I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
Parallel translations
- WEB I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
- BSB I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah
- NKJV I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
- NASB When I remember God, then I am restless; When I sigh, then my spirit feels weak. Selah
- NLT I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. Interlude
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
When Asaph remembers God he groans, and meditation leaves his spirit overwhelmed.
Overview
Strikingly, even thinking about God brings groaning rather than immediate relief, for Asaph cannot reconcile his pain with God's past goodness. His honest lament shows that genuine faith can wrestle with deep anguish. The Selah invites a pause to feel the weight of this struggle, which the psalm will not leave unresolved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 61:2From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
- Ps 142:2–3I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
- Job 31:23For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
- Job 7:11Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
- Ps 102:3–28For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
- Job 23:15–16Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
- Ps 55:4–5My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
- 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.
- Jer 17:17Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
- Ps 43:5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
- 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.
- Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
- Lam 3:39Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
- Ps 143:4–5Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
- Lam 3:17And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
- Ps 88:3–18For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
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 77:3 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.