Bible Strands
Psalms 119:28
My soul melts with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God within a continuous prayer for understanding, positioned between a request to grasp divine precepts (Psalms 119:27) and a plea to be removed from deceit (Psalms 119:29).
The words — The Hebrew דָּלְפָה (dal.Fah) literally means "it weeps" or "melts," describing the psalmist's נַפְשִׁ (naphshi, "my soul") as dissolving under מִתּוּגָה (mitugah, "grief"), while קַיְּמֵנִי (qayyemēni, "strengthen me") directs the plea toward restoration כִּדְבָרֶךָ (ki'dvarekha, "according to Your word").
The thread — This image of dissolution under grief parallels the visceral despair of Psalms 22:14, while the request for strength anchored in divine instruction echoes the command to wait and be strong in Psalms 27:14 and the New Testament affirmation of Christ-given strength in Philippians 4:13.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to admit complete emotional depletion and to explicitly anchor the demand for renewal to the reliability of God's spoken instruction rather than personal endurance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
Cross-references
- Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
- Psalms 27:14 Wait patiently for the LORD; be strong and courageous. Wait patiently for the LORD!
- 1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.
- Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak.
- Zechariah 10:12 I will strengthen them in the LORD, and in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 29:11 The LORD gives His people strength; the LORD blesses His people with peace.
- Psalms 107:26 They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths; their courage melted in their anguish.
- Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
- Ephesians 3:16 I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,