8 When you said, "Seek my face," my heart said to you, "I will seek your face, Yahweh."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
My heart said to thee. The change of person in the verbs has occasioned a variety of interpretations of this verse. But whoever closely examines David's design will perceive that the text runs perfectly well. As it becomes us not rashly to rush into the presence of God, until he first calls us, David first tells us, that he carefully considered how gently and sweetly God prevents his people, by spontaneously inviting them to seek his face; and then, recovering his cheerfulness, he declares he would come wheresoever God may call him. The sense of the Hebrew word lk, leka, is somewhat ambiguous. It may mean the same thing as tibi, to thee, in Latin. But as the Hebrew letter l, lamed, is often used for the preposition of, or concerning, it may properly enough be translated, my heart hath said of thee; an exposition to which the majority of interpreters incline. More probably, however, in my opinion, it denotes a mutual conversation between God and the prophet. I have just said, that no one can believingly rise to seek God until the way is first opened by God's invitation, as I have elsewhere shown from the prophet's declaration, "I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God," (Zechariah 13:9.) David accordingly says, that in this way the door was opened for him to seek God: he brings forward this promise, and thus responds, as it were, to God. [1] And, certainly, if this symphony does not precede, no man will conduct aright the chorus of the invitation. As soon, therefore, as we hear God presenting himself to us, let us cordially reply, Amen; and let us think with ourselves of his promises, as if they were familiarly addressed to us. Thus true believers have no need to seek any subtle artifice or tedious circuits to introduce themselves into God's favor, since this preface prepares so easy a way for them, "However unworthy we are to be received by thee, O Lord, yet thy commandment, by which thou enjoinest upon us to come to thee, is sufficient encouragement to us." The voice of God, therefore, ought to resound in our hearts, like an echo in hollow places, that from this mutual concord there may spring confidence to call upon him. The term, face, is commonly explained to mean help or succor; as if it had been said, Seek me. But I am persuaded that the allusion here is also to the sanctuary, and that David refers to the mode of manifestation in which God was wont to render himself in some degree visible. No doubt, it is unlawful to form any gross or carnal idea of him, but as he appointed the ark of the covenant to be a token of his presence, it is, without any impropriety, every where denominated his face. It is indeed true, that we are far from God so long as we abide in this world, because faith is far removed from sight; but it is equally true, that we now see God as in a mirror, and darkly, (1-Corinthians 13:12,) until he shall openly show himself to us at the last day. Under this word, therefore, I am persuaded, are represented to us those helps by which God raises us to his presence, descending from his inconceivable glory to us, and furnishing us on earth with a vision of his heavenly glory. But as it is according to his own sovereign pleasure that God vouchsafes us to look upon him, (as he does in Word and sacraments,) it becomes us steadily to fix our eyes on this view, that it may not be with us as with the Papists, who, by means of the wildest inventions, wickedly transform God into whatever shapes please their fancy, or their brains have conceived.
1 - Calvin's meaning appears to be this:- God has given us in his word that gracious command or invitation, "Seek ye my face," inviting us to seek him by prayer and the other exercises of religion. Now, when David says, "My heart said to thee, Seek ye my face," he means that his heart reminded God of his command or invitation; and by this he encouraged himself to seek God's face, which he expresses his resolution to do in the following clause, "Thy face, O Jehovah! will I seek."
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.
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face - How much labor 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 yhe 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.
[When thou saidst], (e) Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
(e) He grounds on God's promise and shows that he is most willing to obey his commandment.
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.
The meaning is clear, though the construction in a literal translation is obscure. The English Version supplies the implied clause. To seek God's face is to seek His favor (Psalm 105:4).
*More commentary available at chapter level.