Psalms 102:14 AV
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones,
and favour the dust thereof.
Other translations
New International Version
For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.
New Living Translation
For your people love every stone in her walls and cherish even the dust in her streets.
English Standard Version
For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust.
Berean Study Bible
For Your servants delight in her stones and take pity on her dust.
New American Standard Bible
Surely Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And feel pity for her dust.
Good News Translation
Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins.
Cross References
Psalm 102:13
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor–the appointed time has come.
Psalm 102:15
So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.
Psalm 122:6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper.
Study
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones
(compare Isaiah 64:10, 11; Lamentations 4:1; Nehemiah 2:13; 4:2).
To this day the same affection is shown by Israelite pilgrims at the “Jews’ Wailing Place.” And favour (rather, pity) the dust thereof. The rubbish in which the stones lay (Nehemiah 4:2) seems to be intended.
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For thy servants take pleasure in her stones
Meaning not Cyrus and Darius, who gave leave and orders for the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem, as some; nor Nehemiah, and Ezra, and others, who took more pleasure in the stones and rubbish of the temple, as it lay in ruins, than in all the stately palaces in Babylon; and who were very desirous of, and took delight in gathering these stones, and putting them together again, as others;
But, the ministers of the Gospel, and other Christians, in the latter day, who will take pleasure in the great number of converts that there will then be, who, as lively stones, will be built up a spiritual house; and especially when those stones shall be laid with fair colours, and the headstone shall be brought in with acclamations, crying, Grace, grace unto it; (see 1 Peter 2:5; Isaiah 54:12; Zechariah 4:7) .
And favour the dust thereof
Which sometimes designs multitudes, ( Numbers 23:10 ) , perhaps here it may denote the meanest of the Lord’s people, who will be regarded, and not despised by his servants; but they will show favour to them, do them all the good they can, and wish well to them, and pray for their prosperity, and for the peace of Zion; that God would make it the joy of the whole earth; and when there shall be such a delight in the stones and dust of Zion, and a spirit of grace and supplication poured forth upon the servants of the Lord, to pray for the promised glory and happiness of it, it will be a token for good, and an intimation that the set time to favour her is at hand; which seems to be the sense of the psalmist: such great reverence and respect have the greatest of the wise men among the Jews for the land of Israel, literally understood, that they kiss the borders, the stones of it, and roll themselves in its dust, having perhaps in mind this passage of Scripture.
Exposition
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
They delight in her so greatly that even her rubbish is dear to them. It was a good omen for Jerusalem when the captives began to feel a home-sickness, and began to sigh after her.
We may expect the modern Jews to be restored to their own land when the love of their country begins to sway them, and casts out the love of gain.
To the church of God no token can be more full of hope than to see the members thereof deeply interested in all that concerns her; no prosperity is likely to rest upon a church when carelessness about ordinances, enterprises, and services is manifest; but when even the least and lowest matter connected with the Lord’s work is carefully attended to, we may be sure that tne set time to favour Zion is come.
The poorest church member, the most grievous backslider, the most ignorant convert, should be precious in our sight, because forming a part, although possibly a very feeble part, of the new Jerusalem. If we do not care about the prosperity of the church to which we belong, need we wonder if the blessing of the Lord is withheld?
Explanatory notes and quaint sayings
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones.
That is, they are still attached to her, and regard her with extreme affection, although in ruins.
Jerusalem itself affords at this day a touching illustration of this passage.
Many believe that a considerable portion of the lower part of the walls which enclose the present mosque of Omar, which occupies the site of the ancient Jewish temple, are the same, or at least the southern, western, and eastern sides are the same as those of Solomon’s temple.
At one part where the remains of this old wall are the most considerable and of the most massive character — where two courses of masonry, composed of massive blocks of stone, rising to the height of thirty feet — is what is called the Wailing Place of the Jews.
“Here,” says Dr. Olin, “at the foot of the wall, is an open place paved with flags, where the Jews assemble every Friday, and in small numbers on other days, for the purpose of praying and bewailing the desolations of their holy places.
Neither the Jews nor Christians are allowed to enter the Haram, which is consecrated to Mohammedan worship, and this part of the wall is the nearest approach they can make to what they regard as the precise spot within the forbidden enclosure upon which the ancient temple stood.
They keep the pavement swept with great care, and take off their shoes, as on holy ground. Standing or kneeling with their faces towards the ancient wall, they gaze in silence upon its venerable stones, or pour forth their complaints in half-suppressed, though audible tones.
This, to me, was always a most affecting sight, and I repeated my visit to this interesting spot to enjoy and sympathise with the melancholy yet pleasing spectacle.
The poor people sometimes sobbed aloud, and still found tears to pour out for the desolations of their ‘beautiful house.’ ‘If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.’
— Kitto’s Pictorial Bible.
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