Read
Psalm 73:19
How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
17until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.
18Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
19How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
20As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
21For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.
Notice
The word “terrors” makes the end of the envied wicked a frightening reckoning, even after their lives had seemed secure.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about “terrors” after the sanctuary scene in verse 17?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, are you tempted to measure security by someone’s present prosperity?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
1 John 4:18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.Both passages connect fear with punishment, though John speaks of love casting out fear and the psalm describes destruction.
Isaiah 47:11Therefore disaster will come on you. You won’t know when it dawns. Mischief will fall on you. You won’t be able to put it away. Desolation will come on you …Both describe destruction arriving without warning, sweeping away any sense that disaster can be kept at a distance.
Isaiah 47:9But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day: the loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in their full measure, in the multitude …Both describe ruin arriving in a moment: destruction in the psalm, loss of children and widowhood in Isaiah.
Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’Both describe an abrupt end: people are destroyed in the psalm, and God requires a man’s life that night in Luke.
Job 34:20In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand.Both describe people swept away with startling speed; Job names death at midnight and the removal of the mighty.
Psalm 64:7But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.Both psalms describe people struck down without warning, with God identified in the surrounding passage as the one who acts.
Daniel 5:6Then the king’s face was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his thighs were loosened, and his knees struck one against another.Both portray overwhelming fear, though Daniel describes a king’s bodily trembling and the psalm describes terror accompanying destruction.
Proverbs 28:1The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.Fear marks the wicked in both passages: terror at destruction in the psalm, flight without a pursuer in Proverbs.
Luke 9:7Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,The overlap is limited to distress: Herod is perplexed by reports, while the psalm describes terror amid destruction.
Exodus 33:5The LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up among you for one moment, I would consume you. …Both concern the speed of divine judgment: the psalm describes destruction, while Exodus warns that God could consume Israel in one moment.
Numbers 16:21“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”Both describe the prospect of swift destruction under God’s judgment; Numbers records a warning that the congregation could be consumed in a moment.
Judges 3:17He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.These verses share little beyond human subjects: Judges records tribute to Eglon, while the psalm describes sudden destruction.
Where this verse fits
Envy and comparison. injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The terror here is real. The psalm considers the end of those whose prosperity once seemed enviable; their apparent safety cannot withstand God’s judgment.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 73:19. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 73 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).