Psalm 73

A Psalm of Asaph When He Envied The Prosperity of The Wicked

The title of this psalm (A Psalm of Asaph) tells us that it was written by the great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s era (1 Chronicles 15:17-19, 16:5-7, 25:6). 1 Chronicles 25:1 and 2 Chronicles 29:30 add that Asaph was a prophet in his musical compositions.              - David Guzik

1 Chronicles 25:1 - David and the officers of the army also set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who were to prophesy accompanied by lyres, harps, and cymbals.

Asaph confessed that he almost stumbled in his walk as a faithful believer when he thought about the great material prosperity of the wicked. The wealth and easy living of those who do not follow God’s will strictly tempted Asaph to abandon his commitment to living by God’s Law.           - Thomas Constable

God Is Good to Israel

Vs. 1 - God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart.

Asaph began this psalm with a simple declaration of the goodness of God to His people. By this, he indicated that he understood not only that God was good, but that He actively showed that goodness to Israel and to the pure in heart.                - David Guzik

Asaph began and ended this psalm with a declaration of God’s goodness, but His confidence in God’s character had not always been so unwavering. 

But I Envied The Arrogant

Prosperity

Vs. 2-3 - But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray. For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Vs. 12 - They increase their wealth

Asaph, author of Psalm 73, was deeply disturbed and perturbed by the prosperity of the wicked and the oppression of the righteous. It led him to question God's goodness and greatness. It stirred him to wonder if the pursuit of godliness was really the wisest path to follow.

His problem wasn't with the traditional problem of evil. Asaph's struggle was with why it so often seemed that those who do deserve to suffer don't and those who don't deserve to suffer do. The problem wasn't whether or not God existed, but whether or not God was just.               - Sam Storms

Ease

Vs. 4-5 - They have an easy time until they die, and their bodies are well fed. They are not in trouble like others; they are not afflicted like most people.

Vs. 12 - Look at them—the wicked! They are always at ease

Asaph was struggling when others around him weren’t.  He was passing through a “valley” while others around him looked down from a “mountain.” And from this vantage point, he grew envious and embittered. 

The life of the wicked was not as good as he observed, nor was his life as bad as he felt it to be. Yet one cannot deny or contradict the feeling that prompted Asaph in this psalm, and we can instead strongly identify with that feeling.                 - David Guzik

Did I Purify My Heart for Nothing?

Vs. 13 - Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?

Poor Asaph! He questions the value of holiness when its wages are paid in the coin of affliction. . . . There were crowns for the reprobates and crosses for the elect. Strange that the saints should sigh and the sinners sing.                - Charles Spurgeon

Affliction

Vs. 14 - For I am afflicted all day long and punished every morning.

The problem is that Asaph is going through a trial. He says that he has been plagued all day long and been punished every morning. Asaph is suffering and he does not understand why because he has kept his heart pure. Because Asaph does not see the wicked suffering like he is suffering, he declares that he has been righteous for no reason.                      - Brent Kercheville

Silence

Vs. 15 - If I had decided to say these things aloud, I would have betrayed your people.

All this time Asaph kept his problem to himself, because he did not want his doubts to bring shame on God’s people or weaken their faith.              - Don Fleming

Then I Understood Their Destiny

Vs. 16-19 - When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their destiny. Indeed, you put them in slippery places; you make them fall into ruin. How suddenly they become a desolation! They come to an end, swept away by terrors.

Vs. 27 - Those far from you will certainly perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

Only when he considered the matter from God’s point of view did he see any answer to his problem. Then he saw that death will shatter the ungodly person’s life of luxury, just as waking ends a pleasant dream. The wicked will wake to find that God has not been sleeping. Now he will act in terrible judgment.               - Don Fleming

Asaph had a powerful and transforming experience while in the sanctuary (temple) of God…he was suddenly gripped by the reality of ultimate and inescapable judgment for those who defy God. He looked away from their present prosperity to their future judgment. He is reminded that justice delayed is not necessarily justice denied. God has arranged it all! He is in control of both their prosperity and their consummate demise. God has temporarily lifted them up and God will eternally bring them down.            - Sam Storms

You Guide Me with Your Counsel

Vs. 23-24 - Yet I am always with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me up in glory

Vs. 26 - My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.

At the end of his musings, Asaph concluded that, regardless of his circumstances, he was being guided by a good Counselor, and his preferred position was in the presence of God.  The strength of his body and his emotions would waver at times, but God’s strength would sustain him forever. 

The problem of the suffering of the righteous has no clear resolution, but the ’pain’ is relieved by the experience of God’s living presence.               - VanGemeren

If you begin by envying the prosperity of the wicked, the human mind can ‘interpret' the data so as to rule God out, to charge him with unfairness, to make piety and purity look silly. But if you begin with genuine delight in God, both in this world and in the world to come, you can put up with ‘flesh and heart failing,' and be absolutely confident that, far from being the victim of injustice, you are in the best possible position: near to the good and sovereign God.              - D.A. Carson