Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
God set them on slippery ground not by chance but by deliberate purpose, and what makes their fall so terrible is that they were raised high before being cast down. The wicked's prosperity is not a blessing but the arrangement of their doom; the brighter their earthly glory, the darker and more awful their final destruction.
AI summary
The psalmist battles carnal reason itself, contending against what the eye sees: the wicked gorged in wealth and pleasure while mocking God, and the righteous crushed under troubles. He nearly cast off all care for religion at this sight. But he reproves his own rashness in judging from the present state alone, and learns that when God's providence runs its course as He has determined in secret counsel, the righteous will not be cheated of their reward, nor the wicked escape the judge.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 73:1-28
Had Asaph reasoned as the doubters do, he would have betrayed God's children and forfeited their blessings. To follow such a course of doubt is to abandon the fellowship of those in whom God has made His filial relationship a living reality, the true Israel, the righteous generation.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 73:15-18