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Psalm 51:18
Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
16For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart.
18Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
Notice
Jerusalem’s walls widen the prayer from a broken heart to a whole city, making the good of God’s people part of repentance’s concern.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about the turn from a contrite heart to Jerusalem’s walls?
Write on thisHow does asking for God’s “good pleasure” shape what you would ask for your church?
Write on thisWhat need in your congregation could you bring to God alongside your own need for mercy?
Write on thisConnect
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 122:6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Those who love you will prosper.Both passages make Jerusalem’s welfare a matter of prayer, asking for its good and its peace.
Psalm 102:13You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.Both passages look to God for Zion’s good, with one asking for his favor and the other anticipating his mercy.
Psalm 147:2The LORD builds up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.Psalm 51 asks God to build Jerusalem’s walls; Psalm 147 declares that the LORD builds up Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 2:20Then I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor …Both passages connect building in Jerusalem with dependence on God, through prayer in the psalm and confidence in Nehemiah.
Psalm 102:16For the LORD has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory.Zion’s building is the shared concern: Psalm 51 petitions God, while Psalm 102 declares that the LORD has built her up.
Philippians 2:13For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.Both passages name God’s good pleasure as the basis for his action, toward Zion in one and believers in the other.
Zechariah 2:5For I,’ says the LORD, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.Walls connect these passages: one asks God to build Jerusalem’s walls; the other describes God himself as a surrounding wall of fire.
Isaiah 62:1For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a …Both name Zion and Jerusalem as the focus of concern, seeking the city’s good from God.
Luke 12:32“Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.God’s good pleasure connects the prayer for Zion’s good with Jesus’ assurance that the Father delights to give the Kingdom.
Ephesians 1:5having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,Both texts speak of God’s good pleasure, linking his favor with Zion’s welfare and adoption through Jesus Christ.
Nehemiah 2:17Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, let’s build up the wall of …Jerusalem’s walls are the shared concern: the psalm asks God to build them, and Nehemiah urges people to rebuild.
2 Thessalonians 1:11To this end we also pray always for you that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith with power,Both are prayers asking God to act for others’ good, though one concerns Jerusalem and the other believers’ calling and faith.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. leadership weight. wanting a steady prayer habit.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Your need for mercy leaves room to pray for the good of others. This plea for Jerusalem’s walls rests its appeal on God’s good pleasure.
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).