Psalm 73

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:14

For all the day long - Continually. All my life.Have I been plagued - Smitten; afflicted; troubled. My life has been a life of trial. I have not known prosperity.And chastened every morning - Margin, as in Hebrew, “My chastisement was.” That is, my sufferings - my trials - have been repeated with every returning morning. Each new day has brought some new form of affliction, designed to rebuke and punish me. I never have found exemption from trial even for a single day. So different is my lot... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:15

If I say, I will speak thus - If I should resolve to give expression to my feelings. If I should utter all that is passing in my mind and my heart. It is implied here that he had “not” given utterance to these thoughts, but had confined them to his own bosom. He knew how they might be regarded by others; how others might be led to feel as if no confidence was to be placed in God; how this might suggest thoughts to them which would not otherwise occur to them, and which would only tend to fill... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:16

When I thought to know this - When I endeavored to comprehend this, or to explain it to myself. The idea is that he “thought” on the subject, or “meditated” on it with a view to be able to understand it. He did not express his opinions and feelings to others, but he dwelt on them in his own mind; not to find additional difficulties, not to confirm himself in opposition to God, and not to find new occasions for distrusting the divine government, but to understand exactly how this was. It was his... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:17

Until I went into the sanctuary of God - The word “sanctuary” we now apply to a place of public worship; and, thus understood, the passage here would mean that he learned the truth on the subject only by the statements and disclosures made there in regard to the divine plans and dealings, and the results of human conduct. This interpretation makes good sense, and is in itself true, but it is not the idea in the original. The word “sanctuary” in the Old Testament, in the singular number, is... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:18

Surely thou didst set them in slippery places - Not in a solid and permanent position; not where their foothold would be secure, but as on smooth and slippery rocks, where they would be liable any moment to fall into the foaming billows. However prosperous their condition may seem to be now, yet it is a condition of uncertainty and danger, from which they must soon fall into ruin. In their prosperity there is nothing of permanence or Stability; and this fact will explain the difficulty.Thou... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:19

How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! - How suddenly and unexpectedly does destruction come upon them! Nothing can be argued from their apparent prosperity, for there is no ground of security in “that,” no basis for an argument that it will continue. The end must be seen in order to form a correct estimate on the subject, and that end may soon come. Compare the notes at Job 15:20-21.They are utterly consumed with terrors - literally, “they perish; they are destroyed by terrors;”... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:20

As a dream when one awaketh - Their prosperity is like the visions of a dream; the reality is seen when one awakes. A man in a dream may imagine that he is a king; that he dwells in a palace; that he is surrounded by flatterers and courtiers; that he walks in pleasant groves, listens to the sounds of sweet music, sits down at a table loaded with the luxuries of all climes, and lies upon a bed of down. He may awake only to find that he is encompassed with poverty, or that he is on a bed of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:21

Thus my heart was grieved - literally, and more expressively, “was soured.” The meaning is, that his heart was grieved, pained, dissatisfied. His mind was embittered, and he was rendered unhappy, by the views which he cherished about God, as doubting the wisdom and justice of his dealings with people - and about people, as being envious at their prosperity.And I was pricked in my reins - The reins are often in the Scriptures represented as the seat of the thoughts or affections. See the notes... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:22

So foolish was I, and ignorant - Such low and imperfect views did I take of the subject. The margin is, “I knew not.” So the Hebrew: “And I am brutish, and know not;” that is, I did not understand the case; I had no correct views in regard to it.I was as a beast before thee - Margin, as in Hebrew, “with thee.” That is, in thy very presence; or, I was guilty of such foolishness in the very presence of my Maker. If it had been when I was alone, or when no one saw me, the folly would not have been... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:23

Nevertheless, I am continually with thee - I am kept by thee in the land of the living; I am permitted to abide in thy presence; I am allowed to hope in thy mercy. Notwithstanding my low and unworthy views, notwithstanding my doubts about the justice of the divine administration, notwithstanding my envy at the prosperity of the wicked, and my spirit of complaining against God, I am not driven away from God; I am not banished from his presence, or cut off from his favor. Well may we marvel when... read more

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:14

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:15

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:17

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:18

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:19

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:20

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:21

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:22

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 73:23

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands