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Psalms 105:4

in Psalms 105

Seek out the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Seek ye Jehovah and his strength; Seek his face evermore.

KJV

Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

This verse in Psalms 105

Commentary

11 notes on this verse
Seek the Lord and his strength,.... The ark, which is called his strength, and the ark of his strength, Psa 78:61, because he had shown his great strength by it, in dividing the waters at Jordan, throwing down the walls of Jericho, and plaguing the Philistines because of it, when among them. This was a symbol of God's presence, before which he was sought by his people; and was a type of our Lord Jesus, the man of God's right hand, whom he has made strong for himself, and who is called his strength, Psa 80:

This site's exposition

make known His deeds among the nations

on Psalms 105:1-6

The psalm opens with commands and no history yet: give thanks, sing, tell, glory, seek, remember. One of them has no end attached, because His face is to be sought always. Verse 6 names the hearers, Abraham's offspring and Jacob's sons.

This site's exposition

Seek out the LORD and His strength

Seek out is darash, and seek His face is baqash, the verb of verse 3. His strength points to the ark, which Psalm 132:8 calls the ark of Your strength. His face is sought where He is present.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers3 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Exposition on Psalm 105 · Written before 430.

proposed

"Seek the Lord, and be strengthened" [Psalm 105:4]. This is very literally construed from the Greek, though it may seem not a Latin word: whence other copies have, "be ye confirmed;" others, "be ye corroborated."...While these words, then, "Come unto Him, and be enlightened," apply to seeing; those in the text relate to doing: "Seek the Lord, and be strengthened."...But what means, "Seek His face evermore"? I know indeed that to cling unto God is good for me; but if He is always being sought, when is He found? Did he mean by "evermore," the whole of the life we live here, whence we become conscious that we ought thus to seek, since even when found He is still to be sought? To wit, faith has already found Him, but hope still seeks Him. But love has both found Him through faith, and seeks to have Him by sight, where He will then be found so as to satisfy us, and no longer to need our search. For unless faith discovered Him in this life, it would not be said, "Seek the Lord." Also, if when discovered by faith, He were not still to be diligently sought, it would not be said, "For if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." [Romans 8:25] ...And truly this is the sense of the words, "Seek His face evermore;" meaning that discovery should not terminate that seeking, by which love is testified, but with the increase of love the seeking of the discovered One should increase.

A commentator

Eusebius of Caesarea

PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 4:15 · Written before 339.

proposed

In Psalm 104 [LXX], David, when referring to the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the very men who were his godly ancestors, who lived before Moses' day, calls them Christs, only because they all received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And when he tells how they were hospitably received by foreigners, and how they learned that God was their Savior when plots were devised against them, following Moses' account, he names them prophets also and Christs, before Moses had been born and before he had laid down the rule that such men should be anointed with oil.

A commentator

Jerome

Homily 31, on Psalm 104 · Written before 420.

proposed

Seek the Lord and be strengthened. Before we sought the Lord, we were weak; but now, seeking him, we are firm and strong. But if we also find him, how much more perfect shall we be? Seek his face always. To the Hebrews indeed it was written, that three times in the year they should appear before the Lord. And what righteousness was this? And what great thing did anyone do, to appear three times in the year in the sight of God?

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Gregory the Dialogist

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 25 · Written before 604.

proposed

For holy desires grow by delay. But if they fail by delay, they were not desires. With this love burned whoever was able to reach the truth. Hence David says: "My soul has thirsted for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?" Hence he admonishes us, saying: "Seek his face always." Hence the prophet says: "My soul has desired you in the night, but also with my spirit in my inmost heart I will watch for you from early morning." Hence again the Church says in the Song of Songs: "I am wounded with love." For it is just that she should reach health from the sight of the physician, who bears the wound of love in her breast through the heat of her desire for him.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)

proposed

Seek the Loan and his strength. Put yourselves under his protection. Regard him not as a puny God, but look unto his omnipotence, and seek to know the power of his grace. We all need strength; let us look to the strong One for it. We need infinite power to bear us safely to our eternal resting place, let us look to the Almighty Jehovah for it. Seek his face evermore. Seek, seek, seek, we have the word three times, and though the words differ in the Hebrew, the sense is the same.
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)

proposed

Seek the Loan and his strength. Put yourselves under his protection. Regard him not as a puny God, but look unto his omnipotence, and seek to know the power of his grace. We all need strength; let us look to the strong One for it. We need infinite power to bear us safely to our eternal resting place, let us look to the Almighty Jehovah for it. Seek his face evermore. Seek, seek, seek, we have the word three times, and though the words differ in the Hebrew, the sense is the same. It must be a blessed thing to seek, or we should not be thus stirred up to do so. To seek his face is to desire his presence, his smile, his favour consciously enjoyed. First we seek him, then his strength and then his face; from the personal reverence, we pass on to the imparted power, and then to the conscious favour. This seeking must never cease—the more we know the more we must seek to know. Finding him, we must "our minds inflame to seek him more and more." He seeks spiritual worshippers, and spiritual worshippers seek him; they are therefore sure to meet face to face ere long.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Seek the Lord - Worship the one only Supreme Being, as the only and all-sufficient good for the soul of man. And his strength - Man is weak; and needs connection with the strong God that he may be enabled to avoid evil and do good. Seek his face - Reconciliation to him. Live not without a sense of his favor. Evermore - Let this be thy chief business. In and above all thy seeking, seek this.
Seek the Lord and his strength - Seek strength from him; seek that his strength may be imparted to you; seek him as a Being of almighty power; as One by whom you may be strengthened. The Septuagint and Vulgate render this, “Seek the Lord, and ‘be strengthened.’” Strength comes from God, and it is only by his strength that we can be strong; only by our making use of his omnipotence in our own behaIf that we can discharge the duties, and bear the trials of this life. Compare the notes at Isa 40:29-31. Seek his face evermore - His favor. His smiling upon us, his lifting up the light of his countenance, is synonymous with his favor. See Psa 24:6; Psa 27:8. Compare the notes at Psa 4:6.

The words behind it

6 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • דִּרְשׁ֣וּseek

    dirshuH1875 →164 times

  • יְהוָ֣הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְעֻזּ֑וֹand strength his

    veuzoH5797 →92 times

  • בַּקְּשׁ֖וּseek

    bakeshuH1245 →225 times

  • פָנָ֣יוface his

    fanavH6440 →2123 times

  • תָּמִֽיד׃continually

    tamidH8548 →104 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 27:8

    My heart said, “Seek His face.” Your face, O LORD, I will seek.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 29:12–13

      Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

    • Isaiah 55:6–7

      Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

    • Psalms 119:58

      I have sought Your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.

    • Psalms 24:6

      Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah

    • Psalms 63:1–2

      O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.

  • Through

    Psalms 132:8

    Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 6:41–42

      Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, and enter Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. May Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and may Your godly ones rejoice…

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 6:41

    Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, and enter Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. May Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and may Your godly ones rejoice…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 28:2

      Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of…

    • Isaiah 61:10

      I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom…

Where this verse is studied

About Psalms

Olive Trees. Vincent van Gogh, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, November 1889. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Olive Trees. Vincent van Gogh, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, November 1889. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 105; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 4:15; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 25; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 31, on Psalm 104; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.