When you are searching for Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless, you may be too tired to read much, so these are short passages you can hold onto one at a time. Each one is a promise of God’s nearness, comfort or strength for someone who feels they have nothing left.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalms 34:18 (KJV)
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those whose spirits are crushed.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
Psalms 42:11 (KJV)
Here the psalmist speaks to his own downcast soul and tells it to keep hoping in God.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31 (KJV)
God gives power to the faint, and those who wait on him will renew their strength.
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalms 147:3 (KJV)
He heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29 (KJV)
Jesus invites the weary to come to him and find rest for their souls.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)
Because of the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed; his compassions are new every morning.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13 (KJV)
A prayer that the God of hope would fill you with joy and peace as you trust him.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalms 30:5 (KJV)
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)
God tells you not to fear or be dismayed, because he will strengthen and uphold you.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Psalms 73:26 (KJV)
Even when flesh and heart fail, God remains the strength of the heart and a portion forever.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (KJV)
God is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in every trouble.
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
Psalms 62:5 (KJV)
David tells his soul to wait only upon God, because his expectation comes from him.
And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:8 (KJV)
The Lord goes before you and will not fail or forsake you.
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
Psalms 121:1-2 (KJV)
Lifting your eyes to the hills, you remember that help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 (KJV)
Jesus admits we will have tribulation but tells us to be of good cheer because he has overcome the world.
I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.
Psalms 40:1-3 (KJV)
The Lord heard David’s cry, lifted him from a horrible pit and put a new song in his mouth.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4 (KJV)
God will one day wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death, sorrow or pain.
Hopelessness can make even reading the Bible feel heavy, so start small. Pick one verse, perhaps Psalm 34:18 or Psalm 30:5, and read it slowly a few times. You do not need to feel better right away; simply let the words sit with you. Praying a psalm back to God, such as Psalm 42:11, lets you speak to your own heart the way the psalmist did.
Write a verse where you will see it in the morning, when discouragement often feels strongest. Some people keep a list of times God has helped them in the past alongside these promises, because remembering his faithfulness is exactly what Lamentations 3:21-23 describes. Ask a friend to read or pray one of these passages with you; 2 Corinthians 1:4 says God comforts us so that we can comfort others.
Please do not carry this alone. If hopelessness lasts for weeks, affects your sleep or appetite, or brings thoughts of not wanting to live, contact a doctor, counselor or crisis line today. Reaching out for help is a wise and faithful step, and God can use it as part of his care for you.
The title of Psalm 34 tells us when David wrote it: when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, who drove him away. That points back to 1 Samuel 21, where David, running from Saul, landed in the Philistine city of Gath, the hometown of Goliath, and saved his life by acting insane and letting spit run down his beard. It is not a dignified story. A man who had killed their champion was now a refugee scratching on the city gate to avoid being killed.
Out of that humiliation he wrote, The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit (verse 18). Keep the setting in mind when you read the Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless on this page. David was not describing other people’s sadness from a safe distance. He had no home, no army and no dignity that day, and he found that God was close anyway. The word broken there is the kind used for shattered things, like a clay pot in pieces. Nearness is what the verse promises first, before any repair is mentioned.
Psalm 40:1-3 opens with a man who has been stuck for a while: I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. The Hebrew behind waited patiently is an idiom that repeats the verb, something like waiting, I waited. It is the sound of long waiting, not a calm little pause. Anyone who has stepped in deep mud knows how each move makes you sink further, and that is the picture of the pit.
Then look at what changes. His feet are set on a rock, and his steps are made steady. Nothing in the verse says the mud was never there. And verse 3 says God put a new song in his mouth, which is worth pausing on. It is not the old song restored. Hopelessness sometimes ends with a different kind of faith than the one you had before, plainer and less showy. Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless like these three lines remind us that the writer says many would see it and trust the LORD, so even a long pit time can turn into something that helps other people later.
Isaiah 40 was addressed to people in exile who had said, My way is hid from the LORD (verse 27). They felt overlooked. The answer comes a few lines later: He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength. What I like about this passage is its honesty about strong people. Even the young and fit grow tired and fall. Running out of strength is not a sign that something is wrong with you.
Then comes the famous list: mount up with wings as eagles, run and not be weary, walk and not faint. Pay attention to the order. It ends with walking. Most people who feel hopeless do not need wings. They need the strength to get to work on Tuesday, to answer one email, to walk to the mailbox. Among the Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless, this one promises renewal at the level of ordinary walking, and that is where many of us actually live.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. The Hebrew word translated endure in that verse carries the sense of lodging, the way a traveler stays overnight at someone’s house. So weeping is pictured as a visitor who arrives in the evening and sleeps over. You did not invite it, and it may take up the whole house for a while, but it does not own the place and it leaves at dawn.
David wrote this psalm after a close brush with death, and in verse 11 he says that God had turned his mourning into dancing. That did not happen in an hour. The night in the verse should not be pinned to a clock, since grief can last through many sunsets. What the line gives is direction. Weeping is a guest and not a landlord. When you read Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless in the dark hours, this verse is useful because it is modest. It does not say the night is short. It says morning comes after it.
Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. The crowds he spoke to were worn out by the religious demands of their day, which he describes elsewhere as heavy burdens bound on people’s shoulders (Matthew 23:4). Many who feel hopeless today are carrying something similar: a standard of how they should be coping, which they keep failing to meet.
A yoke is a wooden bar built for two animals, so the picture is of being hitched alongside someone stronger who sets the pace. Jesus does not say the load disappears. He says it gets shared. He also says learn of me, which is slow work and not a quick fix. The rest he mentions is described as rest for the soul, which may arrive before circumstances shift. If you are reading Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless because you are exhausted rather than sad, this invitation may fit best. It starts with come, and there is no list of requirements attached.
It surprises many people to learn that Paul wrote the word despair about himself. In 2 Corinthians 1:8 he says, We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. Whatever happened to him in Asia, he felt he had the sentence of death in himself. He explains in verse 9 that this taught him to trust God who raiseth the dead and not himself. Then in verses 3 and 4 he describes God as the one who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.
Two things are worth taking from this. First, a hopeless season does not disqualify anyone from faith, since an apostle went through one. Second, the experience can later help you sit with another person without a tidy speech. You are not required to find that purpose now, though. Psalm 147:3 says, He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Binding a wound is slow, careful work. Among the Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless, this verse reminds us that God is pictured as a patient nurse and not a drill sergeant.
Jesus spoke John 16:33 in the upper room, only hours before his arrest. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. He had just told his friends that they would scatter and leave him alone (verse 32). They did. Peter denied him three times that same night. Yet the sentence he chose to leave them with was not a scolding.
Look at how honest it is. He does not say life will be smooth if they follow him. He promises tribulation, flat out. The phrase good cheer in the Greek is closer to take courage, said to people who were about to be terrified. Peace is promised in him, not in the circumstances. A man on his way to be crucified says this to men who will fail him within the hour. If your hopelessness comes with a sense that you have let people down, Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless like this one are worth reading. The one speaking had already counted your failures and still said these things to you.
Psalm 73 is the story of a man who nearly gave up. Asaph looked around and saw the wicked growing rich and healthy while he, trying to live rightly, felt plagued all day long. He admits his feet were almost gone (verse 2). When he tried to reason it out, it was too painful for me, he says, until he went into the sanctuary of God (verses 16 and 17). Only there did he see the bigger picture. Then he prays, My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever (verse 26).
The order is worth noticing. He starts by admitting that his flesh and heart fail. He does not say they might. Honest collapse comes first, and the claim about God being his strength comes right after, in the same sentence. He also found clarity by going somewhere, into the place of worship, rather than thinking harder at home. Sometimes hopelessness lifts a little when you sit in a quiet pew or on a back row, with other people singing around you. These Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless do not require you to feel strong. They only ask you to say where your strength comes from when yours is gone.
Psalm 121 is one of the Songs of Ascents, sung by pilgrims climbing toward Jerusalem. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. Scholars debate whether the hills are a threat, since travelers there could meet bandits, or a destination, or both. Either way the psalm starts with a real question about where help will come from, and a real traveler asking it.
Then the psalm answers with something that hits hard on a sleepless night. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber (verse 3), and verse 4 adds that he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Hopelessness tends to peak at three in the morning, when the house is quiet and the mind is loud. Picture the one watching over you as not tired at all. You can rest even if your thoughts will not. If you keep this psalm by your bed next to the other Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless, you will have something to read when sleep will not come and nobody is awake to call.
Hopelessness often tells one particular lie, which is that you are alone in this and always will be. Isaiah 41:10 answers it directly: Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Count the I wills. God speaks of himself as the active one, and he repeats the promise three times in a single line, as a person does when they are afraid you will not hear it.
Moses said something similar to Joshua before handing over leadership, in Deuteronomy 31:8: he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee. Joshua was about to lead a nation with no Moses beside him. Notice that neither promise says the feelings of dread will vanish. They say you will have company. For many people the next step is also human company. Tell one person the real version of how you are doing. The Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless on this page speak of God being near, and he often shows that through the one friend who answers the phone.
John wrote Revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos, so he knew something of being cut off. Near the end of the book he describes what he saw: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4). Think about the image of wiping away tears. It is close and personal. It is a hand on a face, not a decree from a distance.
This verse does not ask you to skip your grief now. Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb (John 11:35), though he was about to raise him. He felt the loss before the reversal. In the same way you can take this promise seriously while still crying today. The Bible ends with sorrow ended and pain gone, which means hopelessness is never the last word in the story. For anyone gathering Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless to read through a hard season, this one belongs on the list because it shows where the whole book is headed.
On days when everything weighs too much, a big plan will not survive until lunch. A small habit might. Keep a verse on your phone or a card by the kettle. Lamentations 3:22-23 works well: It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Read it slowly once, say it back in your own words, and add one sentence of prayer, even if it is only, I need help today. Then do one small physical thing, such as opening the curtains, drinking a glass of water or walking to the end of the street.
Psalm 62:5 fits as a second verse for the same routine: My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. None of this replaces proper care. If the heaviness lasts for weeks, or if you ever think about harming yourself, please contact a doctor, a counselor or a crisis line in your area, and tell someone you trust right away. Bible Verses For Feeling Hopeless can sit beside that help comfortably. Use them to keep going through the morning, and let other people carry some of the rest.
Related topics on this site include Bible Verses About Peace of Mind, Bible Verses For Peace in Difficult Times, Bible Verses For Self-Control, Bible Verses For Loving Others, Bible Verses For Worry, Bible Verses For Wisdom and Understanding, Bible Verses For Hard Times, Bible Verses About Wisdom and Understanding, Bible Verses About Children, Bible Verses For Strong Faith and Bible Verses About Growing in Faith.
Helpful free resources for further study include Blue Letter Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible Hub and Bible Study Tools.
Hopelessness can make even reading the Bible feel heavy, so start small. Pick one verse, perhaps Psalm 34:18 or Psalm 30:5, and read it slowly a few times.
This page brings together 5 King James Version references about feeling Hopeless, drawn from 3 different books of the Bible.
Yes, the verses referenced on this page, including Psalm 34:18, are quoted according to the King James Version (KJV), and are suitable for daily reading, memorization, or devotional use.
Beyond the references highlighted on this page, feeling Hopeless appears throughout Scripture in books such as Psalm, Lamentations, 2 Corinthians; this collection focuses on some of the clearest examples.
These feeling Hopeless verses are drawn from books including Psalm, Lamentations, 2 Corinthians.
