Let Thy Work Appear

Psalm 90:16-17 – “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”

The Psalmist expresses the sincere desire of one deeply interested in witnessing the work of God. He asked that God would let His work appear to “thy servants.” What a blessing it would be if all of God’s children saw themselves in this way, as God’s servants. Our purpose in life should be to serve the Lord. As His servants, we are available to do as He wishes, when He wishes. God’s work has always been in need of laborers. Jesus taught us that “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2). May we pray that all Christians would become faithful servants,

As His servants, we want Him to reveal our part in His plan. Our text teaches us to ask God to make His will known to us, especially regarding the work that He would have us do. “Let thy work appear unto thy servants” is certainly a legitimate prayer for us to pray. We ought to seek the Lord about the work He would have us to do. We should pray for wisdom about the place of our service and the specific role God would have us fill.

In addition to referring to God’s children as being servants, the writer speaks of “the beauty of the LORD” being upon us. The “beauty of the LORD” upon us is a reference to God’s work of grace in our lives. He transforms our lives and is continually working to make us more Christ-like. It is a beautiful thing to see the evidence of Christ performing His work in the life of His children.

We cannot expect God to work through us if He is not working in us. It is only as we experience God’s consistent work in our hearts that we will see His ongoing work through us. As He is working in us, on us, and through us, others will be influenced, and His glory will be seen by those who know us best. This wonderful passage concludes with a double request that God “establish thou the work of our hands.” We need to see God work, first in us, and then through us, for His glory.