Psalms 73:7-17

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 innocence.
14 For all the day long have I been afflicted, 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] I understood their end.

Psalms 73:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 73

\\<>\\. It seems by the title that Asaph was the penman of this psalm, as it is certain that he was a composer of psalms and hymns; see 2Ch 29:30, though it may be rendered, "a psalm for Asaph", or "unto Asaph" {a}; and might have David for its author, as some think, who, having penned it, sent it to Asaph, to be made use of by him in public service; see 1Ch 16:7, and so the Targum paraphrases it, ``a song by the hands of Asaph;'' the occasion of it was a temptation the psalmist fell into, through the prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of the righteous, to think there was nothing in religion, that it was a vain and useless thing; under which he continued until he went into the house of God, and was taught better; when he acknowledged his stupidity and folly, and penned this psalm, to prevent others falling into the same snare, and to set forth the goodness of God to his people, with which it begins.

The Webster Bible is in the public domain.