Psalms 73
FBMeyerPsalms 73:1-15
Deceptive Prosperity Psalms 73:1-15 The opening psalms of this third Book of Psalms are by Asaph; see 2 Chronicles 29:30. The r.v. margin substitutes only for surely in Psalms 73:1. There is none good but God and God is only good. “ His every act pure goodness is; His path unsullied light.” Israel, as here intended, is not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. See John 1:47 and Romans 2:28-29. We have in these verses a good man’ s temptation. In every age God’ s people have asked whether God can possibly know all that is taking place on the earth, and if He does know, why He allows evil to prosper. The dark spirit who is ever at our elbow whispers that we should have done as well, and better, if we had not been quite so scrupulous in our business dealings; and we are held back from giving expression to our thoughts only by the fear that we might cause God’ s weaker children to stumble. This reticence is, of course, wholly commendable. A Christian man confessed the other day that the irreligion of his children was due to his critical and captious speech. By all means keep these dark and faithless thoughts locked in your own breast; you have no right to scatter thistle-down.
Set in slippery places This and the ten following Psalms are ascribed to the family of Asaph, the eminent singer (1 Chronicles 16:7; 2 Chronicles 29:30). The author describes his conflict with a strong temptation to envy the wicked. The 37th Psalm and the 73rd, discuss this problem, which was the great stumbling-block of the saints of old.
We may divide the Psalm thus: How he came into the temptation (Psalms 73:1-14); how he got out of it (Psalms 73:15-20); how he profited by it (Psalms 73:21-28).
Psalms 73:1. Truly God is good! This is the great principle on which he stands, as on a slab of granite. “‘Only good is God” (R.V., marg.). Whatever appearances there may be to the contrary, there is no doubt as to His perfect beneficence. The Israel is not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (John 1:47; 1 Corinthians 10:18). If you are washed in the blood of Christ, believe that every wind which blows on your life comes from the quarter of God’s love.
Psalms 73:2. My feet were almost gone Almost but not altogether.
Psalms 73:4. No bands in their death This might be rendered, “no pangs up to their death” (R.V., marg.). Or it may mean that their death is easier than that of the godly. Their life flows on in a softly flowing current. “Men may die like lambs; and yet have their place hereafter with the goats.”
Psalms 73:6-9. They are corrupt What a picture! Their haughty bearing; their eyes and their speech; the imaginations of their evil heart overflowing (Psalms 73:7, R.V.). They blaspheme God in heaven and wander through the earth in search of garbage.
Psalms 73:10-11. How doth God know? Some think that these verses indicate that the perplexity of the saints, coupled with the baleful influence of the wicked make the Lord’s people apostatize. Others that here we are told of the anguish caused them by the tyranny of the proud oppressor.
Psalms 73:13-14. Chastened every morning These verses might be paraphrased thus: “Surely godliness does not profit. I have lived up to all I knew to be right, keeping my conscience void of offence; and yet plagues and chastisement have been my daily lot. Is there a God, or is He other than good, that He so deals with his most faithful servants? Plagued” (contrast Psalms 73:5).
Psalms 73:15-16. Too painful for me It seems treacherous to breathe such thoughts about God. Yet it is an infinite pain to doubt God’s perfect integrity. Ah, the agony of a suspicion that God should not be perfectly wise and good!
Psalms 73:17-19. Until I went into the sanctuary Let us view things from God’s standpoint and take in the whole course of his providence, weighing the future retribution of the wicked against their present estate (James 5:11).
Psalms 73:20. As a dream “The awaking of God is a metaphor for his ending a period of probation or indulgence by an act of judgment.” Here it would seem that death, which separates a man from his prosperity, is specially referred to.
Psalms 73:21-22. So foolish was I When a man is nearest God, he is most full of self-loathing. God forgives him, but he cannot forgive himself.
Psalms 73:23-28. God is my portion forever In spite of all the follies and sins of the past and present we may have God’s constant presence. In Him we can have all and more than all that the Godless find in their wealth. God in heaven; God in the pathway of daily life; God in the heart–this is blessedness
Psalms 73:16-28
The true place in which to form a right estimate of life is where Asaph found it-in the sanctuary of God; because from its elevation and the purity of its atmosphere, one can take into view the unseen as well as the seen, the eternal as well as the transient. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we may dwell upon our losses with disappointment and regret, 1 Corinthians 15:19. But if the future is taken into consideration, what Lazarus would exchange his lot with Dives? Luke 16:19-31. When once the soul crosses the frontier between this life and the next, it finds that the current-coin on this side is valueless on that. One day as Asaph, more bowed down than usual, entered the sanctuary, deliverance came. Whether it was when the sacrifice was being offered, or when the holy psalm was being sung, the clouds suddenly broke and the burden rolled away. He saw that God did not reward goodness with things, but with Himself, and he turned to Him with adoring love. Even in the present life the righteous may count on the constant presence of God. His hand holds them; His counsel guides. He is our strength and our portion; and when we change worlds, we shall only enter more fully and absolutely on our inheritance. Why should the soul a drop bemoan. That has an ocean near?
Set in slippery places This and the ten following Psalms are ascribed to the family of Asaph, the eminent singer (1 Chronicles 16:7; 2 Chronicles 29:30). The author describes his conflict with a strong temptation to envy the wicked. The 37th Psalm and the 73rd, discuss this problem, which was the great stumbling-block of the saints of old.
We may divide the Psalm thus: How he came into the temptation (Psalms 73:1-14); how he got out of it (Psalms 73:15-20); how he profited by it (Psalms 73:21-28).
Psalms 73:1. Truly God is good! This is the great principle on which he stands, as on a slab of granite. “‘Only good is God” (R.V., marg.). Whatever appearances there may be to the contrary, there is no doubt as to His perfect beneficence. The Israel is not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (John 1:47; 1 Corinthians 10:18). If you are washed in the blood of Christ, believe that every wind which blows on your life comes from the quarter of God’s love.
Psalms 73:2. My feet were almost gone Almost but not altogether.
Psalms 73:4. No bands in their death This might be rendered, “no pangs up to their death” (R.V., marg.). Or it may mean that their death is easier than that of the godly. Their life flows on in a softly flowing current. “Men may die like lambs; and yet have their place hereafter with the goats.”
Psalms 73:6-9. They are corrupt What a picture! Their haughty bearing; their eyes and their speech; the imaginations of their evil heart overflowing (Psalms 73:7, R.V.). They blaspheme God in heaven and wander through the earth in search of garbage.
Psalms 73:10-11. How doth God know? Some think that these verses indicate that the perplexity of the saints, coupled with the baleful influence of the wicked make the Lord’s people apostatize. Others that here we are told of the anguish caused them by the tyranny of the proud oppressor.
Psalms 73:13-14. Chastened every morning These verses might be paraphrased thus: “Surely godliness does not profit. I have lived up to all I knew to be right, keeping my conscience void of offence; and yet plagues and chastisement have been my daily lot. Is there a God, or is He other than good, that He so deals with his most faithful servants? Plagued” (contrast Psalms 73:5).
Psalms 73:15-16. Too painful for me It seems treacherous to breathe such thoughts about God. Yet it is an infinite pain to doubt God’s perfect integrity. Ah, the agony of a suspicion that God should not be perfectly wise and good!
Psalms 73:17-19. Until I went into the sanctuary Let us view things from God’s standpoint and take in the whole course of his providence, weighing the future retribution of the wicked against their present estate (James 5:11).
Psalms 73:20. As a dream “The awaking of God is a metaphor for his ending a period of probation or indulgence by an act of judgment.” Here it would seem that death, which separates a man from his prosperity, is specially referred to.
Psalms 73:21-22. So foolish was I When a man is nearest God, he is most full of self-loathing. God forgives him, but he cannot forgive himself.
Psalms 73:23-28. God is my portion forever In spite of all the follies and sins of the past and present we may have God’s constant presence. In Him we can have all and more than all that the Godless find in their wealth. God in heaven; God in the pathway of daily life; God in the heart–this is blessedness