Psalms 83:16

16 Lord, fill thou the faces of them with shame; and they shall seek thy name. (Lord, fill thou their faces with shame; and then they shall seek thy name.)

Psalms 83:16 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 83:16

Fill their faces with shame
For their sins, or rather through disappointment, not being able to put their desperate and deep laid schemes into execution: or "with lightness" F15; instead of a weight of honour and glory upon them, let them be despised. R. Joseph Kimchi renders it, "fill their faces with fire"; let their faces be as if they were on fire, as men's faces are, who are put to an exceeding great blush, or are most sadly confounded and ashamed:

that they may seek thy name, O Lord;
not they themselves, who are filled with shame; for it is imprecated, that they be ashamed, and troubled for ever, and so as to perish, ( Psalms 83:17 ) but others; for the words may be supplied, as in ( Psalms 83:18 ) "that men may seek thy name, or that thy name may be sought": the judgments of God upon wicked men are sometimes the means of arousing others, and putting them upon seeking the Lord, his face, and his favour; that God would be merciful to them, pardon their iniquities, avert judgments from them, and preserve them from threatened calamities; and this is a good end, when answered; see ( Isaiah 26:9 Isaiah 26:16 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F15 (Nwlq) Heb. "levitate", Piscator; so Ainsworth.

Psalms 83:16 In-Context

14 As fire that burneth a wood; and as flame burning hills. (Like the fire that burneth a wood; and the flames that burn the hills,)
15 So thou shalt pursue them in thy tempest; and thou shalt trouble them in thine ire. (so shalt thou pursue after them with thy tempest; and thou shalt made them afraid with thy storm winds.)
16 Lord, fill thou the faces of them with shame; and they shall seek thy name. (Lord, fill thou their faces with shame; and then they shall seek thy name.)
17 Be they ashamed, and be they troubled into the world of world (Be they ashamed, and let them be troubled forever); and be they shamed, and perish they.
18 And know they, that Lord is name to thee; thou alone art the Highest in every land. (And then they shall know, that The Lord is thy name; and that thou alone art the Most High in all the earth.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.