“And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.”
The plea not to hide God's face from the servant articulates the fear that God will turn away and abandon the suppliant. The hiding of God's face represents the worst scenario: divine abandonment in the midst of suffering. The reference to the servant indicates the relationship of dependence and service that should bind God to the psalmist. This verse expresses the deepest fear: that God will not respond.
Church Fathers on Psalms 69:17
1. We have been born into this world, and added to the people of God, at that period wherein already the herb from a grain of mustard seed has spread out its branches; wherein already the leaven, which at first was contemptible, has leavened three measures, that is, the whole round world repeopled by the three sons of Noe: Genesis 9:19 for from East and West and North and South shall come they that shall sit down with the Patriarchs, Matthew 8:11 while those shall have been…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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