BOOK 3
(Psalms 73—89)
A psalm of Asaph
73:Title Note on Asaph at Ps 50:1. Altogether twelve Psalms are ascribed to him.⚜
73
📚Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
73:1 Here Asaph gives the conclusion he has reached after his struggles with doubt. He almost fell into unbelief about God’s goodness because of perplexing things that happen in the world. He came through the spiritual battle victoriously and is fully assured that God is good. Is God good to all? Yes, He is (Ps 145:9; Matt 5:45). He is good even to the wicked until it becomes no longer right to show them any more kindness. But God is especially good to His own dear people. God displays His goodness to the wicked to lead them to repentance (Rom 2:4). He is good to the righteous for their blessing, happiness, and sanctification. Satan, who is the enemy of all goodness, will try to convince us God is not good at all. He will point to the world with its cruelty, suffering, and injustice. Satan will not say, of course, the truth that he and wicked men, not God, are responsible for all that. In this New Testament age when Satan tempts us to doubt God’s goodness we can look at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (something Asaph could not do), and be assured again that God is eternal love and everlasting goodness.⚜
2 📚But as for me, my feet had almost
stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
73:2 Asaph said God is good to the pure in heart – those in Israel who were true believers and who because of it tried to live holy lives (note on the pure in heart at Matt 5:8). Here he confessed his own weakness and folly. He realized he could hardly be classed with the pure in heart. Almost he had fallen away from God.⚜
3 📚For I was envious
of the foolish,
when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked.
73:3 Here is the reason for Asaph’s spiritual struggle and near fall – envy. He compared his condition (vs 13,14) with the wicked who were prosperous, and he thought they were better off than he. On envy see Job 5:2; Prov 14:30; 23:17; 27:4; Matt 27:18; Acts 7:9; 13:45; 17:5; Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 3:3; Jam 3:14-16.⚜
4 📚For there are no pangs in their death;
but their strength is firm.
5 📚They are not in trouble like other men,
nor are they plagued like other men.
6 📚Therefore pride surrounds them like a necklace;
violence covers them like
a garment.
7 📚Their eyes bulge with fat;
they have more than their heart
could wish.
8 📚They scoff, and speak wickedly
concerning oppression;
they speak arrogantly.
9 📚They set their mouth against
the heavens,
and their tongue walks through
the earth.
10 📚Therefore his people return here,
and waters of a full cup 📖 are
drained by them.
11 📚And they say, “How does God know?”
and “Is there knowledge
in the Most High?”
12 📚See, these are the ungodly,
who prosper in the world;
they increase in riches.
73:4-12 These verses are a vivid description of a certain class of people in their prosperity, pride, and ignorance. To understand fully Asaph’s folly in envying them we should remember an important fact. He was a Levite (God chose the Levites for service in the temple). The Levites were not supposed to desire material things. They had no inheritance in the land of Canaan. God Himself was their inheritance – Deut 10:9; 18:1-2. They were to devote themselves to the service of God and be supported by the offerings of the people of Israel – Num 18:21-26; Deut 14:27-29.
For Asaph to envy the wicked in their prosperity was to show dissatisfaction with God’s calling for him. It was to forget that he had the greatest inheritance of all, and the greatest privilege and blessing of all men – God and God’s service. In these days many Christian workers commit Asaph’s blunder. And many do not come through this spiritual test as victoriously as he did.⚜
13 📚Surely in vain I have
cleansed my heart,
and washed my hands
in innocence.
14 📚For all day long I have been plagued,
and punished every morning.
73:13-14 In his doubts and lack of understanding he concluded that any effort to be holy and spiritual was useless. All he got for his efforts was God’s chastisement, every morning and all day long. He had expected better rewards for faithful service than that. So he thinks he has grounds to quarrel with God. How easy it is for us also to forget the purpose of God’s punishment and chastisement (Heb 12:5-11). God’s taking such pains to correct Asaph shows that Asaph was chosen of God and very precious.
On the whole, God is not much concerned with making His children materially prosperous. He wants to make them holy, faithful, trusting, and true. He is not in the business of building fortunes for them – He is building their character, something far more important than money and property. See also Ps 37.⚜
15 📚If I had said, “I will speak thus”,
see, I would have betrayed the
generation of your children.
16 📚When I thought to understand this,
it was too painful for me;
73:15-16 In this carnal condition he still had respect for the people of God and did not want to be a cause of stumbling to them. So he very wisely kept quiet about his doubts and inner turmoil.⚜
17 📚Until I went into the sanctuary
of God.
Then I understood their
coming end.
18 📚Surely you set them in
slippery places.
You cast them down to destruction.
19 📚How they are brought
into desolation,
as in a moment!
They are completely consumed
with terrors.
20 📚As a dream when one
awakes,
so, O Lord, when you awake,
you will despise their image.
73:17-20 Understanding began to dawn in Asaph’s mind when he got into God’s presence. There alone can we come to right opinions about things. The wicked enjoy their prosperity only for a little while. Then they are cut off and sink down to terrors, misery, and destruction. How foolish to envy those whose end is so dreadful! From the New Testament point of view, with its emphasis on eternal life, Lazarus, for example, had no need to envy the rich man, but the rich man had much cause to envy Lazarus (Luke 16:19-24).⚜
21 📚Thus my heart was grieved,
and I was pierced in my inmost
being.
22 📚I was so foolish
and ignorant;
I was like a beast
in your presence.
73:21-22 This is the result of questioning God’s goodness and envying the wicked. Such sins make men like beasts without spiritual understanding (2 Pet 2:12; Jude 10). Asaph had been appointed to sing joyful songs to God (1 Chron 15:16-17), not to question God’s justice in His dealings with men. Grief and bitterness of spirit will result from such quarrels with God. Here when Asaph confesses his folly he begins to be restored to a healthy spiritual state.⚜
23 📚Nevertheless 📖 I am continually
with you.
You hold me by my right hand.
24 📚You will guide me
with your counsel,
and afterwards receive me
into glory.
73:24 Because of God’s grace, complete assurance floods back into Asaph’s heart. God Himself will be his guide and lead him all the way to the place of eternal glory. The prosperity of the wicked has to do only with this earth and for their little time here. The believer has his inheritance in God Himself and so it will never pass away – Rom 8:17; Eph 1:14, 18; 1 Pet 1:3-4; Matt 6:19-21.⚜
25 📚Whom have I in heaven
but you?
And there is nothing 📖 on earth that I
desire besides you.
73:25 Asaph returns to his proper spiritual position as a Levite who has God for his portion. In this New Testament age believers are priests and Levites in a spiritual sense (note at Ex 28:1). Happy is the person who can truly say that he wants nothing on earth but God Himself.⚜
26 📚My flesh and my heart fail,
but God is the strength
of my heart,
and my portion forever.
73:26 How weak and deceiving are our own hearts – Prov 28:26; Jer 17:9. There is nothing in ourselves that we can depend on – Rom 7:18; 2 Cor 1:9; 3:5. God is the strength of our heart (or “Rock” – the literal meaning of the Hebrew word used here. Note at Deut 32:4). See Ps 18:1-2; 27:1; 62:7; 84:5; 2 Cor 12:9.⚜
27 📚For, see, those who are far
from you will perish.
You destroy all those who go
from you acting like a prostitute 📖.
73:27 This will be the fate of those who despise God’s goodness and will not repent at His kindness. Since they spurn His grace that would save them they will taste of His justice which condemns them.⚜
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 your works.
73:28 The supreme good for man is just this – to know God and live joyfully in His presence forever. The way to obtain this good is to make Him our refuge. The result will be that we will want to declare His goodness to others.⚜