My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned; Then I spoke with my tongue:
Parallel translations
- WEB My heart was hot within me. While I meditated, the fire burned. I spoke with my tongue:
- KJV My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
- BSB My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
- NKJV My heart was hot within me; While I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue:
- NLT The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words:
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
His pent-up sorrow burns like fire within until he finally must speak. The pressure of grief drives him to prayer.
Overview
David's meditation kindles his heart until he can no longer hold his peace. The bursting forth leads not to careless complaint but to addressing God. Honest lament before the Lord is a healthier outlet than silent brooding.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Jer 20:9If I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I can’t.
- Luke 24:32They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”
- Ezek 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and Yahweh’s hand was strong on me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 39:3 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.