the First Week after Epiphany
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King James Version
Psalms 77:4
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanDevotionals:
- DailyParallel Translations
You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Thou keepest mine eyes waking: I was astonied and could not speake.
You have kept me from closing my eyes;I am troubled and cannot speak.
You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can't speak.
You would not let me sleep. I tried to say something, but I was too upset.
You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Because of you, Lord God, I can't sleep. I am restless and can't even talk.
When remembering God, I moan; when I ponder, my spirit fails. (Selah)
When I think thereon, O God, I must moan; when I muse thereon, my spirit fainteth. Selah
Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speake.
All mine enemies set a watch against me: I was troubled, and spoke not.
Thou holdest mine eyes watching: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak.
You hold open my eyelids. I am troubled and cannot speak.
You seized the watches of my eyes; I am troubled and I cannot speak.
You keep my eyes from closing. I am too upset to say anything.
You held my eyelids open; I was troubled and could not speak.
You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
You don't let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray!
You keep my eyes from closing. I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Thou hast held, watching, mine eyes, I was driven to and fro, and could not speak;
(76-5) My eyes prevented the watches: I was troubled, and I spoke not.
My eyes are dazed; I am dumb so that I cannot speak.
He keeps me awake all night; I am so worried that I cannot speak.
You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Thou dydst kepe the watche of mine eies: I was amased & coulde not speake.
You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Thou holdest open mine eyelids; I am full of disquiet and cannot speak.
Myn iyen bifore took wakyngis; Y was disturblid, and Y spak not.
Thou hast taken hold of the watches of mine eyes, I have been moved, and I speak not.
You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can't speak.
Thou dost hold my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
You hold my eyes watching: I am so troubled that I can't speak.
Thou holdest my eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
You keep my eyes from sleep; I am so troubled that no words come.
Sela. Thou heldest myne eyes wakynge, I was so feble, that I coude not speake,
You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
You have held my eyelids open;I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
holdest: Psalms 6:6, Esther 6:1, Job 7:13-15
I am: Job 2:13, Job 6:3
Reciprocal: Genesis 45:15 - talked Job 7:4 - When Psalms 63:6 - General Psalms 102:7 - watch Jeremiah 45:3 - I fainted Daniel 6:18 - and
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Thou holdest mine eyes waking,.... Or, "the watches", or rather "keepers of the eyes" m; the eyebrows, which protect the eyes; these were held, so that he could not shut them, and get any sleep; so R. Moses Haccohen interprets the words, as Jarchi observes; and so the Targum,
"thou holdest the brows of my eyes;''
a person in trouble, when he can get some sleep, it interrupts his sorrow, weakens it at least, if it does not put a stop to it; wherefore it is a great mercy to have sleep, and that refreshing, Psalms 127:1, but to have this denied, and to have wearisome nights, and be in continual tossing to and fro, is very distressing:
I am so troubled that I cannot speak; his spirits were so sunk with weariness, and want of sleep in the night, that he could not speak in the morning; or his heart was so full with sorrow, that he could not utter himself; or it was so great that he could not express it; or his thoughts were such that he dared not declare them; or he was so straitened and shut up in himself that he could not go on speaking unto God in prayer.
m שמרות עיני "vigilias", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Tigurine version; "palpebras oculorum meorum", Musculus, Cocceius; "palpebras quasi custodias oculorum", Michaelis.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Thou holdest mine eyes waking - literally, “Thou holdest the watchings of my eyes.” Gesenius (Lexicon) translates the Hebrew word rendered “waking,” “eyelids.” Probably that is the true idea. The eyelids are the watchers or guardians of the eyes. In danger, and in sleep, they close. Here the idea is, that God held them so that they did not close. He overcame the natural tendency of the eye to shut. In other words, the psalmist was kept awake; he could not sleep. This he traces to God. The idea is, that God so kept himself before his mind - that such ideas occurred to him in regard to God - that he could not sleep.
I am so troubled - With sad and dark views of God; so troubled in endeavoring to understand his character and doings; in explaining his acts; in painful ideas that suggest themselves in regard to his justice, his goodness, his mercy.
That I cannot speak - I am struck dumb. I know not what to say. I cannot find “anything” to say. He must have a heart singularly and happily free by nature from scepticism, or must have reflected little on the divine administration, who has not had thoughts pass through his mind like these. As the psalmist was a good man, a pious man, it is of importance to remark, in view of his experience, that such reflections occur not only to the minds of bad people - of the profane - of sceptics - of infidel philosophers, but they come unbidden into the minds of good people, and often in a form which they cannot calm down. He who has never had such thoughts, happy as he may and should deem himself that he has not had them, has never known some of the deepest stirrings and workings of the human soul on the subject of religion, and is little qualified to sympathize with a spirit torn, crushed, agitated, as was that of the psalmist on these questions, or as Augustine and thousands of others have been in after-times. But let not a man conclude, because he has these thoughts, that therefore he cannot be a friend of God - a converted man. The wicked man invites them, cherishes them, and rejoices that he can find what seem to him to be reasons for indulging in such thoughts against God; the good man is pained; struggles against them: endearours to banish them from his soul.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Psalms 77:4. Thou holdest mine eyes waking — Literally, thou keepest the watches of mine eyes - my grief is so great that I cannot sleep.
I am so troubled that I cannot speak. — This shows an increase of sorrow and anguish. At first he felt his misery, and called aloud. He receives more light, sees and feels his deep wretchedness, and then his words are swallowed by excessive distress. His woes are too big for utterance. "Small troubles are loquacious; the great are dumb." Curae leves loquuntur; ingentes stupent.
