶May Your work be shown to Your servants, and Your splendor to their children. ¹⁷May 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!

Summary

This verse is a prayer for God's favor and blessings to be upon His people. It expresses a desire for God's work to be revealed to future generations, indicating a longing for His presence and power to be evident in the lives of believers. The psalmist seeks God's beauty and favor to rest upon them, recognizing the importance of divine guidance and provision. It reflects a deep trust in God's sovereignty and a hope for His continued work in the lives of His people. Ultimately, it conveys a plea for God's grace and blessings to be poured out upon His chosen ones.

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

thy work--or, providential acts. thy glory-- (Psa 8:5; Psa 45:3), the honor accruing from Thy work of mercy to us.

John Gill Bible Commentary

Let thy work appear unto thy servants,.... Either the work of Providence, in conducting the people of Israel through the wilderness, and bringing them into the land of Canaan; which God had promised to do for them, especially for their posterity, and therefore their "children" are particularly mentioned in the next clause; or the work of salvation, as Kimchi; even the great work of redemption by the Messiah, which is the work of God, which he determined should be done, appointed his Son to do, and gave it him for that purpose now this was spoken of, and promised, as what should be done; but as yet it did not appear; wherefore it is prayed for, that it might; that the Redeemer might be sent, and the work be done: or else the work of grace upon the heart, which is God's work, and an internal one, and not so obvious to view; and hence it is entreated, that, being wrought by him, he would shine upon it, bear witness to it, and make it manifest that it was really wrought, and a genuine and true work; and moreover this may reach to and include the great work of God, to be brought about in the latter day, respecting the conversion of the Jews, the bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, the destruction of antichrist, and the establishment and glory of the kingdom of Christ: and thy glory unto their children; the glory of God, displayed in the above works of providence and grace, particularly in the work of redemption, in which all the divine perfections are glorified; or Christ himself, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, that he would appear to them in human nature, and dwell among them; and they behold his glory, as they afterwards did, Joh 1:14, or else the sense is, that the glorious grace of God might appear unto them, and upon them, by which they would be made all glorious within, and be changed into the image of Christ, from glory to glory; or that the Shechinah, the glorious majesty and presence of God, might be among them, and be seen by them in his sanctuary, Psa 63:2.