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When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,
Psalms 73:21 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.
  • KJV Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
  • NKJV Thus my heart was grieved, And I was vexed in my mind.
  • NASB ¶When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within,
  • NLT Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside.

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

Looking back, Asaph confesses that his soul had been grieved and his heart embittered.

Overview

He honestly names the bitterness that his envy had produced within him. Such grief soured his spirit and clouded his judgment. This confession marks his repentance, as he recognizes that his complaint sprang from a heart not yet resting in God's goodness.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Ps 37:7Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.
  • Ps 73:3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
  • Lam 3:13He pierced my kidneys with His arrows.
  • Job 16:13His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground.
  • Ps 37:1Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 73:21YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 73:21 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.