Limitless Word
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.
Psalms 122:9 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God, I will seek your good.
  • KJV Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
  • BSB For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.
  • NKJV Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good.
  • NASB For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.

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

For the sake of God's house, he will seek Jerusalem's good. Zeal for God's dwelling drives his commitment to the city's welfare.

Overview

The psalmist's deepest motive is 'the house of Yahweh our God'; for its sake he pledges to seek the city's good. Concern for God's worship and presence governs his love for the city. This devotion to God's house anticipates Christ's zeal for His Father's house and the believer's love for the church.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Neh 2:10When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
  • Ps 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.
  • Ps 26:8Yahweh, I love the habitation of your house, the place where your glory dwells.
  • Neh 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.
  • Ps 69:9For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
  • Ps 84:1–2For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies!
  • 1 Chr 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, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,
  • Esth 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 speaking peace to all his descendants.
  • John 2:17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”
  • Ps 102:13–14You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.
  • Ps 137:5–6If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 122:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 122:9 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.