Tell them the Lord looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven
Parallel translations
- WEB For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, Yahweh saw the earth;
- KJV For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold 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,
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 your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
- Ps 14:2Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God.
- 2 Chr 16:9For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”
- Heb 8:1–2Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this. We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
- 1 Kgs 8:39then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men;)
- Job 22:12“Isn’t God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!
- Ps 33:13–14Yahweh looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men.
- Heb 9:23–24It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- 1 Kgs 8:43hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 102:19 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.