Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 73:18
Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
18. Surely in slippery places dost thou appoint their lot:
Suddenly dost thou cast them down into ruin.
Surely, as in Psa 73:1 ; Psa 73:13, means ‘after all.’ They are set in dangerous places where they will stumble and fall. Cp. Psa 35:6; Jer 23:12. The word for ruin occurs elsewhere only in Psa 74:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 20. The awful fate of the wicked is the negative solution of the problem.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 castedst them down into destruction – They are placed, not in a permanent condition, but in a condition from which they will be cast down to destruction. Ruin is before them; and the end will demonstrate the justice of God. Nothing can be determined from their present condition as to the question which caused so much perplexity, but in order to a proper solution we must wait to see the end. As an illustration of this, see the interesting account of the interview between Solon of Athens, and Croesus, the rich king of Lydia, as given in Herodotus, book i., 30-33.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Thou didst set them in slippery places] Affluence is a slippery path; few have ever walked in it without falling. It is possible to be faithful in the unrighteous mammon, but it is very difficult. No man should desire riches; for they bring with them so many cares and temptations as to be almost unmanageable. Rich men, even when pious, are seldom happy; they do not enjoy the consolations of religion. A good man, possessed of very extensive estates, unblamable in his whole deportment, once said to me: “There must be some strange malignity in riches thus to keep me in continual bondage, and deprive me of the consolations of the Gospel.” Perhaps to a person to whom his estates are a snare, the words of our Lord may be literally applicable: “Sell what thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up thy cross, and follow me.” But he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions! May we not then say with the psalmist, Surely thou digest set them in slippery places, &c.?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Their happiness hath no firm foundation; it was very unstable, like a mans standing in very slippery ground. The same hand which raised them will cast them down into the pit of utter destruction.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18-20. their endfuture(Psa 37:37; Psa 37:38),which is dismal and terribly sudden (Pro 1:27;Pro 29:1), aggravated andhastened by terror. As one despises an unsubstantial dream, so God,waking up to judgment (Psa 7:6;Psa 44:23), despises their vainshadow of happiness (Psa 39:6;Isa 29:7). They are thrown intoruins as a building falling to pieces (Ps74:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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, and dangerous indeed; See Ps 35:6 and it may be observed, that all this honour, promotion, and riches, are of God; it is he that sets them in these places of honour and profit; and he that sets them up can pull them down, as he does; so it follows,
thou castest them down into destruction: into temporal destruction, by removing them from their high stations into a very low, mean, and contemptible state, as were Shebna and Nebuchadnezzar,
Isa 22:15 and into everlasting destruction, from whence there is no recovery; see Ps 55:23.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18. Surely thou hast set them in slippery places. David, having now gone through his conflicts, begins, if we may use the expression, to be a new man; and he speaks with a quiet and composed mind, being, as it were, elevated on a watchtower, from which he obtained a clear and distinct view of things which before were hidden from him. It was the prophet Habakkuk’s resolution to take such a position, and, by his example, he prescribes this to us as a remedy in the midst of troubles — “I will stand upon my watch,” says he, “and set me upon the tower,” (Hab 2:1.) David, therefore, shows how much advantage is to be derived from approaching God. I now see, says he, how thou proceedest in thy providence; for, although the ungodly continue to stand for a brief season, yet they are, as it were, perched on slippery places, (194) that they may fall ere long into destruction. Both the verbs of this verse are in the past tense; but the first, to set them in slippery places, is to be understood of the present time, as if it had been said, — God for a short period thus lifts them up on high, that when they fall their fall may be the heavier. This, it is true, seems to be the lot of the righteous as well as of the wicked; for everything in this world is slippery, uncertain, and changeable. But as true believers depend upon heaven, or rather, as the power of God is the foundation on which they rest, it is not said of them that they are set in slippery places, notwithstanding the frailty and uncertainty which characterises their condition in this world. What although they stumble or even fall, the Lord has his hand under them to sustain and strengthen them when they stumble, and to raise them up when they are fallen. The uncertainty of the condition of the ungodly, or, as it is here expressed, their slippery condition, proceeds from this, that they take pleasure in contemplating their own power and greatness, and admire themselves on that account, just like a person who would walk at leisure upon ice; (195) and thus by their infatuated presumption, they prepare themselves for falling down headlong. We are not to picture to our imaginations a wheel of fortune, which, as it revolves, embroils all things in confusion; but we must admit the truth to which the prophet here adverts, and which he tells us is made known to all the godly in the sanctuary, that there is a secret providence of God which manages all the affairs of the world. On this subject my readers, if they choose, may peruse the beautiful verses of Claudian in his first book against Ruffinus.
(194) “ Comme junchez en lieux glissans.” — Fr.
(195) “ Qu’ils prenent plaisir a contempler leur puissance et grandeur, et sy mirent, comme qui voudroit se pourmener a loisir sur la glace.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
18-20. In these verses there is a rising climax in the description of the doom of the wicked.
Surely Answering to verily in New Testament.
Slippery places The figure is that of a narrow path along mountain crags where the rocks are smooth and treacherous.
Thou castedst them down The fall of the wicked is not accidental, nor simply consequential. God casts them down. The strong arm of law now interferes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 73:18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
Ver. 18. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places ] Where they can have no more certainty than if they went upon the smoothest ice, or walked upon a mine of gunpowder. The Turks, seeing so few of their viziers to die in their beds, have taken up this proverb, He that is even in the greatest office is but a statue of glass.
Thou castedst them down into destruction
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Surely. See note on “Truly”, Psa 73:1.
didst set = wilt set.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Surely: Psa 35:6, Deu 32:35, Jer 23:12
thou castedst: Psa 37:20, Psa 37:24, Psa 37:35-38, Psa 55:23, Psa 92:7, Psa 94:23, 2Th 1:9
Reciprocal: Jdg 20:21 – destroyed 2Sa 15:10 – reigneth 1Ki 1:41 – Wherefore 2Ch 22:12 – Athaliah Job 5:3 – taking Job 8:18 – he Job 15:21 – in prosperity Job 20:5 – the triumphing Job 24:17 – in the terrors Job 24:18 – swift Job 31:3 – destruction Psa 35:8 – Let destruction Psa 37:10 – yet Psa 49:20 – is like Psa 52:7 – strengthened Psa 58:9 – as Psa 62:3 – ye shall Psa 63:2 – in the Psa 73:1 – God Psa 88:11 – in destruction Psa 102:10 – thou hast Psa 147:6 – he casteth Pro 6:15 – shall his Pro 10:25 – the whirlwind Pro 12:7 – wicked Pro 28:18 – but Ecc 3:18 – concerning Ecc 8:8 – neither Ecc 9:12 – the sons Isa 57:20 – like Eze 28:17 – I will cast Eze 35:11 – and I Dan 5:6 – the king’s Mar 8:36 – what Luk 16:22 – the rich Joh 8:21 – and shall die 1Th 5:3 – then Heb 11:25 – the pleasures Jam 1:11 – so Jam 5:1 – ye 1Jo 2:17 – the world
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 73:18. Thou didst set them in slippery places Their happiness hath no firm foundation; it is very unstable, like a mans standing on very slippery ground. Thou castedst them down into destruction The same hand which raised them will soon cast them down into utter ruin. Worldly prosperity, says Dr. Horne, is as the narrow and slippery summit of a mountain, on which, to answer the designs of his providence, God permits the wicked, during his pleasure, to take their station; till, at length, the fatal hour arrives, when, by a stroke unseen, they fall from thence, and are lost in the fathomless ocean of sorrow, torment, and despair.