Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
English Standard Version (ESV)
When God "awakens" to judgment, He sees the wicked's accomplishments not as solid achievements, but as mere phantoms, like a dream that vanishes upon waking. This emphasizes that true value isn't in earthly success, but in a reality that endures beyond fleeting appearances.
Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The psalmist has been wrestling with why the wicked seem to prosper while he suffers. After nearly losing his faith, he finds renewed understanding in God's presence, realizing that the prosperity of the wicked is fleeting and ultimately despised by God. This verse comes as he describes the sudden and utter downfall awaiting those who trust in worldly success rather than in God.
Ever looked at someone seemingly 'having it all' and wondered why God seems to let them prosper? This verse offers a profound perspective on that very struggle.
The Mirage of Success
The psalmist, Asaph, grapples with a common human temptation: envying the apparent success of the wicked. He describes their prosperity as something akin to a dream.
What does it mean for God to 'awaken'? It's not that God sleeps, but that His full, active judgment is a powerful, definitive moment.
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The Lord's Intervention
The phrase 'when you awakest' doesn't imply that God was asleep. Instead, it speaks to the moment He actively intervenes in history, bringing His justice and exposing the truth.
Understand the original words
Adonay · Hebrew Noun
The supreme Master or Sovereign; a title emphasizing God's absolute authority, ownership, and right to govern the lives and destinies of humanity.
iyr · Hebrew Verb
To actively initiate action, judgment, or presence; metaphorically used of God to signal the end of His patience or the beginning of a decisive intervention in history.
buwz · Hebrew Verb
To treat with contempt or reject; in a theological context, it signifies God’s righteous disdain for pride, hypocrisy, or the futile pretensions of the wicked.
tselem · Hebrew Noun
A representation of something that lacks substance, reality, or permanence; often used to contrast the fleeting nature of worldly success with the eternal reality of God.
Psalm 73 grapples with the age-old problem of why the wicked often prosper while the righteous suffer. The psalm's context is a time of significant regional upheaval and prophetic critique, making the psalmist's struggle with apparent divine injustice deeply relevant to his audience.
c. 730 BC— this verse
Asaph's Crisis of Faith
The psalmist Asaph experiences deep spiritual turmoil witnessing the prosperity of the wicked, leading him to question God's justice and goodness. This psalm reflects his struggle and eventual resolution.
c. 730 BC
Rise of Assyrian Power
The Assyrian Empire was a dominant military and political force in the Near East. Their expansion and conquests often led to the displacement and suffering of conquered peoples, a backdrop against which the stability and seeming invincibility of the wicked might have been observed.
Late 8th century BC
Prophetic Ministry in Israel and Judah
Prophets like Isaiah and Amos delivered messages of judgment and hope, often addressing the moral failures and social injustices within Israel and Judah. Their words would have resonated with the themes of divine retribution for the wicked and God's faithfulness to the righteous.
This passage directly parallels the imagery of a fleeting dream, describing how the wicked will vanish and be forgotten, much like a dream upon waking, highlighting the transience of their prosperity.
Isaiah 29:7Similar to Psalm 73:20, this verse likens the futile efforts of the enemies of God's people to a dream that fades upon waking, emphasizing the ultimate powerlessness and insignificance of those who oppose God.
Psalm 39:6This verse speaks of humans walking in a 'vain show' and being disquieted in vain, which resonates with the 'image' or 'shadow' of the wicked that God despises, pointing to the insubstantial nature of worldly pursuits apart from God.
Ecclesiastes 5:3The multitude of concerns and the brevity of life for the foolish are compared to dreams and vanities, echoing the psalmist's realization that the prosperity of the wicked is as empty and transient as a dream.
Proverbs 30:19This proverb lists things 'too wonderful' to fully comprehend, including 'the way of a man with a maiden,' which, like a dream, can feel mysterious and fleeting once it has passed, offering another perspective on the ephemeral nature of certain experiences.
clarkePsalms 73:20: "As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image."
As a dream when one awaketh - So their goods fled away. Their possession was a dream - their privation, real. Thou shalt despise their image - While destitute of true religion, whatever appearance they had of greatness, nobility, honor, and happiness; yet in the sight of God they had no more than the ghost or shade of excellence which God is said here to despise. Who would be rich at such…
pulpitPsalms 73:20: "As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image."
Verse 20. - As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. As men despise their dreams when they awake from them, so, when God "stirs up himself and awakes to judgment" (Psalm 35:23), he will despise such mere semblances of humanity (Psalm 39:6) as the wicked are.
When God "awakens" to judgment, He sees the wicked's accomplishments not as solid achievements, but as mere phantoms, like a dream that vanishes upon waking. This emphasizes that true value isn't in earthly success, but in a reality that endures beyond fleeting appearances.
The psalmist has been wrestling with why the wicked seem to prosper while he suffers. After nearly losing his faith, he finds renewed understanding in God's presence, realizing that the prosperity of the wicked is fleeting and ultimately despised by God. This verse comes as he describes the sudden and utter downfall awaiting those who trust in worldly success rather than in God.
The psalmist has been wrestling with why the wicked seem to prosper while he suffers. After nearly losing his faith, he finds renewed understanding in God's presence, realizing that the prosperity of the wicked is fleeting and ultimately despised by God. This verse comes as he describes the sudden and utter downfall awaiting those who trust in worldly success rather than in God.
"Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms." — When God "awakens" to judgment, He sees the wicked's accomplishments not as solid achievements, but as mere phantoms, like a dream that vanishes upon waking. This emphasizes that true value isn't in…
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Last reviewed October 2026