And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands do thou direct.

“Thus, if Isaiah says, "The everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth"; and Susanna said, "O everlasting God";42 and Baruch wrote, "I will cry to the Everlasting in my days," and shortly after, "My hope is in the Everlasting, that he will have you, and joy is come to me from the holy One"; yet forasmuch as the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, says, "Who being the radiance of his glory and the expression of his person";44 and David too in the ninetieth psalm, "And the brightness of the Lord be on us," and, "In your light shall we see light," who has so little sense as to doubt the eternity of the Son? For when did humankind see light without the brightness of its radiance, that he may say of the Son, "There was once, when he was not," or "Before his generation he was not."”

“"And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us" [Psalm 90:17]; whence the words, "O Lord, the light of Your countenance is marked upon us." And, "Make Thou straight the works of our hands upon us:" that we may do them not for hope of earthly reward: for then they are not straight, but crooked. In many copies the Psalm goes thus far, but in some there is found an additional verse at the end, as follows, "And make straight the work of our hands." To these words the learned have prefixed a star, called an asterisk, to show that they are found in the Hebrew, or in some other Greek translations, but not in the Septuagint. The meaning of this verse, if we are to expound it, appears to me this, that all our good works are one work of love: for love is the fulfilling of the Law. [Romans 13:10] For as in the former verse he had said, "And the works of our hands make Thou straight upon us," here he says "work," not works, as if anxious to show, in the last verse, that all our works are one, that is, are directed with a view to one work. For then are works righteous, when they are directed to this one end: "for the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." [1 Timothy 1:5] There is therefore one work, in which are all, "faith which works by love:" [Galatians 5:6] whence our Lord's words in the Gospel, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." [John 6:29] Since, therefore, in this Psalm, both old and new life, life both mortal and everlasting, years that are counted for nought, and years that have the fullness of loving-kindness and of true joy, that is, the penalty of the first and the reign of the Second Man, are marked so very clearly; I imagine, that the name of Moses, the man of God, became the title of the Psalm, that pious and right-minded readers of the Scriptures might gain an intimation that the Mosaic laws, in which God appears to promise only, or nearly only, earthly rewards for good works, without doubt contains under a veil some such hopes as this Psalm displays. But when any one has passed over to Christ, the veil will be taken away: [2 Corinthians 3:15] and his eyes will be unveiled, that he may consider the wonderful things in the law of God, by the gift of Him, to whom we pray, Open Thou my eyes, and I shall see the wondrous things of Your law.”

“And may the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us His presence and His consolations. and the work of our hands establish for us Heb. כוננה. This is an expression of supplication. כוֹננה is like שמרה, watch, שפטה, judge. establish it Establish it. The two times “and the work of our hands establish” [are mentioned are for the following purposes]: One is for the work of the Tabernacle, when he blessed Israel and prayed that the Shechinah should rest on the work of their hands in the Tabernacle, and one is that there should be a blessing in the work of their hands.”

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,.... Either the grace and favour of God, his gracious presence vouchsafed in his ordinances, which makes his tabernacles amiable and lovely, and his ways of pleasantness; or the righteousness of Christ, which is that comeliness he puts upon his people, whereby they become a perfection of beauty; or the beauty of holiness, which appears on them, when renewed and sanctified by the Spirit; every grace is beautiful and ornamental: or Christ himself may be meant; for the words may be rendered, "let the beauty of the Lord be with us" (k); he who is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand altogether lovely, fairer than the children of men, let him appear as the Immanuel, God with us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it; or "direct it" (l); though God works all works of grace for us, and in us, yet there is a work of duty and obedience to him for us to do; nor should we be slothful and inactive, but be the rather animated to it by what he has done for us: our hands should be continually employed in service for his honour and glory; and, whatever we find to do, do it with all the might of grace we have; and in which we need divine direction and strength, and also establishment, that we may be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: and this petition is repeated, to show the sense he had of the necessity of it, and of the vehemence and strength of desire after it. Jarchi interprets this of the work of the tabernacle, in which the hands of the Israelites were employed in the wilderness; so Arama of the tabernacle of Bezaleel. (k) "adsis nobis", Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius; Heb. "sit apud nos", Piscator; "super nobis et apud nos", Michaelis. (l) Sept. "dirige", V. L. Musculus; "dirige et confirma", Michaelis.”

“Yea, the work. Each in particular. Roman Septuagint, &c., omit this sentence, which Houbigant improperly deems useless. (Berthier) — Charity must direct all. (St. Augustine) (Worthington) Bible Text & Cross-references: A prayer for the mercy of God; recounting the shortness and miseries of the days of man. 1 A prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our refuge from generation to generation. 2 Before the mountains were made, or the earth and the world was formed; from eternity and to eternity thou art God. 3 Turn not man away to be brought low: and thou hast said: Be converted, O ye sons of men. 4 For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday, which is past. And as a watch in the night, 5 things that are counted nothing, shall their years be. 6 In the morning man shall grow up like grass, in the morning he shall flourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry and wither. 7 For in thy wrath we have fainted away: and are troubled in thy indignation. 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thy eyes: our life in the light of thy countenance. 9 For all our days are spent; and in thy wrath we have fainted away. Our years shall be considered as a spider: 10 *the days of our years in them are threescore and ten years. But if in the strong they be fourscore years: and what is more of them, is labour and sorrow. For mildness is come upon us: and we shall be corrected. 11 Who knoweth the power of thy anger, and for thy fear 12 can number thy wrath? So make thy right hand known: and men learned in heart in wisdom. 13 Return, O Lord, how long? and be intreated in favour of thy servants. 14 We are filled in the morning with thy mercy: and we have rejoiced, and are delighted all our days. 15 We have rejoiced for the days in which thou hast humbled us: for the years in which we have seen evils. 16 Look upon thy servants and upon their works: and direct their children. 17 And let the brightness of the Lord, our God, be upon us: and direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands do thou direct.”