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My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalms 73:26 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  • KJV My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
  • ESV My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  • NKJV My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  • NASB My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  • NLT My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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

Though his flesh and heart may fail, God is the strength of his heart and his portion forever.

Overview

Asaph confesses that even when his body and spirit give out, God remains his unfailing strength and everlasting inheritance. God himself, not earthly prosperity, is the believer's lasting portion. This confidence in God as our forever-portion is grounded in Christ, in whom believers possess an eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:4).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • 2 Cor 12:9–10But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
  • Isa 40:29–31He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.
  • Ps 138:3On the day I called, You answered me; You emboldened me and strengthened my soul.
  • Ps 18:2The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
  • 2 Cor 4:8–10We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
  • 2 Cor 4:16–18Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.
  • Ps 16:5–6The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
  • Ps 84:2My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
  • Lam 3:24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
  • Ps 63:1A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
  • Ps 142:5I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
  • Ps 27:14Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!
  • Rev 21:3–4And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.
  • Phil 1:21For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
  • Ps 119:81–82My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.
  • 2 Tim 4:6–8For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
  • Ps 40:12For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.
  • Job 13:15Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.
  • Ps 119:57The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.
  • 2 Pet 1:14because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
  • Rev 21:7The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

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 73:26YouTube · 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 73:26 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.