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Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Psalm 25:16 NASB

Turn to me – The Hebrew word for “face” is the plural word pānîm. In a culture that views relationship as the fundamental element of existence, perhaps this plural word recognizes that we are always more than a single “face” to the world. That alone would be sufficient for contemplation today, but there is another facet that’s also worth exploring. The root of pānîm is the verb pānâ. With its derivatives, it occurs more than a thousand times in the Tanakh. It is the basis of our translation “turn to me.” In other words, David’s request is about asking God to show His face. That makes the request intensely personal. This isn’t about soteriology (a big theological word for salvation theory). It’s about face-to-face compassion. It’s about looking into the eyes of another and seeing real care. David asks for the experience we feel when we come home from a long journey and we see the faces of our children beam with joy when we arrive. It’s the experience of having a spouse give us a wordless hug after a difficult day. It’s feeling loved, worthy and accepted.

The basic meaning of the verb, which appears most frequently in the Qal stem, is “to turn,” but here it may assume a number of nuances. For example pānâ may mean “to turn towards” a direction (Deut 2:3); a person (Jer 50:16); a thing (Ex 16:10). It may mean “to turn back” (Josh 8:20); “to turn from” (Gen 18:22); “to turn around” (Ex 2:12); “to look for, expect” (Hag 1:9); “to pay attention to, consider” (Job 6:28).^[1]

The worst thing for followers of YHVH is to feel the sense of rejection when we can’t see His face. When God seems emotionally absent, life corrodes. Spiritual rust prevents the free flow of acceptance. We feel abandoned, even if we know that God is still on the Throne. Theology doesn’t rescue us. Knowing all the right doctrines never made anyone feel God’s loving embrace. This is why Hebrew is such an earthy language. It moves along the path of emotion. The West inherited suspicion of emotions from the Greeks, but the Hebrew God loves emotional involvement. Turning His face means experiencing the flood of emotions that uphold and approve who we are. There is no replacement for this. It takes poets to lead us to the heavenlies. David is asking God to turn, but that implies we are ready to face Him. Far too often we are the ones hiding our faces. The fear of rejection, arising from those disappointing days of disobedience, convince us that He will not look our way. But that’s fear speaking, not YHVH. Remember that great verse about making our beds in She’ol. There is no place where we cannot see the face of the Great Lover of our souls. So turn. Turn to Him and feel shalom. Topical Index: face, pānîm, turn, Psalm 25:16 ^[1] Hamilton, V. P. (1999). 1782 פָּנָה. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (727).