Psalms 73
73
God Is the Strength of My Heart
1A psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to the pure in heart.
2But as for me, my feet almost slipped. My steps nearly slid out from under me.
3For I envied the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4For there are no pains at their death, their body is healthy.
5They have none of humanity’s trouble, nor are they plagued like others.
6Therefore, they put on pride as a necklace, and violence wraps around them like a garment.
7Their eyes bulge out from fatness. The imaginations of their hearts run wild.
8They scoff and wickedly plan evil. From on high they threaten.
9They set their mouth against heaven. Their tongue struts through the earth.
10Therefore His people return here, while they drink their fill.
11So they say: “How does God know? And does Elyon have knowledge?”
12Behold, such are the wicked— always at ease and amassing wealth.
13Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence.
14For all day I have been stricken, my chastisement comes every morning.
15If I had said: “I will speak thus,” surely I would have betrayed a generation of Your children.
16But when I tried to make sense of this, it was troubling in my eyes—
17until I entered the Sanctuary of God, and perceived their end.
18Surely You put them in slippery places. You hurled them down to destruction.
19How suddenly they became a ruin— terminated, consumed by terrors.
20Like a dream when one awakes, thus when You arise, my Lord, You will despise their form.
21When my heart was embittered and I was pierced in my heart,
22I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast before You.
23Yet I am continually with You. You hold my right hand.
24You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into glory.
25Whom have I in heaven but You? On earth there is none I desire besides You.
26My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27For behold, those far from You will perish. You put an end to all who like a harlot are unfaithful to You.
28But for me, it is good to be near God. I have made my Lord Adonai my refuge. So I will tell of all Your works.
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Psalms 73: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Psalms 73
73
The Trial of the Just
1A psalm of Asaph.
How good God is to the upright,
to those who are pure of heart!
I
2But, as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped,
3Because I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.#Ps 37:1; Jb 21:13.
4For they suffer no pain;
their bodies are healthy and sleek.
5They are free of the burdens of life;
they are not afflicted like others.
6Thus pride adorns them as a necklace;
violence clothes them as a robe.
7Out of such blindness comes sin;
evil thoughts flood their hearts.#Jb 15:27.
8They scoff and spout their malice;
from on high they utter threats.#Ps 17:10.
9#They set their mouths against the heavens: in an image probably derived from mythic stories of half-divine giants, the monstrous speech of the wicked is likened to enormous jaws gaping wide, devouring everything in sight.They set their mouths against the heavens,
their tongues roam the earth.
10#The Hebrew is obscure.So my people turn to them
and drink deeply of their words.
11They say, “Does God really know?”
“Does the Most High have any knowledge?”#Ps 10:11; Jb 22:13.
12Such, then, are the wicked,
always carefree, increasing their wealth.
II
13Is it in vain that I have kept my heart pure,
washed my hands in innocence?#Ps 26:6; Mal 3:14.
14For I am afflicted day after day,
chastised every morning.
15Had I thought, “I will speak as they do,”
I would have betrayed this generation of your children.
16Though I tried to understand all this,
it was too difficult for me,
17Till I entered the sanctuary of God
and came to understand their end.#And came to understand their end: the psalmist receives a double revelation in the Temple: 1) the end of the wicked comes unexpectedly (Ps 73:18–20); 2) God is with me.
III
18You set them, indeed, on a slippery road;
you hurl them down to ruin.
19How suddenly they are devastated;
utterly undone by disaster!
20They are like a dream after waking, Lord,
dismissed like shadows when you arise.#Jb 20:8.
IV
21Since my heart was embittered
and my soul deeply wounded,
22I was stupid and could not understand;
I was like a brute beast in your presence.
23Yet I am always with you;
you take hold of my right hand.#Ps 121:5.
24With your counsel you guide me,
and at the end receive me with honor.#And at the end receive me with honor: a perhaps deliberately enigmatic verse. It is understood by some commentators as reception into heavenly glory, hence the traditional translation, “receive me into glory.” The Hebrew verb can indeed refer to mysterious divine elevation of a righteous person into God’s domain: Enoch in Gn 5:24; Elijah in 2 Kgs 2:11–12; the righteous psalmist in Ps 49:16. Personal resurrection in the Old Testament, however, is clearly attested only in the second century B.C. The verse is perhaps best left unspecified as a reference to God’s nearness and protection.
25Whom else have I in the heavens?
None beside you delights me on earth.
26Though my flesh and my heart fail,
God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever.
27But those who are far from you perish;
you destroy those unfaithful to you.
28As for me, to be near God is my good,
to make the Lord God my refuge.
I shall declare all your works
in the gates of daughter Zion.#In the gates of daughter Zion: this reading follows the tradition of the Septuagint and Vulgate.
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