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Psalm 102:16
For the LORD has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory.
14For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust.
15So the nations will fear the LORD’s name, all the kings of the earth your glory.
16For the LORD has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory.
17He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
18This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise the LORD,
Notice
Zion’s rebuilding links God’s glory with a place whose stones and dust his servants cherish, giving hope for repair a place within their praise.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your understanding of glory when God appears as the builder of Zion?
Write on thisHow does the mention of Zion’s dust shape your reading of its rebuilding?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 51:18Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.Psalm 51 asks God to build Jerusalem’s walls; Psalm 102 declares that the LORD has built up Zion.
Isaiah 60:1–2“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the LORD’s glory has risen on you!Both passages speak of the LORD’s glory appearing, with Isaiah describing that glory as light rising upon his people.
Jeremiah 33:7I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel, and will build them as at the first.Both texts name God as the builder, with Jeremiah promising the restoration of Judah and Israel.
Isaiah 14:32What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.Both passages attribute Zion’s establishment to the LORD; Isaiah also names it as a refuge for his afflicted people.
Psalm 69:35For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah. They shall settle there, and own it.Both psalms speak of God building, with Zion named in each and Judah’s cities included in Psalm 69.
Psalm 147:2The LORD builds up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.Both passages credit the LORD with building up Jerusalem, called Zion in Psalm 102.
Isaiah 2:2–3It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the …Both passages describe an established place associated with the LORD: Zion built up and the mountain of his house raised high.
Zechariah 2:6–13Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says the LORD; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says the LORD.Both passages describe the LORD acting in his people’s history, though Zechariah’s excerpt speaks of scattering rather than rebuilding.
Jeremiah 31:4I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who …Both passages describe God rebuilding his people’s life, with Zion named in the psalm and Israel addressed in Jeremiah.
Isaiah 66:18“For I know their works and their thoughts. The time comes that I will gather all nations and languages, and they will come, and will see my glory.Both passages speak of God’s glory being seen; Isaiah names the gathered nations and languages as those who will see it.
Psalm 104:31Let the LORD’s glory endure forever. Let the LORD rejoice in his works.Both psalms speak of the LORD’s glory alongside his works, with Psalm 102 naming the building of Zion.
Jeremiah 42:10‘If you will still live in this land, then I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I grieve over the distress …Both passages describe God building; Jeremiah’s promise includes the condition that the people remain in the land.
Where this verse fits
Waiting. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The dust in the surrounding lines has its place in this account of glory. Your prayers need no grand setting: YHWH who builds Zion hears the destitute.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).