Psalm 73, Almost Slipped

We begin Book III of the five books making up the Psalter.

A psalm of Asaph.

The first eleven psalms of Book III are by Asaph.  1 Chronicles 25 details the musicians David set up in Jerusalem.  Asaph is the first one mentioned. 

Psalm 73: 1, Good to Israel

 Surely God is good to Israel, 

to those who are pure in heart.

Asaph begins with a thesis -- that God is good to Israel and to those who are pure in their worship of Him. (Both Kidner and Alter point out that a slight change in the Hebrew of the Masoretic Text would change the first line to "Surely God is good to the upright", in parallel with the second line. But Israel, as the people worshiping YHWH, makes sense on its own and is in ancient MT.) 

Asaph states boldly that God is good to the pure in heart. But then he has a concern....

Psalm 73: 2-9, Almost slipped

 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; 

I had nearly lost my foothold.

 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 They have no struggles; 

their bodies are healthy and strong.

 They are free from the burdens common to man; 

they are not plagued by human ills.

 Therefore pride is their necklace; 

they clothe themselves with violence.

 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; 

the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

 They scoff, and speak with malice; 

in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, 

and their tongues take possession of the earth.

The evil seem so successful! They are arrogant, healthy, calloused.  They claim dominion over everything they see, heaven and earth. This complaint runs throughout the psalms and the book of Job. 

The psalmist admits that these thoughts almost led to ruin. It is so easy to be bitter about the success of the wicked! Yet that bitterness is unhealthy, indeed it can lead to spiritual ruin.

In verse 7, "from their callous hearts comes iniquity" is a translation from ancient Syriac or Septuagint (says an NIV footnote) but the MT essentially translates as "their eyes bulge with fat." Alter argues for the MT, writing that this is a satiric image of rich obese people.

Psalm 73: 10-12, Wealthy wicked

 Therefore their people turn to them 

and drink up waters in abundance.

 They say, "How can God know? 

Does the Most High have knowledge?"

 This is what the wicked are like--

always carefree, they increase in wealth.

God is far away, the evil say. This is an ancient complaint -- in Job 22: 13-14, Job's companion, Eliphaz,  raises up this complaint in an attempt to tear it down. 

Psalm 73: 13-14, Innocent Punished

 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; 

in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

 All day long I have been plagued; 

I have been punished every morning.

If the evil are so successful, why try to be good? The psalmist reviews his bitterness about the wicked.

Psalm 73: 15-17, Enter the sanctuary

 If I had said, "I will speak thus," 

I would have betrayed your children.

 When I tried to understand all this,

it was oppressive to me

 till I entered the sanctuary of God; 

then I understood their final destiny.

A transformation occurs as the psalmist enters the sanctuary and gets a different point of view. The tone of the psalm lifts from bitterness and despair up to a more healthy longterm view.

Psalm 73: 19-20, Make them slip

 Surely you place them on slippery ground; 

you cast them down to ruin.

 How suddenly are they destroyed, 

completely swept away by terrors!

 As a dream when one awakes, 

so when you arise, O Lord, 

you will despise them as fantasies.

Earlier, bitterly focused on the success of the wicked, Asaph came close to slipping. Now he asks that those who love evil be the ones who slip and are destroyed, that the wicked disappear like a bad dream does when one awakes.

Psalm 73: 21-24, A brute beast

 When my heart was grieved 

and my spirit embittered,

 I was senseless and ignorant; 

I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you; 

you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, 

and afterward you will take me into glory.

When Asaph was angry and bitter, he lost wisdom and control, he was like an angry animal, reacting senselessly, emotionally, in pain. But God held him by the hand. Made him different than the animals, the psalmist is capable of being guided into wisdom and eventually taken "into glory." It is not clear if the "glory" is an earthly one or a later time with God after death.  Kidner argues that this final phrase is similar to that by the Sons of Korah in Psalm 49: 15.

Psalm 73: 25-28, My true wealth

 Whom have I in heaven but you? 

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

 My flesh and my heart may fail, 

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

 Those who are far from you will perish; 

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

 But as for me, it is good to be near God. 

I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; 

I will tell of all your deeds.

The mood of the psalmist ends upbeat. Only God is his possession; that is all he needs.

The psalms has verse 1 and verse 28 as bookends, both verses praise God for being the refuge of the psalmist and of Israel.

As one who has wallowed in bitterness, I need the message of this song.

Long ago I came across the song, Whenever I Speak His Name, written by Tori and Russell Taff. I am reminded of it by this psalm. A YouTube version of the song is here. The lyrics are here.