Notice
The promise to seek Jerusalem’s good ties concern for a city to devotion to YHWH whose house stands within its walls.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about the reason given for seeking Jerusalem’s good?
Write on thisWhat might seeking good look like among the people you worship with this week?
Write on thisHow does the commitment to seek good extend the prayer for peace in the preceding verses?
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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
Nehemiah 2:10When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the …Seeking welfare joins these passages: the psalm pledges to seek Jerusalem’s good, while Nehemiah’s arrival serves the welfare of Israel’s people.
Psalm 84:10For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.Both passages value God’s house, one preferring its threshold to wickedness and the other seeking Jerusalem’s good for its sake.
Psalm 26:8LORD, I love the habitation of your house, the place where your glory dwells.Love for the LORD’s dwelling in Psalm 26 shares Psalm 122’s devotion to the house of God.
1 Chronicles 29:3In addition, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, since I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, I give it to the house of my God, …Affection for God’s house motivates a response in both passages: giving treasure in Chronicles and seeking Jerusalem’s good in the psalm.
John 2:17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”God’s house is the shared concern: John records remembered words about zeal, while the psalm makes it the reason for seeking good.
Nehemiah 13:14Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances.Concern for God’s house shapes both texts, through Nehemiah’s remembered deeds and the psalm’s pledge to seek Jerusalem’s good.
Esther 10:3For Mordecai the Jew was next to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brothers, seeking the good of his people and …Mordecai’s seeking his people’s good echoes the psalm’s commitment to seek Jerusalem’s good, alongside the surrounding prayer for peace.
Psalm 84:1–2For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwellings, LORD of Armies!Both psalms express regard for the LORD’s dwelling, through praise of its loveliness and a commitment made for its sake.
Psalm 69:9For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.God’s house motivates both speakers, though Psalm 69 describes consuming zeal and reproach while Psalm 122 pledges to seek good.
2 Samuel 15:25The king said to Zadok, “Carry God’s ark back into the city. If I find favor in the LORD’s eyes, he will bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation;Both passages connect concern for the city with God’s dwelling there; the king hopes to return, and the psalm seeks its good.
1 Kings 8:66On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that the …Both passages concern good for Israel’s shared life, though Kings celebrates goodness received and the psalm pledges to seek good.
Ezra 8:30So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.God’s house in Jerusalem links these passages: Ezra describes valuables carried there, while the psalm seeks the city’s good for its sake.
Where this verse fits
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One step
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Encouragement
The psalm ends with a commitment to Jerusalem’s good. Devotion to YHWH has consequences for how his worshiper treats the place and people around him.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 122:9. 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).