Psalm 73:3-28

3 For I was ¹envious of the arrogant As I saw the ²prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat.

5 They are ³not in trouble as other men, Nor are they ⁴plagued like mankind.

6 Therefore pride is ⁵their necklace; The ⁶garment of violence covers them.

7 Their eye bulges from ⁷fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot.

8 They ⁸mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They ⁹speak from on high.

9 They have ¹⁰set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of ¹¹abundance are drunk by them.

11 They say, "¹²How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?"

12 Behold, ¹³these are the wicked; And always ¹⁴at ease, they have increased in wealth.

13 Surely ¹⁵in vain I have kept my heart pure And ¹⁶washed my hands in innocence;

14 For I have been stricken ¹⁷all day long And ¹⁸chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," Behold, I would have betrayed the ¹⁹generation of Your children.

16 When I ²⁰pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight

17 Until I came into the ²¹sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their ²²end.

18 Surely You set them in ²³slippery places; You cast them down to ²⁴destruction.

19 How they are ²⁵destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by ²⁶sudden terrors!

20 Like a ²⁷dream when one awakes, O Lord, when ²⁸aroused, You will ²⁹despise their form.

21 When my ³⁰heart was embittered And I was ³¹pierced within,

22 Then I was ³²senseless and ignorant *; I was like a ³³beast before You.

23 Nevertheless ³⁴I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.

24 With Your counsel You will ³⁵guide me, And afterward ³⁶receive me to glory.

25 ³⁷Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

26 My ³⁸flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my ³⁹portion forever.

27 For, behold, ⁴⁰those who are far from You will ⁴¹perish; You have destroyed all those who ⁴²are unfaithful to You.

28 But as for me, ⁴³the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my ⁴⁴refuge, That I may ⁴⁵tell of all Your works.

Psalm 73:3-28 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.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 37:1; Proverbs 23:17
• 2. Job 21:7; Psalms 37:7; Jeremiah 12:1
• 3. Job 21:9; Psalms 73:12
• 4. Psalms 73:14
• 5. Genesis 41:42; Proverbs 1:9
• 6. Psalms 109:18
• 7. Job 15:27; Psalms 17:10; Jeremiah 5:28
• 8. Psalms 1:1
• 9. Psalms 17:10; 2 Peter 2:18; Jude 16
• 10. Revelation 13:6
• 11. Psalms 23:5
• 12. Job 22:13
• 13. Psalms 49:6; Psalms 52:7
• 14. Jeremiah 49:31; Ezekiel 23:42
• 15. Job 21:15; Job 34:9; Job 35:3
• 16. Psalms 26:6
• 17. Psalms 38:6
• 18. Job 33:19; Psalms 118:18
• 19. Psalms 14:5
• 20. Ecclesiastes 8:17
• 21. Psalms 27:4; Psalms 77:13
• 22. Psalms 37:38
• 23. Psalms 35:6
• 24. Psalms 35:8; Psalms 36:12
• 25. Numbers 16:21; Isaiah 47:11
• 26. Job 18:11
• 27. Job 20:8
• 28. Psalms 78:65
• 29. 1 Samuel 2:30
• 30. Judges 10:16
• 31. Acts 2:37
• 32. Psalms 49:10; Psalms 92:6
• 33. Job 18:3; Psalms 49:20; Ecclesiastes 3:18
• 34. Psalms 16:8
• 35. Psalms 32:8; Psalms 48:14; Isaiah 58:11
• 36. Genesis 5:24; Psalms 49:15
• 37. Psalms 16:2; Philippians 3:8
• 38. Psalms 38:10; Psalms 40:12; Psalms 84:2; Psalms 119:81
• 39. Psalms 16:5
• 40. Psalms 119:155
• 41. Psalms 37:20
• 42. Exodus 34:15; Numbers 15:39; Psalms 106:39; Hosea 4:12; Hosea 9:1
• 43. Psalms 65:4; Hebrews 10:22; James 4:8
• 44. Psalms 14:6; Psalms 71:7
• 45. Psalms 40:5; Psalms 107:22; Psalms 118:17

Footnotes

• [a] Or "boasters"
• [b] Or "belly"
• [c] Lit "in the trouble of men"
• [d] Or "mortals"
• [e] Lit "with"
• [f] Lit "goes forth"
• [g] Lit "overflow"
• [h] Or "they speak in wickedness; From on high they speak of oppression"
• [i] Or "in"
• [j] Lit "walks"
• [k] Or "His"
• [l] Lit "drained out"
• [m] Lit "in"
• [n] Or "cleansed my heart"
• [o] Lit "my chastening"
• [p] Lit "labor, trouble"
• [q] Lit "sanctuaries"
• [r] Lit "ruins"
• [s] Lit "become a desolation"
• [t] Or "image"
• [u] Lit "in my kidneys"
• [v] Or "an animal"
• [w] Lit "with You"
• [x] Or "with honor"
• [y] Or "with"
• [z] Lit "rock"
• [aa] Or "silenced"
• [ab] Lit "go to a whoring from"
• [ac] Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD