Psalms 73:22

Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. -He condemns his past beastlike folly and expresses his assurance of God's presence and guidance, notwithstanding his folly. Verse 21. THUS MY HEART WAS GRIEVED - literally, 'was soured' or embittered. AND I WAS PRICKED IN MY REINS - with self-inflicted pain, the result of too subtle reasonings of intellect; instead of only waiting for the end, and meanwhile simply believing that all must be just and good which comes from God. Verse 22. SO FOOLISH WAS I - Hebrew, 'brutish;' i:e., stupid (; ; ). AND IGNORANT - Hebrew-`and I knew not.' I was as a beast...

22._And I was foolish and ignorant. _David here rebuking himself sharply, as it became him to do, in the first place declares that he was foolish; secondly, he charges himself with ignorance; and, thirdly, he affirms that he resembled the brutes. Had he only acknowledged his ignorance, it might have been asked, Whence this vice or fault of ignorance proceeded? He therefore ascribes it to his own folly; and the more emphatically to express his folly, he compares himself to the lower animals. The amount is, that the perverse envy of which he has spoken arose from ignorance and error, and that the blame of having thus erred was to be imputed wholly to himself, inasmuch as he had lost a sound judgment and understanding, and that not after an ordinary manner, but even the length of being reduced to a state of brutish stupidity. What we have previously stated is undoubtedly true, that men neve...

21-28 God would not suffer his people to be tempted, if his grace were not sufficient, not only to save them from harm, but to make them gainers by it. This temptation, the working of envy and discontent, is very painful. In reflecting upon it, the psalmist owns it was his folly and ignorance thus to vex himself. If good men, at any time, through the surprise and strength of temptation, think, or speak, or act amiss, they will reflect upon it with sorrow and shame. We must ascribe our safety in temptation, and our victory, not to our own wisdom, but to the gracious presence of God with us, and Christ's intercession for us. All who commit themselves to God, shall be guided with the counsel both of his word and of his Spirit, the best counsellors here, and shall be received to his glory in another world; the believing hopes and prospects of which will reconcile us to all dark providences....

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 so aggravated, and so much to be regretted, but it was when the very eye of God was upon me. Compare Isaiah 1:7; Jeremiah 7:30; Jeremiah 18:10;...

EXPOSITION THIS is the first of the "Psalms of Asaph," whereof the present book contains eleven. They are characterized by a preponderating use of the name "Elohim" over that of" Jehovah," by a great calmness and solemnity of tone, and by a pervading melancholy. The present psalm has for its subject the well worn problem of the prosperity of the wicked (Job 21:7; Psalms 37:1; Jeremiah 12:1, etc.). The writer has been troubled with respect to it, and has well nigh fallen away from God in consequence (verse 2); but, after a severe struggle (verses 13-16), his eyes have been enlightened on the subject, and he has found an explanation which is satisfactory to him (verses 17-20). He contrasts his

SO FOOLISH WAS I,.... To envy the prosperity of the wicked, which is of so short a continuance; to arraign the providence and perfections of God, and to conclude so hastily that there was nothing in religion: AND IGNORANT; or, "I knew not" w; what he attempted to know, Psalms 73:16, nor the end of the wicked, till he went into the sanctuary of the Lord; nor the counsel and design of God, in his methods of providence towards wicked men: I WAS AS A BEAST BEFORE THEE, or "with thee" x; in the knowledge of the ways and works of God, even those of providence; see Psalms 92:5, unteachable, untractable, kicking against God and his providential dispensations; not behaving like a man, much, less like a saint; but even as the worst of brutes, as the behem

You may have noticed that the 73 rd Psalm and the 37 th Psalm are on the same subject; it will help you to recall this fact if you remember that the figures are the same, only reversed. Psalms 73:1. _Truly God is good to Israel,_ Settle that matter in your hearts, whatever doubts may distress or disturb your mind, fix this point as certain: «Truly God is good to Israel,» Psalms 73:1. _Even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped._ He was a good man, one of the leaders in Israel, yet he had to make this confession, «My feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.» Psalms 73:3. For I w

III. THE LEVITICUS SECTION: BOOK THREE: PSALM 73-89 The third division of the book of Psalms corresponds in character to the third book of the Pentateuch, the book of Leviticus. That is the book of the Sanctuary, of Holiness. And this section, which is the shortest, also has the same character. Each Psalm brings the sanctuary of Israel in view, with the same prophetic-dispensational character as in the first two books. The Companion Bible gives the following division of the 17 Psalms: Psalm 73-89, The Sanctuary in Relation to Jehovah. PSALMS OF ASAPH CONCERNING THE SANCTUARY (73-77) Psalms 73 The Problem of the Suffering of the Righteous _ 1. The perplexity (Psalms 73:1)_ 2. Departure from God ...

BOOK III. PSS. LXXIII.- LXXXIX. LXXIII. The Hope of Immortality. Here the Psalter reaches its highest elevation. Job, in Job 19:25 f.*, believes that God will vindicate his innocence even after death, and is confident that he himself, in spite of death, will see God. Job, however, expresses no belief that he will live for ever. He is to see God for a moment; he does not expect that he will abide with God continually. This is just what the Psalmist does expect. This belief flows from the depths of his spiritual experience, and he utters it with intensity of conviction and in calm and measured language. He has seen the prosperity of the godless and has all but lost his faith in God. He will not, however, condemn the generation of God's children, or admit that their piety has been in vain. God teaches him how precarious the prosperity of the wicked is, and leads him to the conviction that...

FOOLISH. brutish....