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Psalms 77:3

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
Psalms 77:3 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah.
  • KJV I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.
  • BSB I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. 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, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
  • Ps 142:2–3I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles.
  • Job 31:23For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because his majesty, I can do nothing.
  • Job 7:11“Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
  • Ps 102:3–28For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.
  • Job 23:15–16Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.
  • Ps 55:4–5My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me.
  • Ps 42:11Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.
  • Jer 17:17Don’t be a terror to me: you are my refuge in the day of evil.
  • Ps 43:5Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: my Savior, my helper, and my God.
  • Ps 42:5Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
  • Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
  • Lam 3:39Why does a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?
  • Ps 143:4–5Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.
  • Lam 3:17You have removed my soul far off from peace; I forgot prosperity.
  • Ps 88:3–18For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)
DOUBTINGSEEKERS

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 77:3YouTube · 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 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.

I rememberedזָכַרGodאֱלֹהִיםand was troubledהָמָהI complainedשִׂיחַand my spiritרוּחַwas overwhelmedעָטַףSelahסֶלָה
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