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 so "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 not to be excused by frailty, but to be condemned because of its perverseness and willful ignorance, for he had been envious of the present prosperity of the ungodly, forgetful of the dreadful end awaiting them.

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 willfulness out of us? Ah, this would be 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. Conscious of this "foolishness," we must make David’s consequent resolve our own: You shall guide me with Your counsel.