Wild Horses
He has broken my strength in the way; He has shortened my days. Psalm 102:23 NASB
Has broken – Read it again. What does the psalmist mean? Has God “broken” the poet? Has He shattered his strength? Has God ridden the wildness out of you? Did you buck and kick and finally submit? Is that what God does—break you down?
And what, pray tell, is “strength in the way”?
We understand quickly the second phrase. God has reduced the expected lifetime of this man. At least that’s what it appears to say, and it’s consistent with verses 3-5 and 11. Unless, of course, it isn’t the totality of his days but rather each individual day that is shortened, e.g., when you’re sick and sleeping, the day seems shortened because you’re not aware of the time passing. I’ll let you sort that out. What concerns us is the verb in the first phrase. What does the poet mean when he writes that God has broken his strength?
First we should note the difficulty with the verb itself. It’s ʿānâ, a verb we’ve seen before. But ʿānâ has four different semantic domains:
עָנָה (ʿānâ) I, to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout
עָנָה (ʿānâ) II, be occupied, busied with
עָנָה (ʿānâ) III, afflict, oppress, humble
עָנָה (ʿānâ) IV, sing[1]
We can easily dismiss the last (“sing”). Context hardly allows such a translation. But the others? Not so easily. Notice the translation of the LXX and Young’s Literal:
He answered him in the way of his strength: tell me the fewness of my days. (Brenton Septuagint Translation)
He hath humbled in the way my power, He hath shortened my days. (Young’s Literal Translation)
Both are possible uses of ʿānâ, although the majority of English versions use either “broken” or “weakened.” But who’s to say that the LXX isn’t correct? The answer might be found in the object of the verb (“strength”). At least that’s what it appears to be in English. But in Hebrew the verse reads:
עִנָּה בַדֶּרֶךְ כֹּחִו כֹּחִי קִצַּר יָמָי׃
Notice the syntax. Following the verb ʿānâ (first in the sentence) is the Hebrew בַדֶּרֶךְ
This is the word derek prefixed with the preposition bĕ. So the verse is literally, “He [weakened, broke, answered] in way strength of me.” And as you know, derek is a Hebrew idiom for obedience to the rituals and precepts of the Lord. Paul uses the same idiom when he speaks of the “sect” called “The Way.”
Now we can resolve all this. The poet is saying that God’s apparent absence has weakened his resolve to continue serving, but, at the same time, the verb ʿānâ also allows the poet to hint that God has answered him in the rituals and precepts of the way. Like the verb, multiple readings of the same words are possible. The poet has cleverly allowed us to see several facets of his situation. At the same moment that it appears God is breaking him, he also discovers that God’s way is strengthening him. No pain, no gain. What seems to be God’s affliction can also be viewed as God’s training. Two sides of the same coin. Breaking wild horses.
Good for us to remember, right?
Topical Index: ʿānâ, derek, the way, weakened, answered, Psalm 102:23
[1] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 1652 עָנָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 682). Chicago: Moody Press.
