Like one waking from a dream, so You, O Lord, awaken and despise their form.
Their wealth and power are nothing but dreams, and when the Lord awakes to judgment, they vanish like a dream at daybreak. The instant God rises to exercise His justice, the pomp of the proud melts away; they are already the stuff of dreams, and soon they will be gone entirely. Why spend your heart on the riches of dreamland?
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
Placing himself at the end, the poet sees the ungodly come to terrible destruction in a moment; it is finished with them. Frightful occurrences clear them out of the way. They are as a dream upon waking, forgotten for their nothingness. Before God the boastful evildoer is but a phantom, an unsubstantial shadow. When He arouses Himself to judgment, He will despise their shadowy image and cast it from Him in contempt.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 73:19-22