◄ Psalm 69:35 ►
For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it.
Study Bible
For God will save Zion

This phrase reflects the assurance of divine intervention and protection over Zion, often synonymous with Jerusalem. Zion holds a central place in biblical history as the city of David and the location of the Temple, symbolizing God's dwelling place among His people. The promise of salvation for Zion is a recurring theme in the Psalms and prophetic literature, emphasizing God's covenant faithfulness. This assurance is echoed in passages like Isaiah 52:7-10, where the salvation of Zion is proclaimed as a demonstration of God's power and glory. Theologically, Zion's salvation can be seen as a type of the ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ, who is often associated with Zion as the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6).

Isa 46:13 I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away…
Isa 62:11 Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the ends of the earth…
Psa 102:13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,…

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

The rebuilding of Judah's cities signifies restoration and renewal after periods of destruction or exile. Historically, this can be linked to events such as the Babylonian exile and the subsequent return under leaders like Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, who physically rebuilt Jerusalem's walls and the Temple. This rebuilding is not just physical but also spiritual, as it represents the re-establishment of God's people in their land and their covenant relationship with Him. Prophets like Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:38-40) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:33-36) speak of this restoration, which also prefigures the eschatological hope of a new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21.

Isa 44:26 who confirms the message of His servant……
Amo 9:14 I will restore My people Israel from captivity;…
Jer 33:7 I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity…

that they may dwell there

The phrase emphasizes the purpose of God's saving and rebuilding actions: to provide a secure and lasting home for His people. Dwelling in the land is a fulfillment of God's promises to the patriarchs, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, regarding the Promised Land (Genesis 17:8). It signifies peace, stability, and the presence of God among His people. In a broader theological sense, this dwelling foreshadows the eternal dwelling of believers with God, as seen in Revelation 21:3, where God will dwell with His people in the new Jerusalem.

Ezk 37:25 They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob,…
Ezk 36:28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers;…
Jer 32:37 I will surely gather My people from all the lands…

and possess it.

Possession of the land is a key aspect of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. It involves not only living in the land but also exercising stewardship and enjoying the blessings associated with it. This concept is rooted in the promises made to the patriarchs and reiterated throughout the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 1:8). Theologically, possession of the land can be seen as a type of the believer's inheritance in Christ, as described in Ephesians 1:11, where believers are said to have obtained an inheritance through Him. This inheritance is both a present reality and a future hope, culminating in the eternal kingdom of God.

Jer 30:3 For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD…
Isa 60:21 Then all your people will be righteous;…
Psa 37:29 The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.

Persons / Places / Events
1. God
The central figure in this verse, God is depicted as the savior and restorer of Zion and Judah. His actions are central to the hope and future of His people.

2. Zion
Often used to refer to Jerusalem or the people of Israel, Zion represents the spiritual and physical center of God's covenant with His people.

3. Judah
One of the twelve tribes of Israel, Judah is significant as the tribe from which King David and ultimately Jesus Christ descended. It represents the southern kingdom of Israel.

4. Cities of Judah
These cities symbolize the broader community of God's people, which will be restored and inhabited once again.

5. The People of God
Implicit in the verse, they are the beneficiaries of God's saving and rebuilding actions, representing those who are faithful to Him.
Teaching Points
God's Faithfulness in Restoration
God is faithful to His promises, and His plans for restoration are certain. Believers can trust in His ability to rebuild and restore what is broken in their lives.

The Importance of Zion and Judah
Zion and Judah are not just historical places but represent the spiritual heritage and future hope for believers. Understanding their significance helps us appreciate God's redemptive plan.

Living in God's Promises
As God promises to save and rebuild, believers are called to live in the assurance of His promises, actively participating in His work of restoration in their communities.

Hope in Times of Desolation
Even in times of personal or communal desolation, believers can find hope in God's promise to save and rebuild, knowing that He is always at work for their good.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the historical context of Zion and Judah enhance our appreciation of God's promise in Psalm 69:35?

2. In what ways can we see God's faithfulness in restoration in our own lives or communities today?

3. How do the themes of salvation and rebuilding in Psalm 69:35 connect to the broader account of Scripture, particularly in the New Testament?

4. What practical steps can we take to live in the assurance of God's promises, as seen in this verse?

5. How can we encourage others who are experiencing desolation to find hope in God's promise to save and rebuild?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 44:26
This verse speaks of God fulfilling His promises to restore Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, echoing the themes of salvation and rebuilding found in Psalm 69:35.

Jeremiah 30:18
Here, God promises to restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings, similar to the restoration of Zion and Judah.

Revelation 21:2
The New Jerusalem coming down from heaven is a fulfillment of the ultimate restoration and rebuilding of God's people, connecting to the hope expressed in Psalm 69:35.
Sermons
Joyful Hopes and Vows of Thanksgiving for SalvationC. Short Psalm 69:29-36
Moral States of Mind Worthy of CultivationHomilistPsalm 69:30-36
PraiseW. Forsyth Psalm 69:30-36
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Abide, Build, Builder, Cities, Dwell, Dwelt, Heritage, Judah, Possess, Possession, Rebuild, Resting-place, Save, Saviour, Servants, Settle, Towns, Zion
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 69:34-36

     5704   inheritance, material

Psalm 69:35-36

     7254   plumb-line
     9165   restoration

Library
Messiah Unpitied, and Without a Comforter
Reproach [Rebuke] hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. T he greatness of suffering cannot be certainly estimated by the single consideration of the immediate, apparent cause; the impression it actually makes upon the mind of the sufferer, must likewise be taken into the account. That which is a heavy trial to one person, may be much lighter to another, and, perhaps, no trial at all. And a state …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Religious Zeal.
Dedication Festival Ps. lxix., 9. "The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up." INTRODUCTION.--David spoke the truth. The one great desire of his heart was the glorification of God by the erection of a temple befitting His worship at Jerusalem. Although he had plenty of cares to distract him, yet he never had this out of his heart. "I will not come within the tabernacle of mine house; nor climb up into my bed; I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep, nor mine eyelids to slumber; neither the temples …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

Letter xxxix (A. D. 1137) to the Same.
To the Same. He expresses his regret at his very long absence from his beloved Clairvaux, and his desire to return to his dear sons. He tells them of the consolations that he feels nevertheless in his great labours for the Church. 1. My soul is sorrowful until I return, and it refuses to be comforted till it see you. For what is my consolation in the hour of evil, and in the place of my pilgrimage? Are not you in the Lord? Wherever I go, the sweet memory of you never leaves me; but the sweeter the …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Music for Forty Hours' Adoration Musical Programme
Musical Programme AT THE EXPOSITION 1. MASS, after which the Blessed Sacrament is incensed. 2 .* PROCESSION during which the "Pange Lingua" is sung; after the procession the 3. "TANTUM ERGO" is sung, and the Blessed Sacrament is incensed. The "Panem de coelo, etc.," is omitted 4. THE LITANY OF THE SAINTS is chanted. 224 5. PSALM LXIX, "Deus in adjutorium etc.," is intoned, then sung alternately by the clergy or choir, after which the celebrant, still kneeling, sings the versicles "Salvos fac, etc." …
Various—The St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book

The Golden Calf
'And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3. And all the people brake off the golden …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Eye-Witness's Account of the Crucifixion
'And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

The Shortest of the Seven Cries
As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. Fathers and confessors, preachers and divines have delighted to dwell upon every syllable of these matchless cries. These solemn sentences have shone like the seven golden candlesticks or the seven stars of the Apocalypse, and have lighted multitudes of men to him who spake them. Thoughtful men have drawn a wealth of meaning from them, and in so doing have arranged …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 24: 1878

The Mystery
Of the Woman dwelling in the Wilderness. The woman delivered of a child, when the dragon was overcome, from thenceforth dwelt in the wilderness, by which is figured the state of the Church, liberated from Pagan tyranny, to the time of the seventh trumpet, and the second Advent of Christ, by the type, not of a latent, invisible, but, as it were, an intermediate condition, like that of the lsraelitish Church journeying in the wilderness, from its departure from Egypt, to its entrance into the land …
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Letter L to Geoffrey, of Lisieux
To Geoffrey, of Lisieux [80] He grieves at his having abandoned his purpose to enter the religious life and returned to the world. He exhorts him to be wise again. I. I am grieved for you, my son Geoffrey, I am grieved for you. And not without reason. For who would not grieve that the flower of your youth, which, amid the joy of angels, you offered unimpaired to God for the odour of a sweet smell (Phil. iv. 18), should now be trampled under the feet of devils, stained by the filthiness of vice and …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Fate of the Enemies of Jesus.
According to the calculation we adopt, the death of Jesus happened in the year 33 of our era.[1] It could not, at all events, be either before the year 29, the preaching of John and Jesus having commenced in the year 28,[2] or after the year 35, since in the year 36, and probably before the passover, Pilate and Kaiapha both lost their offices.[3] The death of Jesus appears, moreover, to have had no connection whatever with these two removals.[4] In his retirement, Pilate probably never dreamt for …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Christ's Resurrection Song.
WHEN the blessed Lord appeared in the midst of His disciples and they beheld the risen One in His glorified body of flesh and bones and He ate before them, He told them that all things which were written in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Him, had to be fulfilled (Luke xxiv:44). While on the way to Emmaus He said to the two sorrowing and perplexed disciples "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

Aron, Brother of Moses, 486, 487.
Abba, same as Father, [3]381; St. Paul uses both words, [4]532. Abel, [5]31, [6]252, [7]268, [8]450. Abimelech, [9]72, [10]197. Abraham, seed of, faithful Christians also, [11]148, [12]149, [13]627; servant's hand under his thigh, [14]149, [15]334; poor in midst of riches, [16]410. Absalom, David's son, [17]4, [18]5; type of Judas the traitor, [19]4, [20]20. Absolution granted by the Church, [21]500. Abyss, or deep, of God's judgments, [22]88; of man's heart, [23]136. Accuser, the devil the great, …
St. Augustine—Exposition on the Book of Psalms

Epistle xviii. To John, Bishop.
To John, Bishop. Gregory to John, Bishop of Constantinople [1586] . At the time when your Fraternity was advanced to Sacerdotal dignity, you remember what peace and concord of the churches you found. But, with what daring or with what swelling of pride I know not, you have attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to take offence. I wonder exceedingly at this, since I remember how thou wouldest fain have fled from the episcopal office rather than …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Purpose in the Coming of Jesus.
God Spelling Himself out in Jesus: change in the original language--bother in spelling Jesus out--sticklers for the old forms--Jesus' new spelling of old words. Jesus is God following us up: God heart-broken--man's native air--bad choice affected man's will--the wrong lane--God following us up. The Early Eden Picture, Genesis 1:26-31. 2:7-25: unfallen man--like God--the breath of God in man--a spirit, infinite, eternal--love--holy--wise--sovereign over creation, Psalm 8:5-8--in his own will--summary--God's …
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

The Johannine Writings
BY the Johannine writings are meant the Apocalypse and the fourth gospel, as well as the three catholic epistles to which the name of John is traditionally attached. It is not possible to enter here into a review of the critical questions connected with them, and especially into the question of their authorship. The most recent criticism, while it seems to bring the traditional authorship into greater uncertainty, approaches more nearly than was once common to the position of tradition in another …
James Denney—The Death of Christ

Of the Lord's Supper, and the Benefits Conferred by It.
1. Why the Holy Supper was instituted by Christ. The knowledge of the sacrament, how necessary. The signs used. Why there are no others appointed. 2. The manifold uses and advantages of this sacrament to the pious. 3. The Lord's Supper exhibits the great blessings of redemption, and even Christ himself. This even evident from the words of the institution. The thing specially to be considered in them. Congruity of the signs and the things signified. 4. The chief parts of this sacrament. 5. How Christ, …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision A. Jesus Cleanses the Temple. ^D John II. 13-25. ^d 13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand [We get our information as to the length of our Lord's ministry from John's Gospel. He groups his narrative around six Jewish festivals: 1, He here mentions the first passover; 2, another feast, which we take to have been also a passover (v. 1); 3, another passover (vi. 4); 4, the feast of tabernacles (vii. 2); 5, dedication (x. 22); 6, passover (xi. 55). This …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Manifestation of the Messiah
(JOHN I. 31.) "Before me, as in darkening glass, Some glorious outlines pass, Of love, and truth, and holiness, and power-- I own them thine, O Christ, And bless Thee in this hour." F. R. HAVERGAL. The Herald's Proclamation--The Meeting of John and Jesus--Christ's Baptism--"It Becometh Us."--"My Beloved Son." John's life, at this period, was an extraordinary one. By day he preached to the teeming crowds, or baptized them; by night he would sleep in some slight booth, or darksome cave. But the …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

Death of Jesus.
Although the real motive for the death of Jesus was entirely religious, his enemies had succeeded, in the judgment-hall, in representing him as guilty of treason against the state; they could not have obtained from the sceptical Pilate a condemnation simply on the ground of heterodoxy. Consistently with this idea, the priests demanded, through the people, the crucifixion of Jesus. This punishment was not Jewish in its origin; if the condemnation of Jesus had been purely Mosaic, he would have been …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

Purity and Peace in the Present Lord
PHILIPPIANS iv. 1-9 Euodia and Syntyche--Conditions to unanimity--Great uses of small occasions--Connexion to the paragraphs--The fortress and the sentinel--A golden chain of truths--Joy in the Lord--Yieldingness--Prayer in everything--Activities of a heart at rest Ver. 1. +So, my brethren beloved and longed for+, missed indeed, at this long distance from you, +my joy and crown+ of victory (stephanos), +thus+, as having such certainties and such aims, with such a Saviour, and looking for such …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

Concerning Persecution
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 We are now come to the last beatitude: Blessed are they which are persecuted . . '. Our Lord Christ would have us reckon the cost. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have enough to finish it?' (Luke 14:28). Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution. But we see here a great encouragement that may …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

I Will Pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding Also-
OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING PRAYER; WHEREIN IS BRIEFLY DISCOVERED, 1. WHAT PRAYER IS. 2. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT. 3. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO. WRITTEN IN PRISON, 1662. PUBLISHED, 1663. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought:--the Spirit--helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26). ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. There is no subject of more solemn importance to human happiness than prayer. It is the only medium of intercourse with heaven. "It is …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

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