My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?
Parallel translations
- WEB My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Yahweh — how long?
- BSB My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?
- NKJV My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O Lord—how long?
- NASB And my soul is greatly horrified; But You, Lord—how long?
- NLT I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore 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
David's soul is in deep anguish, and he cries out, 'How long?' Even the faithful wrestle with the agony of God's seeming delay.
Overview
The torment that gripped David's body now grips his inmost soul, and his prayer breaks off in the anguished question, 'How long?' This honest lament shows that faith and deep distress can coexist. Scripture welcomes such cries, which find their answer in the God who is near to the brokenhearted and who in Christ entered fully into human suffering.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 90:13Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
- John 12:27Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
- Luke 18:7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
- Ps 42:11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
- Ps 77:2–3In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
- Ps 42:5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
- Ps 13:1–2How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
- 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.
- Ps 31:9–10Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
- Prov 18:14The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
- Matt 26:38Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
- Ps 77:7Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
- Ps 38:8I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
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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 6:3 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.