Psalms 73:18-20

73:18 Surely ¹  you put them in slippery places;

you bring them down ²  to ruin.

73:19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!

Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! ³ 

73:20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. ⁴ 

O Lord, when you awake ⁵  you will despise them. ⁶ 

Psalms 73:27

73:27 Yes, ⁷  look! Those far from you ⁸  die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ⁹ 

[73:18]  ¹ tn The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.

[73:18]  ² tn Heb “cause them to fall.”

[73:19]  ³ tn Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”

[73:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.

[73:20]  ⁵ sn When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.

[73:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.

[73:27]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[73:27]  ⁸ sn The following line defines the phrase far from you in a spiritual sense. Those “far” from God are those who are unfaithful and disloyal to him.

[73:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “everyone who commits adultery from you.”