He will turn toward the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their prayer.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
- KJV He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
- NKJV He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.
- NASB He has turned His attention to the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer.
- NLT He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God responds to the prayer of the destitute and does not despise it. He hears those whom the world overlooks.
Overview
This verse assures that God attends to the prayers of the poor and helpless rather than scorning them. The lowly and desperate find a hearing with the King of glory. It magnifies God's grace toward the humble, supremely shown in Christ, who came to lift up the lowly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Neh 1:6let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.
- Ps 22:24For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.
- Ps 9:18For the needy will not always be forgotten; nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.
- Ps 72:12For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
- Jer 29:11–14For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
- Deut 4:29But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Deut 32:36For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
- Dan 9:3–21So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
- Neh 1:11O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
- Ps 69:23May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 102:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.