When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my route. On the path in which I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.
Parallel translations
- KJV When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.
- BSB Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.
- NKJV When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk They have secretly set a snare for me.
- NASB When my spirit felt weak within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.
- NLT When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.
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
When David's spirit was overwhelmed, God still knew his path, though enemies hid a snare. It affirms that God knows our way even in our lowest moments.
Overview
Even as David feels crushed and surrounded by hidden traps, he confesses that God knows his way perfectly. This knowledge of God's watchful care steadies him when his own spirit fails. The Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and their path leads them safely through every danger (John 10:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 140:5The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.
- Ps 141:9Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, from the traps of the workers of iniquity.
- Mark 14:33–36He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed.
- Ps 143:4Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.
- Jer 18:22Let a cry be heard from their houses, when you shall bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hidden snares for my feet.
- Ps 61:2From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
- Ps 139:2–4You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
- Ps 1:6For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.
- Ps 35:7–8For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
- Ps 56:6They conspire and lurk, watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.
- Job 23:10But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come out like gold.
- Ps 102:4My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, for I forget to eat my bread.
- Ps 77:3I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
- Ps 22:14I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.
- Ps 31:4Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my stronghold.
- Ps 17:3You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.
- Matt 22:15Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk.
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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 142:3 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.