當詩人停下來自我檢視時，發現了自己的第二個問題：「我這樣愚昧無知」（詩七十三22）。有些事情是他知道的，但卻愚蠢地選擇忘記。他忘記了神在掌管，他忘記了成功和興盛隻是短暫的，他忘記了敬虔生活的整個目的，他忘記了神有最後的決定權。如果你和我也好像詩人那樣回應考驗，那麼隻能夠用一句話來形容我們──我們是愚昧無知的。

詩人也發現自己有第三個問題，就是他好像動物那樣出於本能的反應：「在你面前如畜類一般」（詩七十三22下）。野獸和人有什麼分別？野獸不懂得理性地分析事情，牠不會站在自身以外來考慮自己和自己的行動。動物以本能回應任何外來的刺激，不會停下來思想。詩人就是這樣，他沒有在刺激和回應之間留下思想的空間。他一旦停下來思想，以不同的角度來看那處境，他的負面感受便立即消失。

這不是聖經的價值嗎？我們閱讀聖經時，牠與我們論証，告訴我們不要以本能回應事情，而是要思考。聖經給我們新的框架去理解，新的處境去論証。我們越從聖經得到理解，學習以神的眼光來思考，我們的生命就越安全、越有能力。

The second thing the psalmist learned about himself as he paused in self-examination was this: "I saw myself so stupid and so ignorant" (Psa. 73:22, TLB). There were things he knew which he had foolishly chosen to forget. He forgot that God was in control. He forgot the temporary nature of success and prosperity. He forgot the whole purpose of godly living. He forgot that God always has the last word. If you and I react as the psalmist did to trials, then there is only one thing that can be said about us - we are stupid and ignorant.

The third thing the psalmist learned about himself was that he had reacted like an animal - instinctively: "I was a brute beast before you" (Psa. 73:22b). What is the difference between a beast and a human being? A beast lacks the faculty of reason. It is unable to stand outside itself to consider itself and its actions. An animal responds to any stimulus instinctively without any interval for thought. The psalmist had been doing that - he had failed to put an interval of thought between the stimulus and the response. Once he did stop to think, and put the situation in a different context, his negative feelings immediately dissolved.

Is not this the value of the Scriptures? As we read them they reason with us. They tell us not to react instinctively to things, but to think them through. They give us a new framework for our understanding, a new context in which to reason. The more we draw our understanding from the Scriptures and learn to think God's thoughts after Him, the more secure and the more effective our lives become.