“Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.”
The psalmist pleads that God would let his face shine upon his servant, the traditional expression for the lifting of God's blessing. The idiom "let your face shine upon me" represents the restored presence of God's favor. The term "servant" emphasizes the psalmist's position of submission and obedience to God. The plea "Save me in your lovingkindness" reiterates the request for deliverance grounded in God's covenantal loyalty. The verse demonstrates that renewed faith naturally leads to renewed petition.
Church Fathers on Psalms 31:16
To the end, a psalm of David himself, an ecstasy. 1. To the end a Psalm of David Himself, the Mediator strong of hand in persecutions. For the word ecstasy, which is added to the title, signifies a transport of the mind, which is produced either by a panic, or by some revelation. But in this Psalm the panic of the people of God troubled by the persecution of all the heathen, and by the failing of faith throughout the world, is principally seen. But first the Mediator Himself…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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