Reflections on Psalms 73

 Psalms 73(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by Asaph.) God is truly good to Israel, especially to everyone with a pure heart.
   
2. But I almost stumbled and fell,
   
3. because it made me jealous to see proud and evil people and to watch them prosper.
   
4. They never have to suffer, they stay healthy,
   
5. and they don't have troubles like everyone else.
   
6. Their pride is like a necklace, and they commit sin more often than they dress themselves.
   
7. Their eyes poke out with fat, and their minds are flooded with foolish thoughts.
   
8. They sneer and say cruel things, and because of their pride, they make violent threats.
   
9. They dare to speak against God and to order others around.
   
10. God will bring his people back, and they will drink the water he so freely gives.
    
11. Only evil people would say, "God Most High cannot know everything!"
    
12. Yet all goes well for them, and they live in peace.
    
13. What good did it do me to keep my thoughts pure and refuse to do wrong?
    
14. I am sick all day, and I am punished each morning.
    
15. If I had said evil things, I would not have been loyal to your people.
    
16. It was hard for me to understand all this!
    
17. Then I went to your temple, and there I understood what will happen to my enemies.
    
18. You will make them stumble, never to get up again.
    
19. They will be terrified, suddenly swept away and no longer there.
    
20. They will disappear, Lord, despised like a bad dream the morning after.
    
21. Once I was bitter and brokenhearted.
    
22. I was stupid and ignorant, and I treated you as a wild animal would.
    
23. But I never really left you, and you hold my right hand.
    
24. Your advice has been my guide, and later you will welcome me in glory.
    
25. In heaven I have only you, and on this earth you are all I want.
    
26. My body and mind may fail, but you are my strength and my choice forever.
    
27. Powerful LORD God, all who stay far from you will be lost, and you will destroy those who are unfaithful.
    
28. It is good for me to be near you. I choose you as my protector, and I will tell about your wonderful deeds.

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Psalms 73 is a wisdom psalm written by Asaph. It is a confession of the trap that nearly captured him. From the start he established that he knows God is good to the pure in heart. But he allowed his thoughts to stray from this and looked at the "prosperity of the wicked." (73:3) When he did, his "feet almost slipped" and his "steps nearly went astray." (73:2) The trap was the allure of being prosperous and forgetting it is a short-term trade off.

The problem with Asaph's straying thoughts was not the desire for prosperity so much as the means of gaining that prosperity. For what he envied was not just prosperity, but the prosperity of the wicked. When he looked at the wicked he saw an arrogant people who were prideful and violent. They mocked and spoke maliciously, setting "their mouths against heaven." (73:9) They questioned whether God even knew of their sin. "Does the Most High know everything?" (73:11) And yet, they seemed also to have an easy time. They didn't seem to have trouble like others. And all the while, their wealth increased. It caused Asaph to question, "Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?" (73:13) The thought behind the question is the one that sets the trap for us. It presumes that our reason for placing our faith in God is so He will prosperous us materially. If this doesn't happen do we really have a reason to follow Him and be obedient to His teachings?

After Asaph came to his senses he was glad he hadn't said "these things aloud," thus betraying God's people. It was in God's sanctuary that he realized the folly of his thinking. We have to wonder if the reason his thoughts strayed as they did was because he had neglected worship. When he entered God's sanctuary, he understood the destiny of the wicked for he realized, "How suddenly they become a desolation! They come to an end, swept away by terrors." (73:19) He then realized he had been a fool to think such thoughts.

Asaph realized not only the sudden end that comes to the wicked but also what he had as a follower of God. He had God's presence with him all the time giving him guidance and counsel and then God would "take me up in glory." (73:24) He realized that having God is enough, for "I desire nothing on earth but You." (73:25) So the outcome is that those who are far from God "will certainly perish," but for Asaph, "God's presence is my good." (73:27, 28) God was his prosperity. Therefore, he said, "I have made the Lord God my refuge." (73:28)