Psalms 73:15

"If I had said, I will speak thus;

Behold I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.

When I thought how I might know this,

It was too painful for me;

Until I went into the sanctuary of God,

And considered their latter end.

Surely thou settest them in slippery places:

Thou castest them down to destruction."

"If I had said, ..." (Psalms 73:15). No, he did not speak the sinful thoughts that Satan whispered to him. For him to have done so would have been treachery in the sight of God.

"Until I went into the sanctuary of God" (Psalms 73:17). It is important to note the place where enlightenment came to the tempted heart of the Psalmist; it came in the house of worship; and the same thing still happens. If men would be strengthened in their faith and delivered from the manifold temptations which the Evil One continually hurls against the sons of God, let him attend the worship services. There is no substitute whatever for this. In the last analysis, salvation and damnation turn finally upon one little pivot, those who attend God's worship and those who don't. Scoffers may scoff, but that is the way it is whether men like it or not.

"Thou castest them down to destruction" (Psalms 73:18). This is the latter end of the wicked; and there can be no appeal from this fact. There is certain to come a day of Judgment, when God will cast evil out of his universe and Satan himself shall receive the destruction which he so richly deserves. It should be remembered that the hell spoken of so often in the Bible, under so many different figures, was never designed for evil men, but for Satan; and God never intended that any man should suffer in such a place. Moreover Christ himself spread wide his bleeding hands upon the Cross to keep any man from sharing Satan's punishment; but when willful men choose to follow Satan instead of the loving Saviour, how could such a fate be avoided?