"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy."
— Psalm 94:19 (NIV)
Psalm 94:19 is the "when anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy" verse. This page gives the verse, where it sits in Psalm 94, and a plain reading. For more on the theme, see Bible verses about anxiety, Bible verses about worry, and Bible verses about comfort.
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The verse
The King James reads: "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul."
"Multitude" is rob (H7230), abundance or great number. "Thoughts" (NIV "anxiety") is sar'aph (H8312), disquieting or troubled thoughts. "Within me" is qereb (H7130), the inward part. "Comforts" (NIV "consolation") is tanchuwm (H8575), "delight" is sha'a (H8173), and "soul" is nephesh (H5315).
Where it sits in Psalm 94
Psalm 94 has no heading naming its author. It opens with a cry for justice: "The Lord is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth" (Psalm 94:1). The writer is troubled by the wicked who "crush your people, Lord" (Psalm 94:5).
Just before this verse he says, "Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' your unfailing love, Lord, supported me" (Psalm 94:17-18). A few lines later he adds, "But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge" (Psalm 94:22).
What the verse is saying
The writer does not pretend he is calm. His thoughts are many and troubled, and they are "within me," not just around him. The verse is honest that anxiety can pile up on the inside.
What answers it is not a change of circumstances but God's comfort. The wicked are still there in the next verses. Yet the same person who said "my foot is slipping" says God's consolations bring him joy. The comfort does not wait for the trouble to end; it meets him in the middle of it.
Questions people ask
What does Psalm 94:19 say?
In the NIV it says, "When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy." The KJV says, "In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul."
What does Psalm 94:19 mean?
The writer's troubled thoughts were many, and God's comfort still brought him joy. It is a verse about God meeting anxiety from the inside, not about anxiety disappearing.
Who wrote Psalm 94?
Psalm 94 has no heading naming its author.
What is the context of Psalm 94:19?
The psalm asks God to judge the wicked who crush his people. Just before this verse the writer says God's unfailing love held him up when his foot was slipping (Psalm 94:17-18).
What other verses are like Psalm 94:19?
Philippians 4:6-7 (do not be anxious about anything), Psalm 55:22 (cast your cares on the Lord), and Isaiah 26:3 (perfect peace for the mind stayed on God) are close companions.
