Psalm 73

A Psalm of Asaph

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

This psalm stands alone as one of the most powerful theological and worldview-oriented psalms in the Psalter -- a masterpiece of poetry and logical thinking. The imagery is gripping and the reasoning is irrefutable. The philosopher/poet begins with a proposition that has previously been stated in the Psalms and throughout the Torah: Certainly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. The goodness of God is one of the central characteristics of his nature, revealed to us in the first pages of scripture. Those pages tell the story of a God who creates a good world out of nothing and then plants a good garden and places the very best, very goodest things in creation in that garden -- man and woman. Life, work, relationships, beauty -- these are all good gifts of God. The pages of scripture that follow describe God’s special care for his people -- Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and then the entire nation of Israel that descends from them. The Torah is founded on this truth -- God is good to Israel and particularly to those who are pure in heart. Psalm 24:4 invites worshipers to approach God with clean hands and a pure heart. Those who do so enter into a special relationship with him, a covenant with mutual obligations. The first verses of the Psalter describe the blessed life, longevity, fruitfulness, wholeness promised to those who are faithful to YHWH and delight in his Torah. The psalmist considers the truth of this proposition in light of his own experience. Is God truly good? Does he actually care for his people in a special way or are they chumps for believing in a good God who cares about them? Is there any value in keeping a covenant that doesn’t seem to be delivering what it promised? These are fundamental questions that every believer has asked more than once -- if not overtly, then certainly inherently in the choices they make. 

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.

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

As certain as he might have been of God’s goodness and faithfulness to his covenant, these verses express the psalmist’s doubts in clear language. He almost fell down in his walk with God when he envied those outside the covenant. There are different euphemisms for this in the Christian faith -- fall away, drift way, lose one’s faith, commit apostasy. All represent a finality, a tragedy that has temporal and eternal consequences. The cause of this failure of faith is the observation that people of no faith appear to be doing quite well. If God’s goodness and covenant adherence are the things that make for the good life, then why would those outside the covenant seem to be experiencing the good life without all of the limitations the covenant requires? The psalmist confesses his sin of envy. He wants what they have -- rewards without responsibility, pleasure without purpose. The wicked are prospering while the covenant-keeper lives a life of austerity and self-denial. It just isn’t right. This makes the psalmist question the goodness of God and the integrity of his covenant. Why be good for nothing? There doesn’t seem to be any reward in doing the hard work when people who are doing no work at all, living as if there were no moral restraints, seem to be getting better results than you. This is an observation that has plagued believers from the beginning. It was the very first temptation, and I presume it will be with us until the end: “You can become like gods”, “Did God really didn’t say you will die?” The object of the psalmist’s envy are two types of people -- the proud and the wicked. They are proud because they think they are your betters. They are wicked because they know no shame. If this doesn’t describe mainstream western culture that denies the reality of ultimate truth I don’t know what does. The implicit question here: will you fall for this deception? 

4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.

5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Looking from the outside, those who live as if there were no God seem to be doing quite well. First, they do not experience pain until death. The word “pangs” may also be translated “bonds” (it only occurs two times in the OT), suggesting that that the unbeliever has a carefree, pain free life, a life with no boundaries (bonds). Their bodies are both fat and sleek, eating as much as they want but remaining strong and healthy. They are the picture of beauty, health, and strength until the moment that they die. Until then they are the kinds of people that you see on magazine covers. In addition to their perfect health, they don’t have troubles like other people. They don’t wrestle with the same challenges that the average person faces: paying the bills, fixing broken things, rebellious children, a wayward spouse. You name it, they don’t deal with it. Their lives are free from all of the things that make life difficult. They are the outliers, the ones who live extraordinary lives that are the envy of everyone else. And yet, they have no faith and they live without any moral responsibility, no religious obligations, no tithing, no spiritual disciplines -- none of it, and yet they appear to be perfectly happy and carefree. It just doesn’t make sense. If God is good and his covenant is good, why are people outside that covenant experiencing good things in life? And if they are, why bother keeping the covenant? The reality of course is that the psalmist is judging by outward appearances. He cannot know what is in their hearts or what their lives are actually like behind closed doors. He only sees the public persona, the airbrushed magazine covers and the breathless reporting of wannabes. It is a facade, and recognizing this is one of the first steps to staying on one’s feet. 

6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.

7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.

Because the unbelievers do not experience pain and are always healthy and strong, they are sure to let everyone else know how good they’ve got it. They are in your face about their good fortune and implicitly mock anyone who takes issue with them and their lifestyle. They wear pride as a necklace. They are proud of their pride -- it is like jewelry to them. It is one of the first things you notice when you meet them. Their jewelry and their clothing speak to their belief system. Violence (strength, power) covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge through fatness. They get big taking in all the things that can be theirs. They indulge their eyes like people indulge their appetites. And what the eyes take in, the heart receives. Thus their heart, their insides are overflowing as well. The word “follies” is not present in the Hebrew, so the sentence is literally, “their hearts have more than they can imagine.” The psalmist describes a life of indulgence, a life with no boundaries. If you can imagine it, you can do it. If you see it, you can possess it. If you hunger for it, you can eat it. It sounds like the ultimate power trip. Who wouldn’t want to be free from the bonds of poverty and lack? Who wouldn’t want to be powerful and wealthy enough to do whatever you wanted? This is a classic case of envy as the psalmist paints a picture of the perfect life as the godless might imagine it. This is the good life according to the materialist - confidence, power, wealth and consumption without limit. Now, already the veneer is beginning to crack a bit. As much as we might desire to be free from moral and financial limitations, there is a hint here that these abilities come with a cost -- arrogance, violence, lust, greed, foolishness -- these are also part of the package. That’s the rust underneath that shiny sports car that has been painted over. It’s the cockroaches scurrying around in the kitchen where the sumptuous meals are prepared. All is not what it seems. Keep this in mind you are tempted to envy the godless. It is a facade. 

8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.

9 They set their mouths against the heavens,  and their tongue struts through the earth.

The psalmist further illustrates the pride of the godless in the way that they speak. They are critics and their words are designed to harm. They use their words to threaten oppression, to keep every in lower social statuses in their place. Others live in fear of them -- their wealth, their power, their boasts make them people that you do not want to cross. They aren’t just mouthy when it comes to how they treat others, they set their mouths against heaven itself. They speak like they are gods themselves, their tongues strut around the earth (now there’s an image for you). They are all tongue and not body, all words and no substance. Their words sound good on the surface and you are impressed by them, but on further examination, they are without foundation. This could describe much of the thinking popular culture today. The rise of expressive individualism allows each person to have their own truth, to make their own claims, and expect everyone else to go along with it. Often these claims are self-contradictory, but because there are the most powerful voices in culture, we are compelled to listen and obey -- often under the threat of ostracization. It’s hard to find another passage in all of scripture that more aptly describes our modern, western cultural context. We are self-indulgent and fabulously wealthy by historical standards. 70%+ of Americans are classified as overweight, suggesting that we have trouble with self-denial. We set our mouths against heaven, resisting the rules of God in exchange for the so-called wisdom of man. And with such people in cultural ascendancy, the believer feels increasingly marginalized and tempted to go along with the cultural river that is rising in power and depth. How do we resist the forces of materialism and expressive individualism? We are to be the rock in that stream, unyielding in our footing, anchored to the bedrock reality of God and his revelation. Turn off the voices of our culture that speak lies and delusional thinking, and tune into the voice of God. 

10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. [Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them]

11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

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

While difficult to translate, verse 11 suggests that these cultural leaders have undue influence with even the people of God being sucked into their way of thinking and living. They “drink the full cup” indicates that they have taken it all in as well. The righteous are duped by their affluent lifestyle and readily ditch the covenant for conspicuous consumption. Living this way, they come to the conclusion that God doesn’t know anything and there’s no value in aligning one's life with his ways. The psalmist returns to his initial proposition -- the wicked are always at ease and are always getting richer. It’s not too difficult to see how the psalmist reaches his conclusion in our world today. The rich and famous have always been envied and admired. We now have social media platforms on which they can be elevated to an even greater degree than ever. So the mythology continues, even though there is concrete evidence of the vacuous nature of their worldview. Unfortunately, the church has gone right along with the culture, drinking the same koolaid to the bottom of the cup. Let’s be honest, I’ve been guilty of drinking the same koolaid to the bottom of the cup. This is the air that we breath, the waters that we swim in. The enemy doesn’t need to make us godless, we can drift there on our own quite easily. Before you know it we are doing things and saying to ourselves, “What does God know?” and “Why does He demand that I resist things that make me feel good?” “He’s not a nice God after all if he tells me what I can’t do.” This is the real crisis of faith for the psalmist. Why should I be good? Why should I keep the covenant when it seems that everyone else is violating it and having more fun in the process. When he focuses on the little that he knows about the ungodly, the facade that they present is compelling. Give up the faith and follow our cultural leaders. Push back against the great cosmic killjoy and follow your heart. This is the message that the psalmist hears every day, and it’s one that is just as strong today. This is where the believer must rely on what we know to be true, in spite of apparent evidence to the contrary. God is good and there is blessing in following his ways. Push back against the subtle lies of the culture that lead to certain misery. You may have everything in this life, but you are drinking from the wrong cup and in the end it will be a bitter one. 

13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.

The psalmist began by stating his confidence in the goodness of God. “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” He uses that same word for certainty to describe his current position, “Surely it has been an empty thing to keep my heart clean and my hands washed in innocence.” These verses represent the end of the road in his philosophical musings that have a very practical effect. He is considering a complete change in his lifestyle, a transformation to a new way of thinking and living. This is his conclusion: God is not good and there is no advantage to abiding by his covenant. This revelation is a burden to him and he carries it throughout the day. He wakes up thinking about it. This is a deep wrestling in his soul that goes beyond formal philosophy. This decision has real world consequences that cannot be dismissed. He is teetering on the brink of apostasy. He is at the fork in the road, and as Jesus stated, there is a broad way and a narrow way. There is the interstate highway and there is the torturous gravel road that veers to the right. The choice seems obvious if you want to move through life quickly and comfortably. However, what you must consider of utmost importance is the destination. It doesn’t matter how nice the road is or how many people are travelling on it. If it leads to a place of death and destruction, if it takes you to a world where you are utterly alone, without God and without hope, it doesn’t matter if you’re making good time on your way. You don’t want to end up there. And this is the question that the psalmist will ultimately wrestle with: what is the end of each path? A clean heart and hands (thoughts, motivations and actions) are not easy to come by. You don’t just slip into those accidentally. It takes intentionality to orient your life in a way that is contrary to the cultural winds. And this is what God asks us to do: to trust in his goodness and set our sails to pick up his winds and move against the flow. 

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

16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

The psalmist is certain that his musings, if public, would result in a loss of faith for others as well. If he as Israel’s leader has these doubts, surely others would follow his lead in abandoning the faith if he admitted these struggles. He is expected to be perfect and affirm the goodness of God in word and deed. He’s expected to maintain clean hands and a pure heart in the face of a culture that daily seems to mock him for it. This is all wearing him down and he finds himself at a crisis point in his faith. Feeling hypocritical for having doubts yet unwilling to publicly denounce his faith, instead he spends his days secretly musing about how to escape this dilemma, how to be a person of integrity even while he feels that he is being played by God as a fool. The last thing that seems to be holding him in place is his concern for how his apostasy would affect others. To abandon the covenant would be to betray a generation of God’s children. How many others would give up their faith with even less of a struggle if he led the way? I think of the many apostates that I have known in my life -- some public figures, others former students of mine. Each of them is heartbreaking to me, and a tragedy considering the impact that their lives are now having on others, including their children. We only get one shot at life, and choosing to abandon faith in order to swim freely in our cultural cesspool is not a trade I want to make. And yet there are faces in my mind even now of former believers who did that very thing. For those in leadership positions, it is particularly tragic when I think about the judgment of Jesus that is upon them, the millstones around their neck. To trade a covenant relationship with God for a quick trip to the bottom of the sea: this is what it means to leave the faith and have your children and others follow you. Pray even now for those people in your life who have left the faith and betrayed a generation of your children. While there is life there is hope. 

17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

This verse is the turning point in the psalmist’s musings. Until this point he has wrestled between the horns of a dilemma. God claims to be good and to do good to the pure in heart, but there seems to be evidence to the contrary. There appear to be plenty of people who aren’t good and yet seem to have a very good life. This seems to make a God a liar and those who would surrender to him foolish. The moment of inspiration comes in the context of worship. It is in the sanctuary that the psalmist gains a clear picture of reality. Up to this point he has been seeing the lives of the ungodly through rose colored glasses -- seeing what he wants to see but not what is really there. Bubba’s got his beer goggles on. In the sanctuary the psalmist gains a new perspective and is able to see the “end” of life for an ungodly person. He is able to step back and get a larger view of where a life without God ends up. In fact, the ungodly do suffer from the same human condition as everyone else. They are not immune from pain, their bodies age, their wealth rots and their relationships fall apart. These are universal human experiences and nothing can change that no matter what advertisers try to sell you. This discernment came to the psalmist in the sanctuary. Was this during a corporate worship service? Was the psalmist a priest who had a personal encounter with God in some way while ministering in the holy place? Or was this in a personal worship experience where he was contemplating these issues and this truth just popped into his thinking? For me it has been all of the above. Corporate worship is a place where we encounter ultimate reality and affirm that reality with other people of faith. Sometimes this experience happens in a sanctuary, a church gathering space, through the music or a sermon or a sacramental act. Often it takes place in the quiet moments of reading scripture and praying on one's own. However God’s truth breaks in, it is a welcome relief, to regain one’s footing before sliding down the slippery slope of moral compromise. 

18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.

19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

The psalmist uses the word “surely” for the third time here. Verse 1 - “surely God is good”, Verse 13 -- “surely in vain I’ve cleansed my heart”, and now verse 18 - “surely you set them in slippery places”. He is certain of three things, but only two of them are actually true -- God is good and the ungodly are going to fall down.” Sometimes the things that we are so certain of are not actually true at all. This revelation comes to the psalmist in a moment of worship in the sanctuary of God. He plays out the tape so to speak, the video of the life of the ungodly, and it turns out it doesn’t end well. While in verse 2 it is the psalmist who is slipping, tottering on losing his faith, here it is the unbeliever who is actually on slippery ground, teetering on the brink of ruin. Imagine a narrow trail along a canyon wall, covered in loose gravel and clay. One wrong step and you lose your balance and slip off the edge into the chasm with no hope of survival. This is the real picture of what’s going to happen in the life of an unbeliever. There will be a moment of sheer terror when the realization comes upon them that they’ve been wrong all along. They’ve valued the wrong things. They’ve trusted in things that just weren’t so. They built their lives on an identity that was actually a fantasy. There are two metaphors in these verses that are equally terrifying. The first is that of falling from a high place to a quick and certain death below. The second is that of drowning in a raging river. Drowning is one of those experiences where the terror of impending death can overtake you quickly. You are out of control, at the mercy of the water, panicking, acting irrationally on pure instinct. Acrophobia and aquaphobia are two universal human fears, and these are the metaphors for what it’s like when an unbeliever faces the unexpected demise of their worldview. The psalmist gets a glimpse of this and is relieved that he did not embrace their worldview for the same fate would have awaited him. 

20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.

When a person wakes up from a bad dream, they can be a bit angry. To them the dream seemed very real and disturbing, but now when awake, a person realizes that it was just a dream and may be upset that they were upset by it or upset that what they thought was true turned out to be a fantasy. “Oh, it was just a dream.” This is then related to how God feels toward those whom the psalmist is envying. “When God rouses himself,” when he wakes up from his dream, he’s going to be angry. He will despise those the psalmist envies as phantoms (lit. “imaged” in Hebrew). The concept of God sleeping is not an uncommon anthropomorphism in the psalms. It is as if God were sleeping on the job and then wakes up to spring into action. Sometimes it does feel like God is sleeping, blissfully unaware of what is happening on earth as the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. When God “wakes up” it is really a way of saying that we have awakened to his reality. And the light of his reality pierces our fantasies and shows them for what they are: phantoms, images, poor reflections. Realizing this, the psalmist is troubled in heart and kidney (mind). He likens himself to an animal in his ignorance and rebellion against God. He came so close to walking away from God and reality that he’s just mad at himself. He almost fell off a cliff and while he is relieved, he is also mad at himself for getting so close to the edge. C.S. Lewis wrote of the Shadowlands, the world in which we live that is but a shadow of ultimate reality. The psalmist was seduced by the shadowlands until his worship experience pierced through the image and revealed ultimate reality. I want to live in this reality. Help me to wake from my dreams and walk with confidence in the real world. May such sanctuary experiences be the daily norm of my life evidenced by the choices I make, the words I say and the things I believe. Help me to push back against the fake news that this world is all that there is, that the godless people are the happy people, that being good is for chumps. Help me to rise above animal-like living. Shatter my fantasies and align my life with reality. 

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.

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

There are few promises in scripture as wonderful as these and the verses that follow. The psalmist has confessed his near moral and spiritual failure, how he has been as dumb as an ox before the obvious truth of God, how he envied the very people that he should have taken pity on. Now there is a “nevertheless” (although it’s actually not there in the Hebrew text - just the implication of a huge contrast). The psalmist recognizes that he is continually with God and that God holds (lit. “grasps”) his right hand (his strong, favored arm). Holding his hand, He then guides him with his counsel and next He takes/receives (him) glory. It appears to be a three step process -- grasping, guiding, glorying. It’s such a strong contrast to living apart from God in which case one is alone, without guidance, and destined for shame. The arrogant say that they don’t need God, they don’t need anyone holding their hand and guiding them. They’ll find their own way in the world. And they assume that anyone being guided by God is actually being guided by their own imagination, a wish-fulfillment. But the way of God has been tried and is true. We have thousands of years of human history with which to evaluate the ends of certain worldviews. And even if the way of God is not true, if it turns out that we are all alone and religious faith is merely a coping mechanism, I’ll still take it. We all need a mechanism to cope, and this one also happens to be true. God holds on to our right hand, guides us in his counsel (the Torah), and then takes/receives (us) glory. There is some debate on whether this is referring to the afterlife or merely the glory of this life (an avoidance of shame). In light of the clarity of the New Testament, both are true. We walk with God in this life and one day we just walk right into heaven like Enoch. This is the path I have chosen. It is, I believe, the best path. May I always allow God to take my hand and guide me. May I not be like a child who thinks he’s all grown up and no longer needs his parents’ help. “I’m an adult. I can do whatever I want!” This is folly. The parent knows this, the child does not. Trust your parents. Let God grasp your hand and guide you in his counsel and walk with him into eternity. 

25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength [Hebrew rock] of my heart and my portion forever.

These may be some of my favorite verses in all of scripture. It comes in the form of a rhetorical question. There is no one else, no other god that I may have, that can meet all of my needs and desires. If I choose to receive them, they are all met in YHWH. This is a statement of exclusivity posed as a rhetorical question. There is none who is worthy, none who is able to satisfy every desire in the way that God does. The psalmist has described his desires graphically in the early verses of the psalm. He envies the health, wealth, popularity, power, and influence of the apparent carefree life of the hedonist. But having examined the greatness and glory of God in his sanctuary, these hedonists are shown for what they are -- empty shells, not fulfilling their God-given potential. Rather than desiring these things that the world offers, God offers himself as the ultimate object of our desire, and it turns out that because of the way that we are madek, there’s nothing on earth that satisfies the way that a relationship with God does. My body will most definitely fail. It will get old and it will cease to function. My heart will fail as well as my energy and passion flag in life. I’ll experience disappointment and discouragement, grief and loneliness. My emotions will fail to buoy me when the reality of my frailty hits. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. The word for “strength” is literally “rock” or “cliff”. That’s a big rock. My El Capitan he is. My heart, my very life is anchored to the immovable, unchangeable vastness of God. And he is my share in this life. He’s what I get even though I get nothing else. People that you must give up a lot to follow Jesus, and that certainly is so. There are things you must surrender, things that the world places great value on. But what you get far outweighs anything you might give up. You get God. That’s a big deal. The hedonist may have everything the world has to offer, but they don’t get God. In fact, they have to endure all of the trails of life without him, utterly alone. And when they die, they get exactly what they desire -- an eternity without Him. The LORD is my share, my portion. I get God himself when I place my trust in Him. Even if I get nothing else in this life, this will be enough. 

27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God [adonai YHWH] my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

The psalmist contrasts his life with those who live far from God. That’s what he was doing at the beginning of the psalm of course, but now he has a completely different perspective. While he once envied their carefree lifestyle, he now understands that actually are missing the most important ingredient to life -- relationship with your creator. Those far from God, those who have been unfaithful (lit. “fornicated”) in their relationship with him -- their life will soon be over. They will perish and God will put an end to them. At first glance it might seem that God is the great cosmic killjoy -- literally destroying anyone who doesn’t acknowledge him. But it’s clear in this text and others that God gives people the freedom to abandon him and live as if there were no God. Self-destruction is what is being described here in fact, the self-destruction that comes naturally when we order our lives around things that just aren’t so. The psalmist concludes with three lines, breaking the two-line pattern throughout and bringing an end to the monologue. He has come to the conclusion that it is good to be near God. This is the greatest good in life, despite what the carefree life of the hedonist suggests. Knowing God and living each day in relationship with him is better than living alone. Furthermore, he has made the LORD God his refuge so that when the inevitable hard times of life come, he has a secure place to wait out the storm. He is grounded in the reality of God and the truths of the faith even as circumstances may seem to challenge those. God is his rock. Finally, he doesn’t want to betray future generations, instead he wants to tell them of the works of the LORD. And that is what he is doing in this psalm, his words extending two and a half millennia after him. For those that are looking for the logic of “why believe”, this psalm has provided solid evidence. There is a God and the wise course of action is to align your life with him and his ways. There is a creator, and our lives work best when we follow his design and instructions. Strive to live near God, seeking him in worship every day realigning your priorities and taking refuge in Him.