My spirit grows faint within me; my heart is dismayed inside me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.
- KJV Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
- NKJV Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is distressed.
- NASB Therefore my spirit feels weak within me; My heart is appalled within me.
- NLT I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.
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
David's spirit is overwhelmed and his heart desolate within him. It honestly names deep inward distress and discouragement.
Overview
David does not hide his crushed spirit and desolate heart, giving voice to genuine despair before God. Such honesty is permitted and even modeled in Scripture's prayers. Yet he brings this desolation to God, the source of comfort, who in Christ binds up the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 77:3I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah
- Ps 142:3Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.
- Ps 55:5Fear and trembling grip me, and horror has overwhelmed me.
- Ps 102:3–4For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Luke 22:44And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- Ps 102:1A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You.
- Job 6:27You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.
- Ps 61:2From the ends of the earth I call out to You whenever my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
- Ps 124:4then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,
- Ps 119:81–83My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.
- Ps 25:16Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.
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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 143:4 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.