Psalm 102:23
New International Version
In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days.

New Living Translation
He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days.

English Standard Version
He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

Berean Standard Bible
He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.

King James Bible
He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

New King James Version
He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.

New American Standard Bible
He has broken my strength in the way; He has shortened my days.

NASB 1995
He has weakened my strength in the way; He has shortened my days.

NASB 1977
He has weakened my strength in the way; He has shortened my days.

Legacy Standard Bible
He has afflicted my strength in the way; He has shortened my days.

Amplified Bible
He has exhausted my strength [humbling me with sorrow] in the way; He has shortened my days.

Christian Standard Bible
He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He has broken my strength in midcourse; He has shortened my days.

American Standard Version
He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.

Contemporary English Version
I should still be strong, but you, LORD, have made an old person of me.

English Revised Version
He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He has weakened my strength along the way. He has reduced [the number of] my days.

Good News Translation
The LORD has made me weak while I am still young; he has shortened my life.

International Standard Version
He has weakened my strength along the way. He has cut short my days.

Majority Standard Bible
He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.

NET Bible
He has taken away my strength in the middle of life; he has cut short my days.

New Heart English Bible
He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.

Webster's Bible Translation
He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

World English Bible
He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
He has humbled my power in the way, "" He has shortened my days.

Young's Literal Translation
He hath humbled in the way my power, He hath shortened my days.

Smith's Literal Translation
He answered in the way of his strength: he shortened my days.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
He answered him in the way of his strength: Declare unto me the fewness of my days.

Catholic Public Domain Version
He responded to him in the way of his virtue: Declare to me the brevity of my days.

New American Bible
He has shattered my strength in mid-course, has cut short my days.

New Revised Standard Version
He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
For they have weakened my strength on earth; they warned me of the shortage of my days.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
They humbled my power in the Earth and in the shortage of my days
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
He answered him in the way of his strength: tell me the fewness of my days.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Prayer of the Afflicted
22when peoples and kingdoms assemble to serve the LORD. 23He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days. 24I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.…

Cross References
Isaiah 40:30-31
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. / But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

Job 14:1-2
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. / Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. / For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison. / So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Isaiah 38:10-12
I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” / I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world. / My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.

Job 7:6-7
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. / Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. / That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Psalm 39:4-5
“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. / You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

Hebrews 12:12-13
Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees. / Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Job 10:20-22
Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort, / before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom, / to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”

James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Psalm 89:47-48
Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men! / What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

1 Peter 1:24-25
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, / but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,” / before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is darkened, and the clouds return after the rain, / on the day the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when those grinding cease because they are few and those watching through windows see dimly, ...

Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.

Isaiah 57:1-2
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous are taken away from the presence of evil. / Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest, lying down in death.


Treasury of Scripture

He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

he weakened.

Psalm 89:38-47
But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed…

2 Thessalonians 2:3-12
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; …

1 Timothy 4:1-3
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; …

shortened

Job 21:21
For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

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Broke Broken Course Cut Humbled Life Power Short Shortened Strength Way Weakened
Psalm 102
1. The prophet in his prayer makes a grievous complaint.
12. He takes comfort in the eternity, and mercy of God
18. The mercies of God are to be recorded
23. He sustains his weakness by the unchangeableness of God.














He has broken my strength on the way;
This phrase reflects a deep sense of personal affliction and weakness. The psalmist feels that God has intervened in his life in a way that has diminished his vitality and strength. In the broader biblical context, this can be seen as a common theme where individuals experience trials and tribulations as part of their spiritual journey. The "way" can symbolize the path of life or a specific journey the psalmist is undertaking. This imagery is reminiscent of other biblical figures who faced hardships, such as Job, whose strength was tested by severe trials. The breaking of strength can also be seen as a humbling process, where reliance on God becomes paramount. This aligns with the New Testament teaching in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where Paul speaks of God's power being made perfect in weakness.

He has cut short my days.
The psalmist expresses a fear or realization that his life may be shortened due to his current afflictions. This sentiment is echoed in other parts of the Bible, where the brevity of life is a common theme, such as in Psalm 90:10, which speaks of the limited span of human life. The idea of days being "cut short" can also be seen as a reflection on the sovereignty of God over life and death, acknowledging that human life is ultimately in God's hands. In a prophetic sense, this phrase can be connected to the life of Jesus Christ, whose earthly ministry was relatively brief, yet profoundly impactful. The cutting short of days can also serve as a reminder of the urgency to live a life aligned with God's will, as life is fleeting and uncertain.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Psalmist
The author of Psalm 102, traditionally believed to be David or another figure experiencing deep distress and seeking God's intervention.

2. God
The central figure in this verse, who is perceived as having the power to alter the course of human life, including the strength and lifespan of individuals.

3. The Affliction
The context of the psalm suggests a period of intense suffering or distress, possibly during a time of national calamity or personal crisis.
Teaching Points
Understanding Human Frailty
Recognize that human strength is limited and can be diminished by life's circumstances. This awareness should lead to humility and dependence on God.

God's Sovereignty Over Life
Acknowledge that God has control over the length and quality of our lives. This should encourage trust in His divine plan, even when it involves suffering or shortened days.

Seeking God's Strength
In times of weakness, turn to God for strength and renewal. He is the ultimate source of endurance and hope.

The Purpose of Trials
Reflect on how God might use periods of weakness or shortened days to fulfill His purposes in our lives, shaping us for His glory.

Hope in Eternal Life
While earthly life is temporary and frail, believers have the hope of eternal life through Christ, which offers comfort and perspective in times of distress.(23) In the way--i.e., in the course of life. Others render, "by reason of the way," but the meaning is the same. The clause is exactly parallel to "shortened my days."

Verses 23-28. - The third strophe begins with an acknowledgment of weakness - a sort of "renewed complaint" (Hengstenberg). But from this there is an ascent to a higher confidence than any displayed previously - a confidence that God, who is everlasting (vers. 24-27), will perpetually protect his people, and, whatever becomes of the existing generation, will establish their seed before him forever (ver. 28). Verse 23. - He weakened my strength in the way. The reading "my strength" (כחי) is greatly to be preferred to that of "his strength" (כחו), which cannot be made to yield a tolerable meaning. It is judiciously adopted by Professor Cheyne, who translates, "He has brought down my strength in the way," and explains "the way" as "the journey of life." So also Rosenmuller and Hengstenberg. He shortened my days; i.e. "made me grow old prematurely" (comp. ver.] 1).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
He has broken
עִנָּ֖ה (‘in·nāh)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6031: To be bowed down or afflicted

my strength
כֹּחִ֗י (kō·ḥî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3581: A small reptile (of unknown species)

on the way;
בַדֶּ֥רֶךְ (ḇad·de·reḵ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action

He has shortened
קִצַּ֥ר (qiṣ·ṣar)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7114: To dock off, curtail, to harvest

my days.
יָמָֽי׃ (yā·māy)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3117: A day


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OT Poetry: Psalm 102:23 He weakened my strength along the course (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 102:22
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