What Does Psalm 68:28 Mean in the King James?
Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
In Hebrew, “strength” and “strengthen” share a root, so the verse asks God to make the strength already commanded active in the work already done.
THE MEANING
God’s strength is already commanded for you, and what God is working for you is not self-made. The verse holds recognition and request together: God’s work is present now, and you still ask for it to be strengthened.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that once God begins a work, its continuation depends on your own strength.
THE ROOT
עֻזֶּךָ
ʿuzzekha
GROWS FROM
עָזַז
ʿazaz
To be strong; to prevail.
“strength / strengthen” in this verse is ʿuzzekha. The Hebrew עֹז (ʿoz, strength) sits beside עוּזָּה (ʿuzzāh, strengthen), forms from the same root. English makes one a noun and the other a verb; Hebrew lets you hear strength as both what is given and what becomes active in the work.
ALSO GROWS
ʿoz: Strength, might.
עֹז
This is the strength named in the verse: it is under God’s command.
ʿaz: Strong, fierce.
עַז
The adjective shares the root’s sense of strength, showing the quality behind the strength God is asked to bring forth.
פָּעַלְתָּ
paʿalta
GROWS FROM
פעל
p-ʿ-l
To do, act, or work.
English can make “wrought” sound like a finished result; the Hebrew root keeps the doing in view. The verse asks God to strengthen what God has worked for us, locating both the work and its sustaining strength in God.
ALSO GROWS
poʿal: Work, deed.
פֹּעַל
This noun from the same root names the kind of work the verse recognizes as God’s doing.
peʿullah: Work, action.
פְּעֻלָּה
This branch keeps the emphasis on an act being carried out, fitting the verse’s request that God strengthen what God has done.
THE PATTERN
God supplies the strength that sustains work God has begun.
The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.THE THREAD
The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.Psalm 29 uses עֹז (ʿoz, strength), the same Hebrew root family heard in “strength” and “strengthen” here. One verse says God gives this strength; the other asks God to strengthen the work God has already done.
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