abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine plural absolute
say
אֹמְרִים֮'o.me.Rim
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
shew
יַרְאֵ֪נ֫וּyar.'E.nu
H7200
to see · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
good
ט֥וֹבTov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
up
נְֽסָהne.sah-
H5375
to lift · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
light
א֨וֹר'or
H216
illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense · noun, common feminine singular construct
countenance
פָּנֶ֬יךָpa.Nei.kha
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 80:19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Numbers 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Psalms 80:7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Psalms 119:135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.
Psalms 67:1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
Psalms 89:15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
Psalms 44:3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the…
Psalms 49:16-20 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 4:6–end
We have here,
I. The foolish wish of worldly people: There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Who will make us to see good? What good they meant is intimated, Psa 4:7. It was the increase of their corn and wine; all they desired was plenty of the wealth of this world, that they might enjoy abundance of the delights of sense. Thus far they are right, that they are desirous of good and solicitous about it; but there are these things amiss in this wish: - 1. They enquire, in general, "Who will make us happy?" but do not apply themselves to God who alone can; and so they expose themselves to be ill-advised, and show they would rather be beholden to any than to God, for they would willi…
Contrast true with vain confidence.
light of thy countenance upon us--figure for favor (Num 6:26; Psa 44:3; Psa 81:16).
John Gill on Psalms 4:6
There be many that say, who will show us any good?.... These may be thought to be the men of the world; carnal worldly minded men, seeking after temporal good, and taking up their rest and contentment in it; to whom the psalmist opposes his wish and request, in the following words. Or these are the words of the men that were along with David, wishing themselves at home and in their families, enjoying the good things of life they before had; or rather these are the words of the same many, the enemies of David, spoken of in Psalm 3:1; who were wishing, as Kimchi observes, that Absalom's rebellion might prosper; that David might die and his son reign in his stead, so the evil they wished to him…
Psalm 4:6-7
6. Many say, Who will show us good? [57] Lift thou up upon us the light of thy countenance, O Jehovah. 7. Thou hast given more joy to my heart than they have in the time when their corn and their wine are increased.
6. Many say. Some are of opinion that David here complains of the cruel malice of his enemies, because they greedily sought for his life. But David, I have no doubt, compares the sole wish with which his own heart was burning, to the many desires with which almost all mankind are distracted. As it is not a principle held and acted upon by ungodly men, that those only can be truly and perfectly happy who are interested in the favor of God, and that they ought to live…
The Church Fathers
But because a human being lost this radiance of the divine countenance by sinning, it pleased God to assume the condition of a human countenance by being born in the flesh, in order that he might thereby teach us that we ought to be reborn in the Spirit. It pleased him to appear without sin in the likeness of sinful flesh so that he might cleanse us thoroughly from every sin and form again in us the distinctness of his image.
Many individuals read it in this way: "A certain one will show us good things." For it is not that the many show good things but that the One shows good things; that is, the only begotten Son of God. To those who understand it this way, the word who indicates a provider of a certain distinguished nature, an individual and a being singular in number. They use this witness: "A certain noble man." For in this passage the word certain denotes someone who is especially distinguished.
The speakers are those who, in some cases, distort the providence of God; in other cases they are people given over to pleasure, indulgence and luxury, notoriety and naked power. In their lives of such things as these they ask, Where are the good things from God? I am in poverty, and illness and hardship, at death's door, the victim of contumely and abuse, while my neighbor enjoys the good life, luxury, influence, reputation and money. Some people look only for these things, bypassing things really worthwhile, as I say, virtue and a love of wisdom, whereas others, as I mentioned above, on those grounds distort the providence of God in asking, Where is God's providence? Our lives are in such a mess, most of us are in need and poverty and at the end of our tether. What evidence is there of loving care? Those saying this, you see, behave exactly like someone struggling to see the sun in the unwavering brightness of midday and calling the light in question.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Fellowship — (1.) With God, consisting in the knowledge of his will (Job 22:21; John 17:3); agreement with his designs (Amos 3:2); mutual affection (Rom. 8: 38, 39); enjoyment of his presence (Ps. 4:6);…
Neginoth — I.e., songs with instrumental accompaniment, found in the titles of Ps. 4; 6; 54; 55; 67; 76; rendered “stringed instruments,” Hab. 3:19, A.V. It denotes all kinds of stringed instruments, as the…
Affliction, Prayer Under · For divine comfort — For divine comfort
Countenance · Cheerful — Cheerful
Infidelity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Light · Illustrative of: Favour of God — Illustrative of: Favour of God
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 4:7-8) Looking into his own small camp David is conscious of a disheartened feeling which is gaining power over him. The words: who will make us see, i.e., (as in Psa 34:13) experience any good? can be taken as expressive of a wish according to Sa2 23:15; Isa 42:23; but the situation gives it the character of a despondent question arising from a disheartened view of the future. The gloom has now, lasted so long with David's companions in tribulation that their faith is turned to fear, their hope to despair. David therefore prays as he looks upon them: Oh lift upon us (נסה־עלינוּ)
(Note: The Metheg which stands in the second syllable before the tone stands by the Sheb, in the metrical…
your face (or the light of your face): The psalmist seeks God’s favor and peace (Num 6:25-26), which can transform darkness into light (see Ps 27:1). Confident trust in the Lord is an antidote to anger, resentment, jealousy, and materialism.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 4:6
There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
We have now entered upon the third division of the Psalm, in which the faith of the afflicted one finds utterance in sweet expressions of contentment and peace. There were many, even among David's own followers, who wanted to see rather than to believe. Alas! this is the tendency of us all! Even the regenerate sometimes groan after the sense and sight of prosperity, and are sad when darkness covers all good from view. As for worldlings, this is their unceasing cry. "Who will shew us any good?" Never satisfied, their gaping mouths are turned in every direction, their empty hearts are r…
