Psalms 27:8

King James Version

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

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, " Lord , I am coming."

English Revised Version
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

Update Bible Version
My heart said to you, My face will seek your face. O Yahweh, I will seek [you].

New Century Version
My heart said of you, "Go, worship him." So I come to worship you, Lord .

New English Translation
My heart tells me to pray to you, and I do pray to you, O Lord .

Webster's Bible Translation
[When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; my heart said to thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

World English Bible
When you said, "Seek my face," My heart said to you, "I will seek your face, Yahweh."

Amplified Bible
When You said, "Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need]," my heart said to You, "Your face, O LORD, I will seek [on the authority of Your word]."

English Standard Version
You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, Lord , do I seek."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Myn herte seide to thee, My face souyte thee; Lord, Y schal seke eft thi face.

Berean Standard Bible
My heart said, "Seek His face." Your face, O LORD, I will seek.

Contemporary English Version
My heart tells me to pray. I am eager to see your face,

American Standard Version
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.

Bible in Basic English
When you said, Make search for my face, my heart said to you, For your face will I make my search.

Complete Jewish Bible
"My heart said of you, ‘Seek my face.'" Your face, Adonai , I will seek.

Darby Translation
My heart said for thee, Seek ye my face. Thy face, O Jehovah, will I seek.

Easy-to-Read Version
My heart told me to come to you, Lord , so I am coming to ask for your help.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
In Thy behalf my heart hath said: 'Seek ye My face'; Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

King James Version (1611)
When thou saidst, Seeke ye my face, my heart said vnto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seeke.

New Life Bible
You have said, "Look for My face." My heart said to You, "O Lord, Your face will I look for."

New Revised Standard
"Come," my heart says, "seek his face!" Your face, Lord , do I seek.

Geneva Bible (1587)
When thou saidest, Seeke ye my face, mine heart answered vnto thee, O Lorde, I will seeke thy face.

George Lamsa Translation
My heart said unto thee, Let my face seek thy face.

Good News Translation
When you said, "Come worship me," I answered, "I will come, Lord ."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
To thee, said my heart - When thou saidst Seek ye my face - Thy face, O Yahweh, will I seek!

Douay-Rheims Bible
(26-8) My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek.

Revised Standard Version
Thou hast said, "Seek ye my face." My heart says to thee, "Thy face, LORD, do I seek."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
My heart hath sayde vnto thee [according to this thy commaundement] seeke ye my face: thy face O God wyll I seeke.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
My heart said to thee, I have diligently sought thy face: thy face, O Lord, I will seek.

Christian Standard Bible®
My heart says this about you:“Seek his face.”Lord, I will seek your face.

Hebrew Names Version
When you said, "Seek my face," My heart said to you, "I will seek your face, LORD."

Lexham English Bible
On your behalf my heart says, "Seek my face." Your face, O Yahweh, I do seek.

Literal Translation
My heart said to You, Seek my face; Your face, O Jehovah, I will seek.

Young's Literal Translation
To Thee said my heart `They sought my face, Thy face, O Jehovah, I seek.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Herke vnto my voyce (O LORDE) when I crie vnto the: haue mercy vpon me & heare me.

New American Standard Bible
When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "I shall seek Your face, LORD."

New King James Version
When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, O Lord , I shall seek."

Legacy Standard Bible
On Your behalf my heart says, "Seek My face,""Your face, O Yahweh, I shall seek."

Contextual Overview

⁷ Hear, O Lord , when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. ⁸ When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord , will I seek. ⁹ Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. ¹⁰ When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. ¹¹ Teach me thy way, O Lord , and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. ¹² Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. ¹³ I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord .

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

When: etc. or, My heart said unto thee, Let my face seek thy face, etc

Seek: Psalms 24:6, Psalms 105:4, Isaiah 45:19, Isaiah 55:6, Isaiah 55:7, Hosea 5:15

Thy: Psalms 63:1, Psalms 63:2, Psalms 119:58, *marg. Jeremiah 29:12, Jeremiah 29:13

Reciprocal: Exodus 33:7 - sought 1 Chronicles 16:11 - seek his Nehemiah 5:7 - I consulted with myself Psalms 10:4 - will not Psalms 16:2 - thou hast Psalms 27:4 - seek Psalms 53:2 - seek Psalms 140:6 - hear Ecclesiastes 2:1 - said Lamentations 3:25 - unto Amos 5:4 - Seek Matthew 7:7 - seek Luke 11:9 - seek John 11:29 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 25:23
And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Genesis 27:13
And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

Genesis 27:43
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

Acts 4:19
But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Ephesians 6:1
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

[When thou saidst], seek ye my face,.... To seek the face of the Lord is to attend his house and ordinances, where he grants his presence; and with this view to enjoy his gracious presence, and the light of his countenance, not being content with bare attendance without it; it is to seek the Lord himself, and communion with him through Christ, the brightness of his glory, and the Angel of his presence; for the right way of seeking the Lord is in Christ, who is the way of access to him, and of acceptance and fellowship with him; and that by prayer and supplication for his sake, and with all the heart and soul; and this the Lord calls upon his people to do, in his word, in his providences, and by his Spirit moving upon their hearts, and inclining them to it, as follows;

my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek: it is an encouragement to believers to seek the Lord when he calls them to it; for it is a command with promise, that they shall find him, see his face, and enjoy his favour; and he never says to any, "seek ye my face, in vain"; and they always find it good for them to draw nigh to him: and as it is the best way of seeking God, when the heart is engaged in it, so it is a token for good; and it looks as though the Lord had a mind to manifest himself, and grant the favour sought for, when he inclines the hearts of his people to pray unto him for it; and this the psalmist makes mention of as taking encouragement from it, to hope and believe that the Lord would hear and answer him, and have mercy on him; because he had bid him seek his face, and he found his heart ready to do it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When thou saidst, Seek ye my face ... - Margin, “My heart said unto thee, Let my face seek thy face.” The literal translation would be: “To Thee hath said my heart, Seek ye my face; thy face, O Lord, will I seek.” DeWette thus expresses the idea, “Of thee my heart thinks (in regard to the command to seek thy face), thy face, Lord, I will seek.” Our translators have given the correct meaning, though the original is quite obscure. The passage is designed to denote the state of the mind, or the disposition, in regard to the commands of God. The command or precept was to seek God. The prompt purpose of the mind or heart of the psalmist was, that he would do it. He “immediately” complied with that command, as it was a principle of his life - one of the steady promptings of his heart - that he would do this. The heart asked no excuse; pleaded for no delay; desired no reason for not complying with the command, but at once assented to the propriety of the law, and resolved to obey. This related undoubtedly at first to prayer, but the “principle” is applicable to all the commands of God. It is the prompting of a pious heart immediately and always to obey the voice of God, no matter what his command is, and no matter what sacrifice may be required in obeying it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 27:8. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face — How much labour and skill have been employed to make sense of this verse as it stands in our translation! The original words are the following, from which our Version has been forcibly extracted: -

לך אמר לבי בקשו פני את פניך יהוה אבקש lecha amar libbi bakkeshu panai; eth paneycha, Yehovah, abakkesh; of which I believe the true rendering to be as follows: "Unto thee, my heart, he hath said, Seek ye my face. Thy face, O Jehovah, I will seek. O my heart, God hath commanded thee to seek his face." Then, his face I will seek. Which may be paraphrased thus: Unto thee, his Church, God hath said, Seek ye, all who compose it, my face. To which I, his Church, have answered, Thy face, O Jehovah, I will seek. On referring to Archbishop Secker, I find that he, and indeed Bishop Horsley, are of the same mind.

I had formerly proposed another method of reading this difficult verse. Suspecting that some error had got into the text, for בקשו פני bakkeshu panay, "seek ye my face," I had substituted אבקש פניך abakkesh paneycha, "I will seek thy face;" or with the Vulgate and Septuagint, בקשתי פניך bakkesti paneycha, "I have sought thy face," exquisivit te facies mea, Εξεζητησα το προσωπον σου. And this small alteration seemed to make a good sense: "My heart said unto thee, I have sought thy face, (or, I will seek thy face,) and thy face, O Lord, I will seek." I have not only done what it was my duty and interest to do, but I will continue to do it. Some have proposed to mend the text thus: לך לך אמר לבי lech lecha, amar libbi, "Go to, saith my heart," נבקש פני יהוה nebakkesh peney Jehovah, "Let us seek the face of Jehovah." This is rather a violent emendation, and is supported by neither MSS. nor Versions. The whole verse is wanting in one of Dr. Kennicott's MSS. On the whole I prefer what is first proposed, and which requires no alteration in the text; next, that of the Vulgate and Septuagint.

The old Psalter paraphrases thus: Til the saide my hert, the my face soght: thy face, lord, I sal seke. "The gernyng of my hert that spekes til god, and he anely heres: saide til the my face, that es my presence soght the and na nother thyng. And fra now I sal seke thy face lastandly, til my dede; and that I fynd my sekyng:" i.e., To thee, said my heart; thee my face sought: thy face, O Lord, I shall seek. "The gerning of my hert, that spekes til God, and he anely heres, til the my face; that es, my presence soght the and no nother thyng: and fra now I sal seke thy face lastandly, til my dede, and that I fynd my sekyng:" i.e., The yearning strong desire of my heart, which speaks to God, and he alone hears; my face is to thee; that is, myself sought thee, and none other thing, and from now I shall seek thee lastingly till my death, and till that I find what I seek.