Limitless Word
¶He has broken my strength in the way; He has shortened my days.
Psalms 102:23 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.
  • KJV He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
  • BSB He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days.
  • NKJV He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.
  • NLT He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Returning to lament, the psalmist says God has broken his strength and shortened his days. He again feels the weight of his frailty.

Overview

After the soaring hope for Zion, the psalmist briefly returns to his own affliction, sensing his life cut short. This honest movement between hope and pain reflects real faith under suffering. It sets up the closing contrast between his fleeting life and God's eternity.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • 1 Tim 4:1–3But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
  • Ps 89:38–47But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed.
  • Job 21:21For what does he care for his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
  • Rev 11:2–19Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don’t measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.
  • 2 Tim 3:1–17But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come.
  • 2 Th 2:3–12Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction,
  • Rev 12:13–17When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 102:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 102:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.