Psalm 73:16-26

16 When I ¹pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight

17 Until I came into the ²sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their ³end.

18 Surely You set them in ⁴slippery places; You cast them down to ⁵destruction.

19 How they are ⁶destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by ⁷sudden terrors!

20 Like a ⁸dream when one awakes, O Lord, when ⁹aroused, You will ¹⁰despise their form.

21 When my ¹¹heart was embittered And I was ¹²pierced within,

22 Then I was ¹³senseless and ignorant *; I was like a ¹⁴beast before You.

23 Nevertheless ¹⁵I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.

24 With Your counsel You will ¹⁶guide me, And afterward ¹⁷receive me to glory.

25 ¹⁸Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

26 My ¹⁹flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my ²⁰portion forever.

Psalm 73:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 73

\\<>\\. It seems by the title that Asaph was the penman of this psalm, as it is certain that he was a composer of psalms and hymns; see 2Ch 29:30, though it may be rendered, "a psalm for Asaph", or "unto Asaph" {a}; and might have David for its author, as some think, who, having penned it, sent it to Asaph, to be made use of by him in public service; see 1Ch 16:7, and so the Targum paraphrases it, ``a song by the hands of Asaph;'' the occasion of it was a temptation the psalmist fell into, through the prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of the righteous, to think there was nothing in religion, that it was a vain and useless thing; under which he continued until he went into the house of God, and was taught better; when he acknowledged his stupidity and folly, and penned this psalm, to prevent others falling into the same snare, and to set forth the goodness of God to his people, with which it begins.

Cross References

• 1. Ecclesiastes 8:17
• 2. Psalms 27:4; Psalms 77:13
• 3. Psalms 37:38
• 4. Psalms 35:6
• 5. Psalms 35:8; Psalms 36:12
• 6. Numbers 16:21; Isaiah 47:11
• 7. Job 18:11
• 8. Job 20:8
• 9. Psalms 78:65
• 10. 1 Samuel 2:30
• 11. Judges 10:16
• 12. Acts 2:37
• 13. Psalms 49:10; Psalms 92:6
• 14. Job 18:3; Psalms 49:20; Ecclesiastes 3:18
• 15. Psalms 16:8
• 16. Psalms 32:8; Psalms 48:14; Isaiah 58:11
• 17. Genesis 5:24; Psalms 49:15
• 18. Psalms 16:2; Philippians 3:8
• 19. Psalms 38:10; Psalms 40:12; Psalms 84:2; Psalms 119:81
• 20. Psalms 16:5

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "labor, trouble"
• [b] Lit "sanctuaries"
• [c] Lit "ruins"
• [d] Lit "become a desolation"
• [e] Or "image"
• [f] Lit "in my kidneys"
• [g] Or "an animal"
• [h] Lit "with You"
• [i] Or "with honor"
• [j] Or "with"
• [k] Lit "rock"