An Allusion To Annihilationism In Psalm 73

Psalm 73 is by no means of direct, crucial relevance to the analysis of what the Bible does and does not teach about hell.  Indeed, most of the clearest verses pertaining to hell and annihilationism, with the exception of rare verses like Ezekiel 18:4, are all found in the New Testament--hell being one of the only things the New Testament actually addresses without being vague or just repeating the content of the Old Testament.  The focus of Psalm 73 is more on a general exploration of what the author says it was like for them to ponder the success of the wicked around them and what the point of even striving to be just is.  The way it is connected to the Christian ideas about the afterlife is looser than in other places, but it is still relevant.

Psalm 73's first 18 verses summarize how the author struggled as he noticed others prospering as they engaged in unjust violence, living in arrogance and malice.  Verse 19 comes to the claim that the wicked will be destroyed.  Verse 20 goes so far as to say that the wicked will be dismissed by God in a way comparable to how dreams are no longer experienced upon waking up.  Dreams end when one is awake; while dreams and waking experiences are both features of consciousness, one cannot be dreaming while awake.  The two states of experience are exclusive.  The implication of these verses, then, is that those whom God despises (as verse 20 says) will be removed from existence.  As the later verse 27 says, speaking to and of God, "Those who are far from you will perish."

While metaphysical annihilation is sometimes treated as a punishment of trivial significance, Psalm 73 does not treat it this way.  The author becomes satisfied with this fate of the wicked and seems content to pursue righteousness wholeheartedly.  Being cut off from all ability for redemption, pleasure, contemplation, and joy is no small thing.  Since Psalm 73 starts by noting how some evil people will obtain material wealth and peace of mind in spite of their cruelty and arrogance, the implied annihilationism is clearly enough to reassure them that sin will not go unpunished.  It is still crucial to realize that the destiny of any person, whether it is subjectively favorable or unfavorable and objectively deserved or not, is not what dictates how people should live.

The very nature of a moral obligation is that regardless of the outcome, whether it is immediate or in some sort of afterlife, if one should do something, one should do it no matter what, except in rare cases where one cannot avoid sinning and one must choose the lesser evil.  What will or will not happen to someone has nothing to do with how we should live or with whether moral obligations even exist in the first place.  The possibility and nature of an afterlife is at most an additional incentive within some worldviews to do what is morally right, but only a person of weaker resolve would want to live a just life merely for the sake of potential reward after death.  Even so, the Biblical hell is plainly said to be reserved for those who violate their moral obligations, and Jesus even somewhat references a deterrence factor of hell in Matthew 10:28 when he says to fear God for his power to kill or destroy the soul.

Psalm 73 actually complements Matthew 10:28 in what it says about hell: what Psalm 73:19-20 merely implies, Matthew 10:28 explicitly states.  The unsaved are predicted to die in a permanent, cosmic sense; they are denied the eternal life granted by committing to Christ.  Though Psalm 73 is not as direct because it only alludes to this, it is related to the issue of annihilationism enough to be worth mentioning.  Even parts of the Bible that have little to do with the subject of hell still cast some light on the issue.  Some verses could only not prove annihilationism is the Biblical stance on human punishment in hell if the wording was meant in very unusual ways.  Other verses are much more subtle in how they confirm or support how it is annihilation that unsaved humans as a collective are said to face.  Psalm 73:19-20 is certainly in the latter of these categories.