For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
Parallel translations
- WEB For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth;
- BSB For He looked down from the heights of His sanctuary; the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth
- NKJV For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
- NASB For He looked down from His holy height; From heaven the Lord looked upon the earth,
- NLT Tell them the Lord looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven
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
The LORD looks down from His holy height, surveying the earth from heaven. The exalted God attends to human affairs.
Overview
God is pictured looking down from His sanctuary in heaven upon the earth below. Though transcendent, He is not detached but observes the plight of people. This combination of majesty and attentiveness assures the suffering that the high God sees their need.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 26:15Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
- Ps 14:2The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
- 2 Chr 16:9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
- Heb 8:1–2Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
- 1 Kgs 8:39Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
- Job 22:12Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
- Ps 33:13–14The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.
- Heb 9:23–24It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- 1 Kgs 8:43Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 102:19 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.