Psalms · psalm 73 of 150
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Psalm 73 is the testimony of Asaph, who nearly loses his faith when he sees the arrogant prosper while he suffers though he has kept his heart clean. Everything changes when he enters God's sanctuary and understands the end of the wicked. He admits his foolishness, affirms that God is the strength of his heart and his portion forever, and declares that his good is to be near God.
With this psalm Book III of the Psalter (Psalms 73-89) begins, opening with a collection attributed to Asaph, a Levite and musician from the time of David. Psalm 73 raises one of the oldest questions of faith: why do the wicked prosper? The psalmist's answer is not a theory but an encounter with God in his sanctuary. For that reason it is considered one of the spiritual summits of the Psalter.
The psalm begins with a statement the poet had to learn the hard way: truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But he immediately confesses that his feet had almost stumbled and his steps had nearly slipped, because he was envious of the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Verses 4 to 12 describe those people. They have no pangs until death, their bodies are fat and they are not in trouble as others are. So pride is their necklace and violence their garment. They speak with malice, scoff and threaten loftily. Their mouths are set against the heavens and their tongues strut through the earth. They ask how God could know. Such are the wicked, always at ease, increasing in riches.
Verses 13 to 16 reflect the psalmist's pain: in vain he has kept his heart clean and washed his hands in innocence, for he is stricken all day long. If he had spoken in that way, he would have betrayed the generation of God's children. When he tried to understand it, it was a wearisome task, until he went into the sanctuary of God.
There he discerns their end: God sets them in slippery places and casts them down to ruin; in a moment they are destroyed, like a dream when one wakes. The psalmist confesses that his heart was embittered and that he was like a beast before God. Yet he is continually with God, and God holds his right hand. He will guide him with his counsel and afterward receive him to glory. Whom does he have in heaven but God? Though his flesh and heart fail, God is the strength of his heart and his portion forever. Those who are far from God will perish. For him, the good is to draw near to God, and he has made the Lord his refuge to tell of all his works.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Asaph confesses that his feet had almost stumbled because he envied the arrogant when he saw the peace of the wicked. It is a brave confession: the psalm does not hide that believers can doubt.
Understanding the problem was wearisome until he entered the sanctuary of God, and then he understood the end of the wicked. The answer came not from more analysis but from God's presence.
Asaph realizes he has always been with God, who holds his right hand, guides him with his counsel and will afterward receive him to glory. His security rests on God holding him, not on his holding on to God.
He has no one in heaven but God and desires nothing on earth besides him. Though his flesh and heart fail, God is the strength of his heart and his portion forever.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: His feet had almost stumbled, because he envied the arrogant who prospered. — Psalm 73:2-3
Answer: Without pain, with wealth and health, proud, violent and scoffing, saying God does not know. — Psalm 73:4-12
Answer: Keeping his heart clean and washing his hands in innocence. — Psalm 73:13
Answer: Entering the sanctuary of God. — Psalm 73:17
Answer: A beast before God. — Psalm 73:22
Answer: The strength of his heart and his portion forever. — Psalm 73:26
Psalm 73 gives permission to say aloud the doubts many keep quiet: why others do well without God, why obedience seems not to pay. Asaph does not suppress them; he takes them to the sanctuary. In a small group you can encourage people to speak honestly about these struggles and to remember that the fellowship of the church and worship are places where perspective is regained.
It also teaches where our greatest treasure is. When everything fails, God is still the believer's portion. You can ask each person to complete the sentence: besides you, Lord, I desire nothing... and notice what is in their heart. It is a prayer that protects against envy.
Psalm 73 ends with Asaph near God and ready to tell his works. Psalm 74, also by Asaph, looks at another grief: the sanctuary itself has been destroyed, and the people ask why God seems silent.
Asaph was a Levite appointed by David as one of the chief musicians of the worship service, according to 1 Chronicles 15:16-19 and 16:4-5. Twelve psalms carry his name, Psalm 50 and Psalms 73 to 83, and the name may refer to him or to a guild of musicians descended from him.
It is the place of God's presence, where Asaph could see things from God's perspective and not only his own. More than new information, what changed was his outlook: he saw that the prosperity of the wicked is fragile and that his own good is in God. Christians recognize in Christ the one who gives us access to that presence.
No. Asaph admits that many of the wicked prosper, and his answer is not to deny it but to look at the end and to place his value in God. The message is not that justice is always carried out immediately but that those who live far from God have no secure future and that the one who is with him has everything.