Read
Psalm 109:22
for I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded within me.
20This is the reward of my adversaries from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my soul.
21But deal with me, GOD the Lord, for your name’s sake, because your loving kindness is good, deliver me;
22for I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded within me.
23I fade away like an evening shadow. I am shaken off like a locust.
24My knees are weak through fasting. My body is thin and lacks fat.
Notice
A wounded heart becomes part of the plea for deliverance, as the speaker tells God how poor and needy he is amid his adversaries’ attacks.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you mean if you prayed the words “poor and needy” today?
Write on thisWhat, if anything, would you want to tell God after reading “My heart is wounded within me”?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Proverbs 15:4A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.Proverbs names the harm a tongue can do; the psalm describes a wounded heart amid evil speech.
Psalm 40:17But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.Both speakers say “I am poor and needy” as they appeal to God for help and deliverance.
Psalm 70:5But I am poor and needy. Come to me quickly, God. You are my help and my deliverer. LORD, don’t delay.Both prayers name being poor and needy as the speaker seeks God’s deliverance.
Psalm 86:1A Prayer by David. Hear, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.Both prayers use “for I am poor and needy” as a reason for asking God to respond.
Psalm 69:29But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.Both speakers bring their suffering to God, seeking his saving help from within their distress.
2 Kings 4:27When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to thrust her away; but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for …The woman’s soul is troubled within her, and the psalm’s speaker describes his heart as wounded within him.
2 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.Both texts speak of poverty, though the psalm names the speaker’s need and Paul describes Christ becoming poor for others.
John 12:27“Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time’? But I came to this time for this cause.Jesus names his troubled soul, while the psalm’s speaker names his wounded heart; both speak of distress within.
Luke 22:44Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.Jesus prays in agony, and the psalm’s speaker pleads with God while describing his wounded heart.
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.Both describe suffering within, though Job names God’s arrows as its cause and the psalm speaks amid attacks from adversaries.
Matthew 8:20Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”Both texts name deprivation: the psalm’s speaker is poor and needy, and Jesus has nowhere to lay his head.
Isaiah 53:3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t …Both passages describe suffering amid hostility: the psalm’s speaker faces adversaries, and Isaiah’s figure is despised and rejected.
Where this verse fits
Grief. broken friendship. injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not have to leave your wounded heart out of prayer. Here, the speaker names his need while appealing to God’s good loving kindness for deliverance.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).