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Psalm 102:17
He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
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,
19for he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, the LORD saw the earth,
Notice
The destitute have nothing to draw on, yet their prayer receives a response from the God whose glory the surrounding verses proclaim before kings and nations.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does the word “destitute” bring to mind as you consider your own prayers?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, do you fear that God might despise your prayer?
Write on thisWhat would you want to record about a prayer God has answered?
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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
Luke 18:1He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray and not give up,Luke urges prayer without giving up; the psalm records God's response to the prayer of the destitute.
Psalm 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.Both passages speak of what God does not despise: the destitute person's prayer and a broken, contrite heart.
Psalm 72:12For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.Both passages describe help reaching people in need: the destitute receive a response, and the poor without a helper receive deliverance.
Nehemiah 1:6let your ear now be attentive and your eyes open, that you may listen to the prayer of your servant which I pray before you at this time, day and night, for …Nehemiah asks God to listen to his prayer for Israel; the psalm declares that God has responded to the destitute.
Psalm 22:24For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.Both passages declare that God has heard suffering people and has not despised their prayer or affliction.
Psalm 9:18For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.The destitute whose prayer God answers share the need of the poor whose hope will not perish forever.
Deuteronomy 4:29But from there you shall seek the LORD your God, and you will find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.Both passages describe seeking God and finding a response, with Deuteronomy specifying a search with all one's heart and soul.
Jeremiah 29:11–14For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the LORD, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.Both passages speak of God's care for his people; Jeremiah's supplied words concern hope and a future, without mentioning prayer.
Deuteronomy 32:36For the LORD will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, that there is no one remaining, shut up or left …God's response to the destitute shares a thread with his compassion for servants whose power is gone.
Nehemiah 1:11–2:8Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name; and please …Nehemiah asks God to attend to his servants' prayer; the psalm declares that the destitute's prayer has received God's response.
Daniel 9:3–21I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.Prayer directed to God links these passages: Daniel seeks him with petitions, and the destitute receive his response.
John 6:37All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.Both texts reject the prospect of being dismissed: God has not despised the destitute's prayer, and Jesus will not reject those coming to him.
Where this verse fits
Job loss or money fear. feeling distant from God. answered prayer.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Need does not make a prayer contemptible to God. The Lord whose glory the nations fear has responded to the prayer of the destitute.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 102:17. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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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).