Psalms 90:16

Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.

Let thy work {H6467} appear {H7200}{H8735)} unto thy servants {H5650}, and thy glory {H1926} unto their children {H1121}.

Show your deeds to your servants and your glory to their children.

May Your work be shown to Your servants, and Your splendor to their children.

Let thy work appear unto thy servants, And thy glory upon their children.

Psalms 90:16 is a profound prayer from the oldest Psalm attributed to Moses, coming at the end of a reflection on human transience and divine eternity. It expresses a deep longing for God's active presence and majestic revelation to be evident not only to the current generation of believers but also to their descendants, ensuring a lasting spiritual legacy.

Context

This verse is part of the concluding section of Psalm 90, which begins with a powerful meditation on the eternal nature of God contrasted with the brevity and frailty of human life (verses 1-11). Attributed to Moses, it likely reflects the experience of the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness, witnessing death and judgment due to disobedience, yet also experiencing God's enduring faithfulness. After lamenting human mortality and the effects of divine wrath, the Psalm shifts to a plea for mercy, wisdom, and the manifestation of God's favor. Verse 16 specifically articulates a hope that God's mighty deeds and glorious character would be clearly displayed to His people and passed down through generations, providing comfort and assurance amidst hardship.

Key Themes

  • Divine Manifestation: The primary plea is for God to make His "work" and "glory" visible. "Thy work" refers to God's powerful actions, His interventions in history, His redemptive deeds, and His ongoing providence. "Thy glory" speaks of His inherent majesty, splendor, and the visible manifestation of His presence and character.
  • Generational Faith and Legacy: A central theme is the desire for God's truth and power to be known and experienced by succeeding generations. This prayer acknowledges the importance of passing on a spiritual inheritance, ensuring that the children of "thy servants" would also witness and acknowledge God's greatness. This resonates with the biblical emphasis on teaching the next generation about God's faithfulness, as seen in Deuteronomy 6:7 and Psalm 78:4.
  • Hope Amidst Hardship: Following a somber reflection on human suffering and mortality, this verse offers a hopeful petition for God's active presence to bring comfort, purpose, and visible blessing, transforming sorrow into joy and labor into fruitfulness.

Linguistic Insights

The Hebrew word for "work" in this context is ma'aseh (מַעֲשֶׂה), which signifies God's deeds, actions, or accomplishments—His active engagement in the world. The term for "glory" is hadar (הָדָר), which conveys splendor, majesty, honor, and adornment. It speaks of the brilliant, awe-inspiring display of God's inherent nature. Together, they represent a comprehensive desire for both God's active power and His majestic presence to be clearly revealed.

Practical Application

Psalms 90:16 serves as a timeless prayer for believers today. It encourages us to:

  • Pray for God's Visible Hand: We should earnestly pray that God's active work and glorious presence would be evident in our lives, our churches, and our communities, impacting the world around us.
  • Live as Witnesses: Our lives as "thy servants" should reflect God's work and glory, becoming a testimony to His goodness and power.
  • Invest in the Next Generation: This verse profoundly emphasizes the importance of intergenerational discipleship. We are called to intentionally teach and model faith to our children and grandchildren, ensuring that they too come to know and experience the Lord's "work" and "glory." This echoes the call for future generations to know God's mighty acts, as described in Psalm 145:4.
  • Seek God's Enduring Blessing: It reminds us that our hope for lasting impact and spiritual fruitfulness extends beyond our own lifetime, resting on God's continued revelation to those who follow us.

Note: Commentary was generated by an advanced AI, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

  • Habakkuk 3:2

    O LORD, I have heard thy speech, [and] was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

  • Psalms 44:1

    ¶ To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, [what] work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

  • Deuteronomy 32:4

    [He is] the Rock, his work [is] perfect: for all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right [is] he.

  • Numbers 14:15

    Now [if] thou shalt kill [all] this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

  • Numbers 14:24

    But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

  • Joshua 23:14

    And, behold, this day I [am] going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, [and] not one thing hath failed thereof.

  • Deuteronomy 1:39

    Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

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