Psalm 73:4-14

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

5 They are ¹not in trouble as other men, Nor are they ²plagued like mankind.

6 Therefore pride is ³their necklace; The ⁴garment of violence covers them.

7 Their eye bulges from ⁵fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot.

8 They ⁶mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They ⁷speak from on high.

9 They have ⁸set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of ⁹abundance are drunk by them.

11 They say, "¹⁰How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?"

12 Behold, ¹¹these are the wicked; And always ¹²at ease, they have increased in wealth.

13 Surely ¹³in vain I have kept my heart pure And ¹⁴washed my hands in innocence;

14 For I have been stricken ¹⁵all day long And ¹⁶chastened every morning.

Psalm 73:4-14 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. Job 21:9; Psalms 73:12
• 2. Psalms 73:14
• 3. Genesis 41:42; Proverbs 1:9
• 4. Psalms 109:18
• 5. Job 15:27; Psalms 17:10; Jeremiah 5:28
• 6. Psalms 1:1
• 7. Psalms 17:10; 2 Peter 2:18; Jude 16
• 8. Revelation 13:6
• 9. Psalms 23:5
• 10. Job 22:13
• 11. Psalms 49:6; Psalms 52:7
• 12. Jeremiah 49:31; Ezekiel 23:42
• 13. Job 21:15; Job 34:9; Job 35:3
• 14. Psalms 26:6
• 15. Psalms 38:6
• 16. Job 33:19; Psalms 118:18

Footnotes

• [a] Or "belly"
• [b] Lit "in the trouble of men"
• [c] Or "mortals"
• [d] Lit "with"
• [e] Lit "goes forth"
• [f] Lit "overflow"
• [g] Or "they speak in wickedness; From on high they speak of oppression"
• [h] Or "in"
• [i] Lit "walks"
• [j] Or "His"
• [k] Lit "drained out"
• [l] Lit "in"
• [m] Or "cleansed my heart"
• [n] Lit "my chastening"