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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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalm 73
73
Book Three
God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
A Psalm of #See Ps. 50, titleAsaph.
1Truly God is good to #John 1:47 Israel,
to those who are #See Ps. 24:4pure in heart.
2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 # See Job 21:7 For I was #Ps. 37:1; Prov. 23:17 envious of the arrogant
when I saw the #[Ps. 37:7; 92:7; Jer. 12:1]prosperity of the wicked.
4For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not #[Isa. 53:4]stricken like the rest of mankind.
6Therefore pride is #[Judg. 8:26] their necklace;
violence covers them as #[Ps. 109:18]a garment.
7Their #See Job 15:27eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8They scoff and #[2 Pet. 2:18; Jude 16]speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find #[Job 15:16]no fault in them.#73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them
11And they say, #See Job 22:13“How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they #[ver. 3]increase in riches.
13All in vain have I #[ver. 1]; See Job 34:9 kept my heart clean
and #See Ps. 26:6washed my hands in innocence.
14For all the day long I have been #[See ver. 5 above] stricken
and #Rev. 3:19 rebuked #[Ps. 101:8]every morning.
15If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed #[Ps. 14:5]the generation of your children.
16But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me #Eccles. 8:17a wearisome task,
17until I went into #Ps. 20:2 the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their #Ps. 37:38end.
18Truly you set them in #Ps. 35:6slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19How they are destroyed #[Num. 16:21] in a moment,
swept away utterly by #See Job 18:11terrors!
20Like #See Job 20:8 a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when #Ps. 78:65you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22I was #See Ps. 49:10 brutish and ignorant;
I was like #Job 18:3; [Job 11:12]a beast toward you.
23Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you #Ps. 63:8; [Ps. 41:12]hold my right hand.
24You #Ps. 32:8 guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will #See Ps. 49:15receive me to glory.
25 #
Ps. 16:2; [Phil. 3:8] Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 #
Ps. 40:12; See Ps. 84:2 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is #Ps. 18:2 the strength#73:26 Hebrew rock of my heart and my #See Ps. 16:5 portion #[Dan. 12:3]forever.
27For behold, those who are #Ps. 119:155 far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is #Ps. 106:39; Ex. 34:15; Num. 15:39; James 4:4unfaithful to you.
28But for me it is good to #James 4:8; [Heb. 10:22] be near God;
I have made the Lord God my #See Ps. 14:6 refuge,
that I may #See Ps. 118:17tell of all your works.
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