Bible Strands
Psalms 143:4
My spirit grows faint within me; my heart is dismayed inside me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses God immediately after describing how the enemy has crushed his life and forced him into darkness like the dead.
The words — The Hebrew verb תִּתְעַטֵּף (titteʿattef) literally means "it has fainted away" or "is enveloped," while יִשְׁתּוֹמֵם (yishtomem) means "it is appalled." These verbs directly modify רוּחִי (rûḥî, "my spirit") and לִבִּי (libbî, "my heart") to describe internal collapse.
The thread — The text records spiritual fainting in Psalms 142:3 and 77:3, while the accompanying dread in Psalms 55:5 mirrors the same exhaustion.
Why it lands — The passage states the psalmist's internal collapse before pointing to remembrance in the following verse, requiring the reader to acknowledge human vulnerability as the context for turning toward God's works.
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
Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
Cross-references
- Psalms 77:3 I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah
- Psalms 142:3 Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.
- Psalms 55:5 Fear and trembling grip me, and horror has overwhelmed me.
- Psalms 102:3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Luke 22:44 And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- Job 6:27 You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.
- Psalms 25:16 Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.
- Psalms 61:2 From the ends of the earth I call out to You whenever my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
- Psalms 102:1 A prayer of one who is afflicted, when he grows faint and pours out his lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You.
- Psalms 119:81 My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.