properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
destroyed
הִ֝צְמַ֗תָּהhitz.Ma.tah
H6789
to extirpate (literally or figuratively) · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
whoring
זוֹנֶ֥הzo.Neh
H2181
to commit adultery (usually of the female · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the…
Psalms 119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.
Exodus 34:15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and on…
Numbers 15:39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye see…
Psalms 106:39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
Revelation 17:1-5 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the…
Job 21:14-15 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their he…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 73:21–end
Behold Samson's riddle again unriddled, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness; for we have here an account of the good improvement which the psalmist made of that sore temptation with which he had been assaulted and by which he was almost overcome. He that stumbles and does not fall, by recovering himself takes so much the longer steps forward. It was so with the psalmist here; many good lessons he learned from his temptation, his struggles with it, and his victories over it. Nor would God suffer his people to be tempted if his grace were not sufficient for them, not only to save them from harm, but to make them gainers by it; even this shall work for good.
I. He…
For, lo, they that are far from thee,.... Who are alienated from the life of God, far from the law of God, and subjection and obedience to it; and from righteousness either moral or evangelical, and from the love and fear of God, and worship of him:
shall perish; not merely at death, as even righteous men do, but be lost eternally:
thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee; that follow after other gods, and worship them; which is spiritual adultery and fornication, the Scriptures often speak of, and intend by it idolatry; see Deuteronomy 31:16 or who set their hearts and affections upon the creature, and have them alienated from God; and love the creature more and besides th…
Psalm 73:25-28
25. Who is there to me in heaven? [206] And I have desired none other with thee [207] upon the earth. 26. My flesh and my heart have failed: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 27. For, lo: they who depart from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all those who go a whoring from thee. [208] 28. As for me, it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord Jehovah, that I may recount all thy works. [209]
25. Whom have I in heaven but thee? The Psalmist shows more distinctly how much he had profited in the sanctuary of God; for being satisfied with him alone, he rejects every other object, except God, which presented itself to hi…
The Church Fathers
Therefore, the human being began to sin in the matter by which he departed from God. For it is written that "the beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord." And in another place, "Indeed those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you." Therefore, they who are far from God and are false to him indeed perish by sinning through their evil will that is not from God. God will destroy them by his just judgments as is proper to God. For God would not destroy them by his judgment, unless they had perished through their iniquities. For it is written, "How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors."
What is so finite and limited as a fulfilling [of the law]? Therefore, whatever you do, do it for the love of Christ, and let the intention or end of all your actions look to him. Do nothing for the sake of human praise, but everything for love of God and the desire for eternal life. Then you will see the end of all perfection, and when you have reached it you will wish for nothing more. When the psalm is read and you hear, "Unto the end, a psalm of David," do not understand it except as Christ, for the apostle says, "Christ is the consummation of the law for the achievement of justice." If you come to anything else, pass beyond it until you reach the end. What is the end? "But for me, to be near God is my good." Have you adhered to God? You have finished your journey and will remain in your true country.
"Behold," [the psalmist] says, "people who separate themselves far from you [God] will perish." For every individual either unites or separates himself from your mercy by his deeds. The person who does things he fears will be discovered flees from God, just as the person who is protected by walls or surrounded by darkness thinks he will not be seen by God. On the contrary, he is seen, as it says: "You destroyed everyone who fornicates himself away from you." … And so, whoever does not cling to God but devotes himself to the vain worship of idols separates himself far from the Lord by perverse sacrilege. Whoever is separated from the Lord perishes. Therefore, the saintly person who greatly fears the judgment of God always wants to cling to Christ and to put his hope in him so that he may praise the Lord, to whom belongs honor, glory and infinity from all ages, both now and into all eternity.
Dictionary and topics
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Blindness · 21:14;22:13,14; — 21:14;22:13,14;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The poet here once more gives expression to the great opposites into which good fortune and misfortune are seemingly, but only seemingly, divided in a manner so contradictory to the divine justice. The central point of the confirmation that is introduced with כּי lies in Psa 73:28. "Thy far removing ones" was to be expressed with רחק, which is distinct from רחוק. זנה has מן instead of מתּחת or מאחרי after it. Those who remove themselves far from the primary fountain of life fall a prey to ruin; those who faithlessly abandon God, and choose the world with its idols rather than His love, fall a prey to destruction. Not so the poet; the nearness of God, i.e., a state of union with God, is good…
Nothing in heaven or on earth is better than being near God.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 73:27
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish. We must be near God to live; to be far off by wicked works is death. Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. If we pretend to be the Lord's servants, we must remember that he is a jealous God, and requires spiritual chastity from all his people. Offences against conjugal vows are very offensive, and all sins against God have the same element in them, and they are visited with the direst punishments. Mere heathens, who are far from God, perish in due season; but those who, being his professed people, act unfaithfully…
