As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

PSALMS 73:20KJV
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Psalms 73:20 (KJV)

What does Psalms 73:20 mean?

Psalms 73:20 compares the end of the wicked to a dream that vanishes when someone wakes up; when God "awakens," He will see their lives for what they truly are and reject their false image. The verse uses the idea of waking from a dream to show how quickly and completely God will bring judgment and expose empty appearances.

The writer is Asaph, speaking to God about the fate of people who seem prosperous but live without regard for Him. In this psalm, Asaph wrestles with why the wicked appear to thrive, but here he realizes their success is temporary and unsubstantial—like a fleeting dream. The verse emphasizes that God’s perspective is the true one, and when He acts, the shallow image (or reputation) of the wicked will be despised and dismissed.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 73:20

  • "dream" (חֲלוֹם, ḥalôm): This word means a dream or vision, highlighting how the wicked’s lives are insubstantial and quickly forgotten, just like a dream upon waking.
  • "awaketh" (יָקוּם, yaqûm) and "awakest" (תָּעוּר, taʿûr): Both words relate to waking up, but the second refers to God "arising" or "becoming alert" to act. This suggests a moment when God decisively intervenes.
  • "despise" (בָּזָה, bazah): This word means to scorn or treat with contempt, showing that God will not just ignore but actively reject the false image or reputation of the wicked.
  • "image" (צֶלֶם, tselem): This word often means a likeness or representation, here pointing to the outward appearance or reputation the wicked have built, which God will see as worthless.

Why Psalms 73:20 matters

  • Psalms 73:20 clarifies that the apparent success of the wicked is temporary and not as real as it seems; it will disappear as quickly as a dream fades.
  • The verse stresses that God’s judgment is based on reality, not on outward appearances or reputations that people may build for themselves.
  • This verse connects to the larger theme of Psalm 73, where Asaph moves from confusion about the prosperity of the wicked to understanding their ultimate end from God’s perspective.

Where else these words appear

“image” Hebrew H6754 · used in 15 verses

  • Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
  • Numbers 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
  • Psalms 39:6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

“awaketh” Hebrew H6974 · used in 21 verses

  • 1 Samuel 26:12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.
  • Psalms 44:23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
  • Jeremiah 31:26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

“despise” Hebrew H959 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
  • Esther 3:6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
  • Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

“dream” Hebrew H2472 · used in 55 verses

  • Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
  • Genesis 41:11 And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.
  • 1 Kings 3:15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.