28 The plural of the term מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash) probably refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 68:35; Jer 51:51).
29 Heb “I discerned their end.” At the temple the psalmist perhaps received an oracle of deliverance announcing his vindication and the demise of the wicked (see Ps 12) or heard songs of confidence (for example, Ps 11), wisdom psalms (for example, Pss 1, 37), and hymns (for example, Ps 112) that describe the eventual downfall of the proud and wealthy.
30 The use of the Hebrew term אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) here literarily counteracts its use in v. 13. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between the two statements, the first of which expresses the psalmist’s earlier despair and the second his newly discovered confidence.
31 Heb “cause them to fall.”
32 Heb “they come to an end, they are finished, from terrors.”
33 Heb “like a dream from awakening.” They lack any real substance; their prosperity will last for only a brief time.
34 When you awake. The psalmist compares God’s inactivity to sleep and the time of God’s judgment to his awakening from sleep.
35 Heb “you will despise their form.” The Hebrew term צֶלֶם (tselem, “form; image”) also suggests their short-lived nature. Rather than having real substance, they are like the mere images that populate one’s dreams. Note the similar use of the term in Ps 39:6.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their end.

Truly you set them in slippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

How they are destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors!

Like a dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny.

Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

How suddenly are they destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors!

They are like a dream when one awakes;

when you arise, Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

until I entered God’s sanctuary.

Then I understood their destiny.

Indeed, you put them in slippery places;

you make them fall into ruin.

How suddenly they become a desolation!

They come to an end, swept away by terrors.

Like one waking from a dream,

Lord, when arising, you will despise their image.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then I went into your sanctuary, O God,

and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.

Truly, you put them on a slippery path

and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction.

In an instant they are destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors.

When you arise, O Lord,

you will laugh at their silly ideas

as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

until I went into the sanctuary of God.

Then I understood their fate.

Surely you set them on slippery places.

You cause them to fall onto ruin.

How they become a desolation in a moment!

They come to a complete end by terrors.

Like a dream upon awakening,

when you wake up, O Lord,

you will despise their fleeting form.

KJV 1900King James Version

Until I went into the sanctuary of God;

Then understood I their end.

Surely thou didst set them in slippery places:

Thou castedst them down into destruction.

How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!

They are utterly consumed with terrors.

As a dream when one awaketh;

So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

Public Domain