NOTES for Psa 73
1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. |
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. |
3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. |
4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. |
5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. |
6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. |
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. |
8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. |
9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. |
10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. |
11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? |
12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. |
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. |
14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. |
15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. |
16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; |
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. |
18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. |
19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. |
20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. |
21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. |
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. |
23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. |
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. |
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. |
26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. |
27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. |
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. |
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The wicked are depicted sharply; grotesque figures of those who violate the commandments are sketched in brief strokes. One does not want to fall under the psalmist's sharp tongue. And yet it is not denunciation that matters here, but repentant self-criticism. For envy of the prosperity of the wicked has fascinated and attracted many, many people down to this day. Thousands of years later, the argument rejected by the psalm's composer still seems to many people not only convincing but the only possible one.
And it is no accident at all that the psalmist admits that a correct understanding of the ways of the wicked came to him in the sanctuary. Only in the light of faith can one see what is what.
The wicked seem quite reasonable to themselves, but it is no accident that they are called fools. Decisions made against God may be orderly and even seem logically precise. But they will always sin against the reason placed in us by the Creator.
Other notes
For Psa 73:9
9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. |
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Readings for 1 May 2007
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