Psalms 73
73
Book 3
(Psalms 73-89)
Asaph’s song of praise.
1God is so good to Israel,
to those whose hearts are pure.
2But I almost slipped and lost my balance.
I almost fell into sin.
3I saw that wicked people were successful,
and I became jealous of those proud people.
4They are healthy.
They don’t have to struggle to survive.#73:4 Literally, “They have no bonds to their death.”
5They don’t suffer like the rest of us.
They don’t have troubles like other people.
6So they are proud and hateful.
This is as easy to see as the jewels and fancy clothes they wear.
7If they see something they like, they go and take it.
They do whatever they want.
8They make fun of others and say cruel things about them.
In their pride they make plans to hurt people.
9They think they are gods!
They think they are the rulers of the earth.
10 # 73:10 The Hebrew text here is hard to understand. Even God’s people turn to them
and do what they say.
11Those evil people say, “God does not know what we are doing!
God Most High does not know!”
12Those proud people are wicked,
but they are rich and getting richer.
13Clearly, then, I gain nothing by keeping my thoughts pure!
What good is it to keep myself from sin?
14God, I suffer all day long,
and you punish me every morning.
15I wanted to tell others these things,
but that would have made me a traitor to your people.
16I tried hard to understand all this,
but it was too hard for me.
17But then, God, I went to your Temple,
and I understood what will happen to the wicked.
18Clearly, you have put them in danger.
You make it easy for them to fall and be destroyed.
19Trouble can come suddenly,
and they will be ruined.
Terrible things can happen to them,
and they will be finished.
20Then they will be like a dream
that we forget when we wake up.
You will make them disappear
like the monsters in our dreams.
21-22I was so stupid.
I thought about such people and became upset.
God, I was upset and angry with you!
I acted like a senseless animal.
23But I am always with you.
You hold my hand.
24You lead me and give me good advice,
and later you will lead me to glory.#73:24 lead me to glory Or “receive me in honor.”
25In heaven, God, I have only you.
And if I am with you, what on earth could I want?
26Maybe my mind#73:26 mind Literally, “heart.” and body will become weak,
but God is my source of strength.#73:26 my … strength Literally, “the Rock of my heart.”
He is mine forever!
27God, people who leave you will be lost.
You will destroy all who are not faithful to you.
28As for me, all I need is to be close to God.
I have made the Lord GOD my place of safety.
And, God, I will tell about all that you have done.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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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