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Selected Verse: Psalms 73:26 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ps 73:26 |
King James |
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
strength--literally, "rock" (Psa 18:2).
portion-- (Psa 16:5; Lam 3:24). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
My flesh and my heart faileth - Flesh and heart here seem to refer to the whole man, body and soul; and the idea is, that his powers of body and mind failed; were spent; were exhausted. This seems to have been said in an "ideal" sense, or by anticipation. He does not mean to say that his strength then had actually failed, but he seems to have placed himself by imagination in the situation where his strength "would" be all gone - in sickness, in weakness, in sorrow, on the bed of death. He asks himself now what would be his strength then - what would be the object of chief interest and love - on what he would rely; and he answers without hesitation, and with entire confidence, that he could rely on God, and that He would be his portion forever. Even then, when heart and flesh should fail, when all the powers of mind and body should be exhausted, the love of God would survive, and he would find strength and joy in Him.
But God is the strength of my heart - Margin, as in Hebrew, "rock;" the rock on which my heart relies; that is, my refuge, my defense. See the notes at Psa 18:2. Compare Psa 61:2.
And my portion for ever - The source of my happiness. Not wealth, then; not honor; not earthly friends; not fame - will be my reliance and the ground of my hope; but that which I shall regard as most valuable - my supreme joy and rejoicing - will be the fact that God is my friend and portion. With all the doubts which I have had in regard to the rectitude of his government, I am sure that when I come to die, I shall cling to him as my hope, my joy, my all. My last refuge - my sufficient refuge - is God. When people come to die, they have "no other refuge" but God. Nothing that they can accumulate of this world's goods will meet their needs then, for God only can give strength and comfort on the bed of death. Of each and all, however vigorous they may now be, it will be true that "flesh and heart" will "fail;" of each and all it is true that when this shall occur, none but God can be the portion and the strength of the soul. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
My flesh - faileth - I shall soon die: and my heart - even my natural courage, will fail; and no support but what is supernatural will then be available. Therefore, he adds:
God is the strength of my heart - Literally, the rock of my heart.
And my portion - Allusion is here made to the division of the promised land. I ask no inheritance below; I look for one above. I do not look for this in the possession of any place; it is God alone that can content the desires and wishes of an immortal spirit. And even this would not satisfy, had I not the prospect of its being for ever, לעולם leolum, "to eternity!' |
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
2 From 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.
2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.