Psalm 73:18

18 Truly you set them in ¹slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.

Psalm 73:18 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 73:18

Surely thou didst set them in slippery places
In which a man cannot stand long, and without danger; and the higher they are the more dangerous, being slippery, and such are places of honour and riches. The phrase denotes the uncertainty and instability of these things, and the danger men are in who are possessed of them of falling into destruction and misery. The Targum is,

``thou didst set them in darkness;''

to be in slippery places, and in the dark, is very uncomfortable, unsafe, and dangerous indeed; See ( Psalms 35:6 ) ( Jeremiah 23:12 ) and it may be observed, that all this honour, promotion, and riches, are of God; it is he that sets them in these places of honour and profit; and he that sets them up can pull them down, as he does; so it follows,

thou castest them down into destruction:
into temporal destruction, by removing them from their high stations into a very low, mean, and contemptible state, as were Shebna and Nebuchadnezzar, ( Isaiah 22:15 Isaiah 22:19 ) ( Daniel 4:24 Daniel 4:25 ) and into everlasting destruction, from whence there is no recovery; see ( Psalms 55:23 ) .

Psalm 73:18 In-Context

16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.

19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

Cross References

• 1. 73:18 Ps. 35:6