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My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalms 73:26 · New King James Version
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.
  • BSB My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  • ESV My flesh and my heart may 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 12:9–10He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
  • Isa 40:29–31He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
  • Ps 138:3In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul.
  • Ps 18:2Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
  • 2 Cor 4:8–10We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair;
  • 2 Cor 4:16–18Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.
  • Ps 16:5–6Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
  • Ps 84:2My soul longs, and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
  • Lam 3:24“Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
  • Ps 63:1A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
  • Ps 142:5I cried to you, Yahweh. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
  • Ps 27:14Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
  • Rev 21:3–4I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and 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 hope in your word.
  • 2 Tim 4:6–8For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.
  • Ps 40:12For innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart has failed me.
  • Job 13:15Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.
  • Ps 119:57Yahweh is my portion. I promised to obey your words.
  • 2 Pet 1:14knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
  • Rev 21:7He who overcomes, I will give him these things. 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.