Morning, July 28
Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings
Psalms 73:22
"So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee."
Psalm 73:22
Remember this is the confession of the man after God's own heart; and
in telling us his inner life, he writes, "So foolish was I, and
ignorant." The word "foolish," here, means more than it signifies in
ordinary language. David, in a former verse of the Psalm, writes, "I
was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked,"
which shows that the folly he intended had sin in it. He puts himself
down as being thus "foolish," and adds a word which is to give
intensity to it; "so foolish was I." How foolish he could not tell. It
was a sinful folly, a folly which was not to be excused by frailty, but
to be condemned because of its perverseness and wilful ignorance, for
he had been envious of the present prosperity of the ungodly, forgetful
of the dreadful end awaiting all such. And are we better than David
that we should call ourselves wise! Do we profess that we have attained
perfection, or to have been so chastened that the rod has taken all our
wilfulness out of us? Ah, this were pride indeed! If David was foolish,
how foolish should we be in our own esteem if we could but see
ourselves! Look back, believer: think of your doubting God when he has
been so faithful to you--think of your foolish outcry of "Not so, my
Father," when he crossed his hands in affliction to give you the larger
blessing; think of the many times when you have read his providences in
the dark, misinterpreted his dispensations, and groaned out, "All these
things are against me," when they are all working together for your
good! Think how often you have chosen sin because of its pleasure, when
indeed, that pleasure was a root of bitterness to you! Surely if we
know our own heart we must plead guilty to the indictment of a sinful
folly; and conscious of this "foolishness," we must make David's
consequent resolve our own--"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel."