Psalm 73:13-20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 73:1-14

This psalm begins somewhat abruptly: Yet God is good to Israel (so the margin reads it); he had been thinking of the prosperity of the wicked; while he was thus musing the fire burned, and at last he spoke by way of check to himself for what he had been thinking of. ?However it be, yet God is good.? Though wicked people receive many of the gifts of his providential bounty, yet we must own that he is, in a peculiar manner, good to Israel; they have favours from him which others have not. The... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 73:15-20

We have seen what a strong temptation the psalmist was in to envy prospering profaneness; now here we are told how he kept his footing and got the victory. I. He kept up a respect for God's people, and with that he restrained himself from speaking what he had thought amiss, Ps. 73:15. He got the victory by degrees, and this was the first point he gained; he was ready to say, Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and thought he had reason to say it, but he kept his mouth with this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 73:13

Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain ,.... Which supposes that his heart had been unclean, as every man's is, and which appears by what is in it, and by what comes out of it; that it was now cleansed, not in an absolute and legal sense, as if it was wholly free from sin, for this no man can say; but in an evangelical sense, being purified by faith in the blood of Christ; that he had himself some concern in the cleansing of his heart, which seems to be contrary to Proverbs 20:9 and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 73:14

For all the day long have I been plagued ,.... "Smitten or scourged" F16 נגוע "flagellatus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; "percussus", Gejerus. , as in Psalm 73:5 , that is, afflicted of God; which is no ways inconsistent with his love, nor with his covenant, nor with an interest in him, as a covenant God and Father; see Psalm 89:29 , and chastened every morning ; not in wrath, but in love, and for good; not with the chastisement of a cruel one, but of a loving and tender... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 73:15

If I say, I will speak thus ,.... Either as the wicked do, Psalm 73:8 or rather as he had thought in his own mind, Psalm 73:13 , wherefore he kept it all to himself, and did not make known to others the reasonings of his mind, and the temptations he laboured under: behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children ; of whom care should be taken, above all things, that they be not offended, Matthew 18:6 , or "should condemn"; as the Targum; or as Jarchi, "I should... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 73:16

When I thought to know this ,.... How to reconcile the prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of the righteous, to the perfections of God, and his wise providence in the government of the world, by the mere dint of reason, without consulting the sacred oracles, or his own and others' experience: it was too painful for me : too laborious and toilsome, a work he was not equal to; "hic labor, hoc opus"; see Ecclesiastes 8:17 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 73:17

Until I went into the sanctuary of God ,.... The tabernacle or house of God, where the Word of God was read and explained, prayer was made, and sacrifices offered up, and where fellowship was had with the saints, and communion with God himself; which for one hour or moment is preferable to all the prosperity of the wicked, during their whole life. This shows that though the psalmist was beset with the temptation, yet not overcome; it did not so far prevail as to cause him to neglect public... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 73:19

How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment ?.... Very suddenly, which is often the case of wicked men, who cry Peace and safety, and sudden destruction comes upon them, 1 Thessalonians 5:3 , so as in a moment were the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Pharaoh and his host, and of Korah and his company, Lamentations 4:6 , the words are expressed with admiration, as wondering at the sudden and amazing turn of things: they are utterly consumed with terrors : their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 73:20

As a dream when one awaketh ,.... So will be all the temporal felicity of wicked men, all an illusion, all a dream; when they lift up their eyes in hell, and awake in the resurrection, they will find themselves destitute of all their riches and honours, and it will be as if they had only dreamed of them, and never enjoyed them; see Job 20:6 so, "O Lord, when thou awakest"; to judgment, to take vengeance on wicked men, and vindicate his own people; and who seems sometimes to be as it were... read more

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