15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
16 When I pondered to understand this,
It was [q]troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the [r]sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to [s]destruction.
19 How they are [t]destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their [u]form.21 When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced [v]within,
22 Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like [w]a beast [x]before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me [y]to glory.25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And [z]besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the [aa]strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have [ab]destroyed all those who [ac]are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord [ad]God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.
To fully understand the this passage, you may need to read the previous section, where the psalmist is struggling with the apparent prosperity and success of the wicked. He was tempted to think that all his good deeds, and his devotion to God, were all pointless. And in v. 16 it troubled him, until he came into the sanctuary of God.
With eyes set on God, the psalmist’s perspective began to shift. Rather than becoming bitter (21), and senseless, and arrogant, like a mere beast (22), he realized that God was always with him. He was reminded that God would guide him by the hand, that God’s counsel was his constant companion.
Ultimately, his destiny was to be with God, which is so much higher than anything in the earth (25). We not only serve the greatest power in heaven and earth, but He is our father and draws us near to himself (28). We are not mere minions bowing to some faceless deity, but children of the King.
So when you are distracted by earthly gain, when the fate of the wicked seems far off, remember He is not only “near”, but with you and in you every moment of every day. God himself is our refuge, our glory, and our prize. Our heart’s unfailing desire is for Him alone, with eternity “set in our hearts”.