昨天我们谈及一个真理──为甚么不敬虔的人会处于显要的位置，是因为那是神的安排。诗人接着继续说神不单兴起不敬虔的人，也令他们衰败：「使他们掉在沉沦之中。他们转眼之间成了何等的荒凉」（诗七十三18-19）。这一双把他们提到高峰上的手，也将他们抛进深渊。为甚么神的行径会这么奇怪和神秘？

其中一个原因是，神要借此告诉我们那些选择不与祂同行的人，他们的道路是多么不可靠和不安全。这也解释了为何我们会经常看到一些显要但不敬虔的人，例如受人赞赏的电影明星，会突然从地上消失。这些人的脚就是站在滑地上。这几节经文亦令人想起希特勒（Adolf Hitler），以前世界上的人都惧怕他，但是现在他不仅已经离去甚至几乎被人遗忘了。

诗人说：「使他们掉在沉沦之中，他们转眼之间成了何等的荒凉」，他实际上是敬虔地惊叹罪人的倾覆是多么突然和完全。神让我们看到那些一直拒绝祂的爱和恩典的人，他们的生命虽然有片刻的光辉，但却很快就离去、被人遗忘。所以当你在思考世界问题的时候要记得这一个事实。有时我们会以为神好像没有在掌控宇宙，实际上祂的手一直在掌握人类的事情。

We touched yesterday on the truth that the reason why the ungodly are set in eminent places is because God arranges it. The psalmist goes on to say that not only does God raise up the ungodly, but He also brings them down: "You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed..." (Psa. 73:18-19). The hand that led them up to the top of the slope is the hand that also casts them down. Why does God act in this strange and mysterious manner?

One reason is that God is able to demonstrate how unreliable and insecure are the ways of those who choose not to walk with Him. This explains why we so frequently read of some prominent godless person, such as a film star whom everyone is acclaiming, being suddenly removed from the face of the earth. The feet of such people were set in slippery places. Some reading these lines will remember how everyone stood in dread of Adolph Hitler. He had the whole world frightened, but now he is gone and almost forgotten.

The psalmist's words "You cast them down...how suddenly are they destroyed" are really an exclamation of godly wonder at the suddenness and completeness of the sinner's overthrow. God makes a spectacle of those who persist in rejecting His love and grace. They make a splash for the moment of their lives, but after that they are gone and soon forgotten. Keep that fact before you as you look out upon the world. It may sometimes seem as if God is not in control, but in actual fact His hand is ever upon the helm of human affairs.