Psalms 73

BOOK 3

A Psalm by Asaph.

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.

They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.

Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.

Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.

They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.

They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.

Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.

They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.

Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,

For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.

If I had said, “I will speak thus”, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me—

until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.

Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.

How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.

As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.

For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.

I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.

You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.

But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview.
This chapter is a personal testimony of spiritual crisis and resolution, tracing the psalmist’s struggle with the apparent prosperity of the wicked and his subsequent recovery of faith upon entering God’s sanctuary. It explores the tension between divine justice and earthly experience, ultimately affirming God’s sovereign judgment and the sufficiency of His presence. This psalm stands near the center of Book III of the Psalter, a section marked by deep lament and questions about God’s faithfulness, yet it turns decisively toward trust.

Flow.

The psalmist opens with a declaration of God’s goodness to the pure in heart, immediately contrasted by his own near loss of faith due to envy of the wicked’s prosperity.
He details the arrogance, ease, and defiance of the wicked, whose lives seem untouched by suffering and who scoff at divine justice.
Wrestling with the futility of his own integrity, he nearly stumbles—until he gains a new perspective in God’s sanctuary, where he sees the ultimate end of the wicked.
Renewed in faith, he repents of his bitterness, reaffirms his trust in God’s presence and guidance, and declares that nearness to God is his highest good.

Connections.
Following chapter 72, which culminates in praise for God’s universal and enduring kingdom, this psalm grounds eschatological hope in personal experience, showing how faith endures when earthly realities seem to contradict divine justice. The crisis of Psalm 73 prepares the reader for the communal laments and reflections on covenant faithfulness in chapters like 74 and 80, where the people of God also grapple with the visibility of His rule. The movement from doubt to worship in this psalm serves as a bridge between the individual’s struggle and the nation’s ongoing need for deliverance.

What it teaches.
The psalm affirms that God’s justice extends beyond this life, a truth grasped not through reasoning alone but through worship and divine revelation (WCF 5.6). The wicked, though prosperous now, are destined for sudden destruction (WCF 17.2), while the faithful, though afflicted, are continually upheld by God’s presence and hand (WCF 17.3). True blessedness is found not in earthly ease but in nearness to God, who is the believer’s portion forever (WCF 7.6; HC LD 1). The psalmist’s realization in the sanctuary underscores that spiritual understanding often comes through divine encounter, not mere observation of circumstances (WCF 1.6).

Apply.
Coming close to God reorients the heart when the world seems unjust, revealing eternal realities invisible to human sight.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.