My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
Parallel translations
- WEB My soul is weary with sorrow: strengthen me according to your word.
- BSB My soul melts with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word.
- NKJV My soul melts from heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your word.
- NASB My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.
- NLT I weep with sorrow; encourage me by your word.
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 psalmist's soul melts with sorrow, and he prays to be strengthened by God's word. It matters because Scripture upholds the weary and grieving heart.
Overview
Weighed down by grief until his soul seems to dissolve, the psalmist seeks strength according to God's word. He looks to God's promises, not himself, for endurance. This dependence is met in Christ, who gives rest to the weary and whose word strengthens the faint.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Phil 4:13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
- 1 Pet 5:10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
- Ps 27:14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
- Ps 22:14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
- Zech 10:12And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.
- Isa 40:29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
- Ps 107:26They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
- Ps 29:11The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
- Eph 3:16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
- Isa 40:31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
- Josh 2:24And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us.
- Josh 2:11And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
- Ps 20:2Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
- Deut 33:25Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 119:28 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.