Psalm 73 commentary

PSALM 73 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "TITLE. A Psalm of Asaph. This is the second Psalm ascribed to
Asaph, and the first of eleven consecutive Psalms bearing the name of this eminent
singer. Some writers are not sure that Asaph wrote them, but incline to the belief
that David was the author, and Asaph the person to whom they were dedicated, that
he might sing them when in his turn he became the chief musician. But though our
own heart turns in the same direction, facts must be heard; and we find in 2
Chronicles 29:30, that Hezekiah commanded the Levites to sing "the words of David
and of Asaph the seer; "and, moreover, in ehemiah 12:46, David and Asaph are
mentioned together, as distinct from "the chief of the singers, "and as it would seem,
as joint authors of psalmody. We may, therefore, admit Asaph to be the author of
some, if not all, of the twelve Psalms ascribed to him. Often a great star which seems
to be but one to the eyes of ordinary observers, turns out upon closer inspection to
be of a binary character; so here the Psalms of David are those of Asaph too. The
great sun of David has a satellite in the moon of Asaph. By reading our notes on
Psalm Fifty, in Volume 2, the reader will glean a little more concerning this man of
God.
SUBJECT. Curiously enough this Seventy-third Psalm corresponds in subject with
the Thirty-seventh: it will help the memory of the young to notice the reversed
figures. The theme is that ancient stumbling block of good men, which Job's friends
could not get over; viz. --the present prosperity of wicked men and the sorrows of
the godly. Heathen philosophers have puzzled themselves about this, while to
believers it has too often been a temptation.
DIVISIO S. In Psalms 73:1 the psalmist declares his confidence in God, and, as it
were, plants his foot on a rock while he recounts his inward conflict. From Psalms
73:2-14 he states his temptation; then, from Psalms 73:15-17 he is embarrassed as
how to act, but ultimately finds deliverance from his dilemma. He describes with
awe the fate of the ungodly in Psalms 73:18-20, condemns his own folly and adores
the grace of God, Psalms 73:21-24, and concludes by renewing his allegiance to his
God, whom he takes afresh to be his portion and delight.
ELLICOTT, "The motive of this psalm shows itself clearly in Psalms 73:3—
perplexity at the sight of the prosperity of the wicked. Two psalms have already
dealt with the question at some length, viz., Psalms 37, 49 (See Introduction to those
psalms.) The problem is stated here more fully, the poet trying to account not only
for one, but for both sides of the paradox, the troubles that beset the righteous as
well as the good fortune that befalls the ungodly. The solution, however, on the first
side falls short of that reached in Psalms 49. The author contents himself with the

thought that the wicked stand in slippery places, and may at any moment come to
ruin. On the other hand, he is beginning to feel the way towards a higher truth than
was discerned before, the truth that while the success of evil is apparent and
momentary, that of good is real and final; he even catches a glimpse of the still
higher truth revealed in the pages of Job, that communion with God is itself a bliss
above happiness, and that the consciousness of possessing this gives a joy with which
the pleasures of mere temporary prosperity are not to be compared. The
versification is almost regular.
COKE, “Title. ‫מזמור‬ ‫ףּלאס‬ mizmor leasaph.— The Psalmist here considers that great
question, Why wicked men are permitted to prosper, and good men to be miserable
and afflicted; and, to put the case home, he describes these wicked men as profligate
to the last degree; highly impious towards God, and injurious to men; and yet
suffered to live in ease and affluence, and at last to enjoy a death without any great
pain. There are no bands in their death, Psalms 73:4. They have no pains when they
die, says Le Clerc. This had almost tempted him, he says, to doubt the providence of
God; but then he was soon cured of the temptation, when he reflected on the
miracles that God had wrought for his people, which left no room to question a
providence. See on Psalms 73:15. Still he was under some perplexity while he looked
no further than the visible appearances of things; till he entered the sanctuary of
God; then understood he the end of these men: their future wretched state in
another world. See on Psalms 73:17. In consequence of which he expresses his firm
hope and trust in God: Assured of a future state of rewards and punishments, his
heart was so perfectly and entirely at rest, that he seems, to wonder how he could be
so weak as to fall into doubts and perplexities about this matter. See Psalms 73:21-
22, and Peters on Job.
A psalm of Asaph.
1 Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.

BAR ES, "Truly God is good to Israel - That is, to his people; to the righteous; to
those who serve him. That is, God is the “real” friend of the righteous. He has not
forgotten them. He does not abandon them. He is not indifferent to them. He is not the
friend of wicked people; and the administration of his government is not in favor of
wickedness. After all that seems to indicate this, after all that troubles the mind in regard
to his dealings, it is a truth that God is the friend of righteousness, and not of
wickedness, and that there is advantage in his service. To see the force of what is said
here by the psalmist we must realize that the train of thought in the psalm had passed
through his mind, and that his perplexities had been relieved in the manner specified in
the psalm. The margin here is “yet;” “yet God is good to Israel.” This word “yet” would,
in this place, be a happy translation. The psalmist then would be represented as having
been engaged in meditating on the subject and in looking at all its perplexities, and then
he says, “Yet God is good; notwithstanding all the difficulties in the case, it is
nevertheless true that he is the friend of his people - the friend of righteousness.”
Even to such as are of a clean heart - Margin, as in Hebrew, “clean of heart.” See
Psa_73:13. The reference is to those who are truly righteous, for all true righteousness
has its seat in the heart. See Psa_51:10.
CLARKE, "Truly God is good to Israel - Captives as they were, they still had
many blessings from God; and they had promises of deliverance, which must be fulfilled
in due time.
Such as are of a clean heart - Those who have a clean heart must have inward
happiness: and, because they resemble God, they can never be forsaken by him.
GILL, "Truly God is good to Israel,.... To Israel, literally understood; in choosing
them to be his people above all people on earth; in bringing them into a good land; in
favouring them with many external privileges, civil and religious; in giving them his
word, statutes, and ordinances, as he did not to other nations: or, spiritually understood,
the Israel whom God has chosen, redeemed, and called by his special grace; verily of a
truth, God is good to these; there is abundant proof and evidence of it; See Gill on Psa_
34:8,
or "only" God is good to such; though he is good to all in a providential way, yet only to
his chosen and redeemed ones in a way of special favour; the goodness others share is
but a shadow of goodness, in comparison of what they do and shall partake of; they are
blessed with blessings indeed, and are only blessed; so this particle is rendered in Psa_
62:2, or "but", or "notwithstanding" (b), God is good, &c. that is, though he suffers the
wicked to prosper, and his own people much afflicted, yet he is good to them; he
supports them under their afflictions, and makes all to work for their good; gives them
grace here, and glory hereafter;
even to such as are of a clean heart; this character excludes the carnal Israelites,
who were pure in their own eyes, but not cleansed from their filthiness, and describes
the true Israel of God, and explains who are meant by them, such as are pure in heart,
inwardly Jews, Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; this is not natural to men,

their hearts are by nature unclean, nor is it in their power to make them clean: this is
God's work, he only can create a clean heart, and renew a right spirit; which is done by
the sanctifying influences of his grace, and by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, and
thus purifying their heart's by faith; yet so as not to be free from all impurity of spirit,
but as to have a conscience purged from the guilt of sin, and to have the heart sincere
and upright towards God.
HE RY, "This psalm begins somewhat abruptly: Yet God is good to Israel (so the
margin reads it); he had been thinking of the prosperity of the wicked; while he was thus
musing the fire burned, and at last he spoke by way of check to himself for what he had
been thinking of. “However it be, yet God is good.” Though wicked people receive many
of the gifts of his providential bounty, yet we must own that he is, in a peculiar manner,
good to Israel; they have favours from him which others have not.
The psalmist designs an account of a temptation he was strongly assaulted with - to
envy the prosperity of the wicked, a common temptation, which has tried the graces of
many of the saints. Now in this account,
I. He lays down, in the first place, that great principle which he is resolved to abide by
and not to quit while he was parleying with this temptation, Psa_73:1. Job, when he was
entering into such a temptation, fixed for his principle the omniscience of God: Times
are not hidden from the Almighty, Job_24:1. Jeremiah's principle is the justice of God:
Righteous art thou, O God! when I plead with thee, Jer_12:1. Habakkuk's principle is
the holiness of God: Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, Hab_1:13. The
psalmist's, here, is the goodness of God. These are truths which cannot be shaken and
which we must resolve to live and die by. Though we may not be able to reconcile all the
disposals of Providence with them, we must believe they are reconcilable. Note, Good
thoughts of God will fortify us against many of Satan's temptations. Truly God is good;
he had had many thoughts in his mind concerning the providences of God, but this
word, at last, settled him: “For all this, God is good, good to Israel, even to those that
are of a clean heart.” Note, 1. Those are the Israel of God that are of a clean heart,
purified by the blood of Christ, cleansed from the pollutions of sin, and entirely devoted
to the glory of God. An upright heart is a clean heart; cleanness is truth in the inward
part. 2. God, who is good to all, is in a special manner good to his church and people, as
he was to Israel of old. God was good to Israel in redeeming them out of Egypt, taking
them into covenant with himself, giving them his laws and ordinances, and in the
various providences that related to them; he is, in like manner, good to all those that are
of a clean heart, and, whatever happens, we must not think otherwise.
JAMISO , "Psa_73:1-28. Of Asaph - (see on Introduction). God is good to His
people. For although the prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of the righteous,
tempted the Psalmist to misgivings of God’s government, yet the sudden and fearful ruin
of the ungodly, seen in the light of God’s revelation, reassures his heart; and, chiding
himself for his folly, he is led to confide renewedly in God, and celebrate His goodness
and love.
The abrupt announcement of the theme indicates that it is the conclusion of a
perplexing mental conflict, which is then detailed (compare Jer_12:1-4).
Truly — or, “Surely it is so.”
clean heart — (Psa_18:26) describes the true Israel.

CALVI , "As to the author of this psalm, I am not disposed to contend very
strongly, although I think it probable that the name of Asaph was prefixed to it
because the charge of singing it was committed to him, while the name of David, its
author, was omitted, just as it is usual for us, when things are well known of
themselves, not to be at the trouble of stating them. How much profit we may derive
from meditation upon the doctrine contained in this psalm, it is easy to discover
from the example of the prophet, who, although he had been exercised in no
ordinary degree in true godliness, yet had great difficulty in keeping his footing,
while reeling to and fro on the slippery ground on which he found himself placed.
ay, he acknowledges that, before he returned to such soundness of mind as enabled
him to form a just judgment of the things which occasioned his trial, he had fallen
into a state of almost brutish stupidity. As to ourselves, experience shows how slight
impressions we have of the providence of God. We no doubt all agree in admitting
that the world is governed by the hand of God; but were this truth deeply rooted in
our hearts, our faith would be distinguished by far greater steadiness and
perseverance in surmounting the temptations with which we are assailed in
adversity. But when the smallest temptation which we meet with dislodges this
doctrine from our minds, it is manifest that we have not yet been truly and in good
earnest convinced of its truth.
Besides, Satan has numberless artifices by which he dazzles our eyes and bewilders
the mind; and then the confusion of things which prevails in the world produces so
thick a mist, as to render it difficult for us to see through it, and to come to the
conclusion that God governs and extends his care to things here below. The ungodly
for the most part triumph; and although they deliberately stir up God to anger and
provoke his vengeance, yet from his sparing them, it seems as if they had done
nothing amiss in deriding him, and that they will never be called to account for it.
(149) On the other hand, the righteous, pinched with poverty, oppressed with many
troubles, harassed by multiplied wrongs, and covered with shame and reproach,
groan and sigh: and in proportion to the earnestness with which they exert
themselves in endeavoring to do good to all men, is the liberty which the wicked
have the effrontery to take in abusing their patience. When such is the state of
matters, where shall we find the person who is not sometimes tempted and
importuned by the unholy suggestion, that the affairs of the world roll on at
random, and as we say, are governed by chance? (150) This unhallowed imagination
has doubtless obtained complete possession of the minds of the unbelieving, who are
not illuminated by the Spirit of God, and thereby led to elevate their thoughts to the
contemplation of eternal life. Accordingly, we see the reason why Solomon declares,
that since “all things come alike to all, and there is one event to the righteous and to
the wicked,” the hearts of the sons of men are full of impiety and contempt of God,
(Ecclesiastes 9:2;) — the reason is, because they do not consider that things
apparently so disordered are under the direction and government of God.
Some of the heathen philosophers discoursed upon, and maintained the doctrine of a
Divine Providence; but it was evident from experience that they had
notwithstanding no real and thorough persuasion of its truth; for when things fell
out contrary to their expectation, they openly disavowed what they had previously

professed. (151) Of this we have a memorable example in Brutus. We can hardly
conceive of a man surpassing him in courage, and all who intimately knew him bore
testimony to his distinguished wisdom. Being of the sect of the Stoic philosophers, he
spake many excellent things in commendation of the power and providence of God;
and yet when at length vanquished by Antony, he cried out, that whatever he had
believed concerning virtue had no foundation in truth, but was the mere invention
of men, and that all the pains taken to live honestly and virtuously was only so much
lost labor, since fortune rules over all the affairs of mankind. Thus this personage,
who was distinguished for heroic courage, and an example of wonderful resolution,
in renouncing virtue, and under the name of it cursing God, shamefully fell away.
Hence it is manifest, how the sentiments of the ungodly fluctuate with the
fluctuation of events. And how can it be expected that the heathen, who are not
regenerated by the Spirit of God, should be able to resist such powerful and violent
assaults, when even God’s own people have need of the special assistance of his
grace to prevent the same temptation from prevailing in their hearts, and when they
are sometimes shaken by it and ready to fall; even as David here confesses, that his
steps had well nigh slipped? But let us now proceed to the consideration of the
words of the psalm.
1.Yet God is good to Israel. The adverb ‫אך‬,)152 ) ach, does not here imply a simple
affirmation certainly, as it often does in other places, but is taken adversatively for
yet, notwithstanding, or some similar word. David opens the psalm abruptly; and
from this we learn, what is worthy of particular notice, that before he broke forth
into this language, his mind had been agitated with many doubts and conflicting
suggestions. As a brave and valiant champion, he had been exercised in very painful
struggles and temptations; but, after long and arduous exertion, he at length
succeeded in shaking off all perverse imaginations, and came to the conclusion that
yet God is gracious to his servants, and the faithful guardian of their welfare. Thus
these words contain a tacit contrast between the unhallowed imaginations suggested
to him by Satan, and the testimony in favor of true religion with which he now
strengthens himself, denouncing, as it were, the judgment of the flesh, in giving
place to misgiving thoughts with respect to the providence of God. We see then how
emphatic is this exclamation of the Psalmist. He does not ascend into the chair to
dispute after the manner of the philosophers, and to deliver his discourse in a style
of studied oratory; but, as if he had escaped from hell, he proclaims, with a loud
voice, and with impassioned feeling, that he had obtained the victory. To teach us by
his own example the difficulty and arduousness of the conflict, he opens, so to speak,
his heart and bowels, and would have us to understand something more than is
expressed by the words which he employs. The amount of his language is, that
although God, to the eye of sense and reason, may seem to neglect his servants, yet
he always embraces them with his favor. He celebrates the providence of God,
especially as it is extended towards genuine saints; to show them, not only that they
are governed by God in common with other creatures, but that he watches over
their welfare with special care, even as the master of a family carefully provides for
and attends to his own household. God, it is true, governs the whole world; but he is
graciously pleased to take a more close and peculiar inspection of his Church, which
he has undertaken to maintain and defend.

This is the reason why the prophet speaks expressly of Israel; and why immediately
after he limits this name to those who are right of heart; which is a kind of
correction of the first sentence; for many proudly lay claim to the name of Israel, as
if they constituted the chief members of the Church, while they are but Ishmaelites
and Edomites. David, therefore, with the view of blotting out from the catalogue of
the godly all the degenerate children of Abraham, (153) acknowledges none to
belong to Israel but such as purely and uprightly worship God; as if he had said,
“When I declare that God is good to his Israel, I do not mean all those who, resting
contented with a mere external profession, bear the name of Israelites, to which they
have no just title; but I speak of the spiritual children of Abraham, who consecrate
themselves to God with sincere affection of heart.” Some explain the first clause,
God is good to Israel, as referring to his chosen people; and the second clause, to
those who are right of heart, as referring to strangers, to whom God would be
gracious, provided they walked in true uprightness. But this is a frigid and forced
interpretation. It is better to adhere to that which I have stated. David, in
commending the goodness of God towards the chosen people and the Church, was
under the necessity of cutting off from their number many hypocrites who had
apostatised from the service of God, and were, therefore, unworthy of enjoying his
fatherly favor. To his words corresponds the language of Christ to athanael, (John
1:47,) “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” As the fear of God among
the Jews was at that time well nigh extinguished, and there remained among them
almost nothing else but the “circumcision made with hands,” that is to say, outward
circumcision, Christ, to discriminate between the true children of Abraham and
hypocrites, lays it down as a distinguishing characteristic of the former, that they
are free from guile. And assuredly in the service of God, no qualification is more
indispensable than uprightness of heart.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. Truly, or, more correctly, only, God is good to Israel. He is
only good, nothing else but good to his own covenanted ones. He cannot act unjustly,
or unkindly to them; his goodness to them is beyond dispute, and without mixture.
Even to such as are of a clean heart. These are the true Israel, not the ceremonially
clean but the really so; those who are clean in the inward parts, pure in the vital
mainspring of action. To such he is, and must be, goodness itself. The writer does
not doubt this, but lays it down as his firm conviction. It is well to make sure of what
we do know, for this will be good anchor hold for us when we are molested by those
mysterious storms which arise from things which we do not understand. Whatever
may or may not be the truth about mysterious and inscrutable things, there are
certainties somewhere; experience has placed some tangible facts within our grasp;
let us, then, cling to these, and they will prevent our being carried away by those
hurricanes of infidelity which still come from the wilderness, and, like whirlwinds,
smite the four corners of our house and threaten to overthrow it. O my God,
however perplexed I may be, let me never think ill of thee. If I cannot understand
thee, let me never cease to believe in thee. It must be so, it cannot be otherwise, thou
art good to those whom thou hast made good; and where thou hast renewed the
heart thou wilt not leave it to its enemies.

EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Whole Psalm. The Seventy-third Psalm is a very striking record of the mental
struggle which an eminently pious Jew underwent, when he contemplated the
respective conditions of the righteous and the wicked. Fresh from the conflict, he
somewhat abruptly opens the Psalm with the confident enunciation of the truth of
which victory over doubt had now made him more and more intelligently sure than
ever, that God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. And then he
relates the most fatal shock which his faith has received, when he contrasted the
prosperity of the wicked, who, though they proudly contemned God and man,
prospered in the world and increased in riches, with his own lot, who, though he
had cleansed his heart and washed his hands in innocency, had been plagued all the
day long and chastened every morning. The place where his doubts were removed
and his tottering faith reestablished, was the sanctuary of God. God himself was the
teacher. What, then, did he teach? By what divinely imparted considerations was
the psalmist reassured? Whatever is the proper rendering of Psalms 73:4; whether,
There are no sorrows (tending) to their death, or, There are no sorrows until their
death, --their whole life to the very last is one unchequered course of happiness--that
verse conveys to us the psalmist's mistaken estimate of the prosperity of the wicked,
before he went unto the sanctuary of God. The true estimate, at which he afterwards
arrived, is found in Psalms 73:18-20. ow, admitting (what, by the way, is somewhat
difficult of belief, inasmuch as the sudden and fearful temporal destruction of all or
even the most prosperous, cannot be made out) that the end of these men means only
and always their end in this world, we come to the conclusion that, in the case of the
wicked, this Psalm does not plainly and undeniably teach that punishment awaits
them after death; but only that, in estimating their condition, it is necessary, in
order to vindicate the justice of God, to take in their whole career, and set over
against their great prosperity the sudden and fearful reverses and destruction which
they frequently encounter. But, in turning to the other side of the comparison, the
case of the righteous, we are not met by the thought, that as the prosperity of the
wicked is but the preparation for their ruin, the raising higher the tower that the
fall may be the greater, so the adversity of the godly is but an introduction to
worldly wealth and honour. That though is not foreign to the Old Testament
writers. "Evildoers shall be cut off; "writes one of them, "but those who wait upon
the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not
be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek
shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."
Psalms 37:9-11. But it is not so much as hinted at here. The daily chastening may
continue, flesh and heart may fail, but God is good to Israel notwithstanding: he is
their portion, their guide, their help while they live, and he will take them to his
glorious presence when they die. evertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast
holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward
receive me to glory. The ew Testament has nothing higher or more spiritual than
this. The reference of the last clause to happiness after death is, I believe, generally
acknowledged by Jewish commentators. They left it to the candour of Christian
expositors to doubt or deny it. Thomas Thompson Perowne, in "The Essential
Coherence of the Old and ew Testaments." 1858.
Whole Psalm. In Psalm Seventy-three the soul looks out, and reasons on what it sees

there; namely, successful wickedness and suffering righteousness. What is the
conclusion? "I have cleansed my heart in vain." So much for looking about. In
Psalm Seventy-seven the soul looks in, and reasons on what it finds there. What is
the conclusion? "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" So much for looking in.
Where, then, should we look? Look up, straight up, and believe what you see there.
What will be the conclusion? You will understand the "end" of man, and trace the
"way" of God. From "Things ew and Old, a Monthly Magazine." 1858.
Whole Psalm. In this Psalm, the psalmist (Asaph) relates the great difficulty which
existed in his own mind, from the consideration of the wicked. He observes (Psalms
73:2-3), As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I
was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. In the fourth
and following verses he informs us what, in the wicked, was his temptation. In the
first place, he observed, that they were prosperous, and all things went well with
them. He then observed their behaviour in their prosperity, and the use which they
made of it; and that God, notwithstanding such abuse, continued their prosperity.
Then he tells us by what means he was helped out of this difficulty, viz., by going
into the sanctuary (Psalms 73:16-17), and proceeds to inform us what considerations
they were which helped him, viz., --
1. The consideration of the miserable end of wicked men. However they prosper for
the present, yet they come to a woeful end at last (Psalms 73:18-20).
2. The consideration of the blessed end of the saints. Although the saints, while they
live, may be afflicted, yet they come to a happy end at last (Psalms 73:21-24).
3. The consideration that the godly have a much better portion than the wicked,
even though they have no other portion but God; as in Psalms 73:25-26.
Though the wicked are in prosperity, and are not in trouble as other men; yet the
godly, though in affliction, are in a state infinitely better, because they have God for
their portion. They need desire nothing else: he that hath God hath all. Thus the
psalmist professes the sense and apprehension which he had of things: Whom have I
in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. In the
twenty-fourth verse the psalmist takes notice how the saints are happy in God, both
when they are in this world and also when they are taken to another. They are
blessed in God in this world, in that he guides them by his counsel; and when he
takes them out of it they are still happy, in that he receives them to glory. This
probably led him to declare that he desired no other portion, either in this world or
in that to come, either in heaven or upon earth. Jonathan Edwards.
Ver. 1. Truly: it's but a particle; but the smallest filings of gold are gathered up.
Little pearls are of great price. And this small particle is not of small use, being
rightly applied and improved. First, take it (as our translators gave it us) as a note
of asseveration. Truly. It's a word of faith, opposite to the psalmist's sense and
Satan's injections. Whatsoever sense sees or feels, whatsoever Satan insinuates and
says; yet precious faith with confidence asserts, Truly, verily God is good. He is not
only good in word, but in deed also. ot only seemingly good, but certainly good.
Secondly, consider it as an adversative particle, Yet, so our old translation.
Ainsworth renders it, yet surely; taking in the former and this together. And then
the sense runs thus: How ill soever things go in the world, how ill soever it fares with
God's church and people amongst men, yet God is good to Israel. Thirdly, some
conceive that the word carries admiration. Oh, how good is God to Israel. Where

expressions and apprehensions fail, there the psalmist takes up God's providence
with admiration. Oh, how wonderfully, how transcendently good is God to Israel!
This yet (as I conceive) hath a threefold reference to the body of the Psalm. For as
interpreters observe, though these words are set in the beginning, yet they suggest
the conclusion of the psalmist's conflict. And the psalmist seems to begin somewhat
abruptly. Yet God is good. But having filled his thoughts with his former follies and
fears, and now seeing himself in a safe condition both for the present and the future,
he is full of confidence and comfort; and that which was the strongest and chiefest
in his heart now breaks our first: Yet God is good.
1. This yet relates unto his sufferings, Psalms 73:14 : All the day long have I been
plagued, and chastened every morning. otwithstanding the variety and frequency
of the saint's sufferings, yet God is good. Though sorrow salutes them every
morning at their first awaking, and trouble attends them to bed at night, yet God is
good. Though temptations many and terrible make batteries and breeches upon
their spirits, yet God is good to Israel.
2. This yet reflects upon his sinning, the fretting and wrangling of his distempered
heart (Psalms 73:2-3; Psalms 73:21). Though sinful motions do mutiny in the soul
against God's wise administration, though there be foolish, proud quarrelling with
divine providence, and inexcusable distrust of his faithful promises; though
fretfulness at others prosperity and discontent at their own adversity, yet God is
good. Israel's sinful distempers cause not the Almighty to change the course of his
accustomed goodness. While corruptions are kept from breaking out into scandal,
while the soul contends against them, and is humbled for them (as the psalmist was),
this conclusion must be maintained: yet God is good.
3. This yet looks back upon his misgivings. There had been distrustful despondency
upon the good man's heart. For from both the premises (viz., his sufferings and
sinning) he had inferred this conclusion, Psalms 73:13, Verily I have cleansed my
heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. As if he had said, "I have kept
fasts, observed Sabbaths, heard sermons, made prayers, received sacraments, given
alms, avoided sins, resisted temptations, withstood lusts, appeared for Christ and his
cause and servants in vain": yea, his heart had added an asseveration (verily) to this
faithless opinion, but now he is of another mind: Yet God is good. The
administrations of God are not according to the sad surmises of his people's
misgiving hearts. For, though they through diffidence are apt to give up their holy
labours as lost, and all their conscientious care and carriage as utterly cast away;
yet God is good to Israel. Simeon Ash, in a Sermon entitled "God's Incomparable
Goodness unto Israel." 1647.
Ver. 1. David opens the Psalm abruptly, and from this we learn what is worthy of
particular notice, that, before he broke forth into this language, his mind had been
agitated with many doubts and conflicting suggestions. As a brave and valiant
champion, he had been exercised in very painful struggles and temptations; but,
after long and arduous exertion, he at length succeeded in shaking off all perverse
imaginations, and came to the conclusion that yet God is gracious to his servants,
and the faithful guardian of their welfare. Thus these words contain a tacit contrast
between the unhallowed imaginations suggested to him by Satan, and the testimony
in favour of true religion with which he now strengthens himself, denouncing, as it
were, the judgment of the flesh, in giving place to misgiving thoughts with respect to

the providence of God. We see, then, how emphatic is this exclamation of the
psalmist. He does not ascend into the chair to dispute after the manner of the
philosophers, and to deliver his discourse in a style of studied oratory; but as if he
had escaped from hell, he proclaims with a loud voice, and with impassioned feeling,
that he had obtained the victory. John Calvin.
Ver. 1. (first clause).
Yet sure the gods are good: I would think so,
If they would give me leave!
But virtue in distress, and vice in triumph,
Make atheists of mankind. Dryden.
Ver. 1. God is good. There is a beauty in the name appropriated by the Saxon
nations to the Deity, unequalled except by his most reverential Hebrew appellation.
They called him "GOD, "which is literally "THE GOOD." The same word thus
signifying the Deity, and his most endearing quality. Turner.
Ver. 1. God is good. Let the devil and his instruments say what they will to the
contrary, I will never believe them; I have said it before, and I see no reason to
reverse my sentence: Truly God is good. Though sometimes he may hide his face for
awhile, yet he doth that in faithfulness and love; there is kindness in his very
scourges, and love bound up in his rods; he is good to Israel: do but mark it first or
last: "The true Israelite, in whom there is no guile, shall be refreshed by his
Saviour." The Israelite that wrestles with tears with God, and values his love above
the whole world, that will not be put off without his Father's blessing, shall have it
with a witness: "He shall reap in joy though he may at present sow in tears. Even to
such as are of a clean heart." The false hearted hypocrite, indeed, that gives God
only his tongue and lip, cap and knee, but reserves his heart and love for sin and the
world, that hath much of compliment, but nothing of affection and reality, why let
such a one never expect, while in such a state, to taste those reviving comforts that I
have been treating of; while he drives such a trade, he must not expect God's
company. James Janeway. 1636-1674.
Ver. 1. Even to such as are of a clean heart. Purity of heart is the characteristic note
of God's people. Heart purity denominates us the Israel of God; it makes us of Israel
indeed; "but all are not Israel which are of Israel." Romans 9:6. Purity of heart is
the jewel which is hung only upon the elect. As chastity distinguishes a virtuous
woman from an harlot, so the true saint is distinguished from the hypocrite by his
heart purity. This is like the nobleman's star or garter, which is a peculiar ensign of
honour, differing him from the vulgar; when the bright star of purity shineth in a
Christian's heart it doth distinguish him from the formal professor...
God is good to the pure in heart. We all desire that God should be good to us; it is
the sick man's prayer: "The Lord be good to me." But how is God good to them?
Two ways.
1. To them that are pure all things are sanctified, Titus 1:15 : "To the pure all things
are pure; " estate is sanctified, relations are sanctified; as the temple did sanctify the
gold and the altar did sanctify the offering. To the unclean nothing is clean; their
table is a snare, their temple devotion a sin. There is a curse entailed upon a wicked
man (De 28:16), but holiness removeth the curse, and cuts off the entail: "to the
pure all things are pure."
2. The clean hearted have all things work for their good. Romans 8:28. Mercies and

afflictions shall turn to their good; the most poisonous drugs shall be medicinal; the
most cross providence shall carry on the design of their salvation. Who, then, would
not be clean on heart? Thomas Watson.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Truly.—See ote, Psalms 62:2. This particle often, like the Latin
at, introduces a rejoinder to some supposed statement.
Dryden’s lines express the feeling of this opening—
“Yet sure the gods are good! I would fain think so,
If they would give me leave!
But virtue in distress, and vice in triumph,
Make atheists of mankind.”
The question arises whether the second clause of the verse limits, or only repeats,
the first. o doubt in theory God was understood to be good to Israel generally, but
the very subject of the psalm seems to require a limitation here. The poet sees that a
moral correspondence with their profession is necessary, even in the chosen
people—the truth which St. Paul stated with such insistance, “For they are not all
Israel which are of Israel.”
BE SO , "Psalms 73:1. Truly, or nevertheless, &c. — The beginning is abrupt,
and sufficiently intimates that he had a great conflict within himself about the
matter here spoken of, and that many doubts and objections were raised in his mind
concerning it. But, at last, light and satisfaction broke forth upon him, like the sun
from under a cloud, and overcame and silenced his scruples, in consequence of
which he lays down this conclusion. God is good to Israel — Though he may
sometimes seem negligent of, and harsh and severe toward, his people; yet, if all
things be considered, it is most certain, and hereafter will be made manifest, that he
is really and superlatively good, that is, most kind and bountiful, and a true friend
to them, and that they are most happy in possessing his favour, and have no reason
to envy sinners their present and seeming felicity. Even to such as are of a clean
heart — To all true Israelites, who love God with their whole hearts, and serve him
in spirit, in truth, and uprightness: see John 4:23; Romans 2:28-29. So this clause
limits the former, and takes off a great part of the force of the objection, indeed the
whole of that which was drawn from the calamities which befell the hypocritical and
half-hearted Israelites, who were vastly the greater number of that people.
K&D 1-2, " ְ‫ך‬ፍ, belonging to the favourite words of the faith that bids defiance to
assault, signifies originally “thus = not otherwise,” and therefore combines an
affirmative and restrictive, or, according to circumstances, even an adversative

signification (vid., on Psa_39:6). It may therefore be rendered: yea good, assuredly
good, or: only good, nothing but good; both renderings are an assertion of a sure,
infallible relation of things. God appears to be angry with the godly, but in reality He is
kindly disposed towards them, though He send affliction after affliction upon them
(Lam_3:25). The words ‫אלהים‬ ‫ישראל‬ are not to be taken together, after Gal_6:16 (τᆵν
ᅾσραήλ τοሞ Θεοሞ); not, “only good is it with the Israel of Elohim,” but “only good to Israel
is Elohim,” is the right apprehension of the truth or reality that is opposed to what
seems to be the case. The Israel which in every relationship has a good and loving God is
limited in Psa_73:1 to the pure in heart (Psa_24:4; Mat_5:8). Israel in truth are not all
those who are descended from Jacob, but those who have put away all impurity of
disposition and all uncleanness of sin out of their heart, i.e., out of their innermost life,
and by a constant striving after sanctification (Psa_73:13) maintain themselves in such
purity. In relation to this, which is the real church of God, God is pure love, nothing but
love. This it is that has been confirmed to the poet as he passed through the conflict of
temptation, but it was through conflict, for he almost fell by reason of the semblance of
the opposite. The Chethîb ‫י‬ ַ‫ל‬ְ‫ג‬ ַ‫ר‬ ‫טוּי‬ְ‫נ‬ (cf. Num_24:4) or ‫טוּי‬ְ‫נ‬ (cf. 2Sa_15:32) is erroneous.
The narration of that which is past cannot begin with a participial clause like this, and
‫ט‬ ַ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ ִⅴ, in such a sense (non multum abfuit quin, like ‫ן‬ִ‫י‬ፍ ְⅴ, nihil abfuit quin), always has the
perfect after it, e.g., Psa_94:17; Psa_119:87. It is therefore to be read ‫יוּ‬ ָ‫ט‬ָ‫נ‬ (according to
the fuller form for ‫טוּ‬ָ‫,נ‬ which is used not merely with great distinctives, as in Psa_36:8;
Psa_122:6; Num_24:6, but also with conjunctives out of pause, e.g., Psa_57:2, cf. Psa_
36:9, Deu_32:37; Job_12:6): my feet had almost inclined towards, had almost slipped
backwards and towards the side. On the other hand the Chethîb ‫ה‬ ָ‫כ‬ ְ ֻ‫שׁ‬ is unassailable; the
feminine singular is frequently found as predicate both of a plural subject that has
preceded (Psa_18:35, cf. Deu_21:7; Job_16:16) and also more especially of one that is
placed after it, e.g., Psa_37:31; Job_14:19. The footsteps are said to be poured out when
one “flies out or slips” and falls to the ground.
SBC, "First, there is in this Psalm a description of the prosperity of the wicked, and of
that hauteur and pride which they in their prosperity manifested, then of the afflictions
of the godly, operating in the Psalmist, and he supposed in others, as a temptation. In
ver. 21 we have the recovery, and the thoughts of the recovery.
I. The first-fruit of the Divine deliverance is self-loathing. "Truly Thou art good," and I
was ignorant; I ought to have known that always.
II. The second fruit is gratitude to Him who had guided him: "Thou hast holden me by
my right hand."
III. From the experience of past blessings, the experience of this great vouchsafed
deliverance, he rises to hope: "Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward
receive me to glory."
IV. The next step is wondering adoration: "Whom have I in heaven but Thee?"
V. He sums up the Psalm by an act of faith: "I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I
may declare all Thy works." His faith reposed in God not only for what God would do for
him, but for what God would graciously employ him for doing, and fit him to do in some
good measure.

J. Duncan, The Pulpit and Communion Table, p. 236.
WHEDON, "1. Truly God is good to Israel—The psalmist has now passed through his
temptation, and, being reassured, can “set to his seal [set his seal to it] that God is true.”
John 3:33. The “truly,” certainly, here, is his amen or verily to the divine dealings, which
now he perceives are “good,” not only in the sense of benevolence, but of moral fitness.
This had been the point of his wavering. “Good to Israel,” here, indicates that he is not
speaking on his own behalf merely, as reciting only a personal experience, but as the
spokesman of the nation. It was God’s dealing with the nation that had stumbled him,
which now he acknowledges “good.” The Hebrew word here rendered “good” is a broad
term, and signifies the quality of perfect moral excellence.
A clean heart—The pure of heart. Such was Israel by profession, and the really pure
should receive the promise.
This Psalm is the work of a believer, and yet it is the expression of a soul who has passed
through doubt and experienced all its bitterness.
I. Consider what made Asaph doubt. Asaph had seen the course of this world: he had
seen the prosperity of the wicked; he had seen those who feared God suffering in
desertion and in despair. His soul was troubled; and in a gloomy hour he called in
question the righteousness, the wisdom, and also the action of God. The spectacle of this
world is a great school for unbelief, a school which makes more impious people than all
the books of atheists. If we contemplate the world, our gaze wavers, for we seek in vain
there for that law of love and of righteousness which, it seems to us, God should have
marked on all His works. As children, we believed we should find it there, for a science
had been made for our use. History for us was a drama of which God was the living
Hero: if the righteous suffered, it was a transitory trial and soon to be explained; if the
wicked triumphed, it was the dazzling flash of a day. Later on our view was enlarged, and
God had receded from us. Between Him and us was raised the immense, inexorable wall
of fatality. (1) Fatality in nature, for its smile is deceptive; and when we have seen it
shine on a grave in presence of which our heart is torn, it appears to us implacable even
in its very beauty. We study it, and everywhere we find a savage law in it, the law of
destruction, which pursues its silent work each day and each minute. (2) Fatality in
history. Progress? Where is it in the old world? What plan is there in the history of those
races who are sinking today, dragged down by an incurable barbarism, in those lucky
strokes of force, in those startling immoralities, which success strengthens and
sanctions? Is it consoling to tell us that the blood of the righteous is a fruitful seed? Over
how many countries has it not flowed, leaving only the barrenness of the desert! (3)
Fatality in life. Even here the moral law wavers and is often effaced. There is no need to
be a philosopher in order to encounter the problems of life; trial, sooner or later, places
them before us. For some it is the trial of poverty, for others the trial of ailment; but
what excites excessively all these doubts is injustice.
II. For a moment Asaph’s conscience wavered; for a moment giddiness seized him. How
is it that he did not fall into the abyss? Asaph believed in God. He could not believe in
chance, for in his people’s language there is not even a word to designate chance. Asaph

tried to deny God and His action in the world. "I was tempted to say it," he exclaimed,
"but I felt that in saying it I should be unbelieving, and should offend against the
generation of Thy children." I should offend against my race—that is the thought which
withheld him.
III. Notice how God enlightened and strengthened Asaph. In the sanctuary of God light
was waiting for him. There he learned "the end of those men." Asaph saw the end of the
designs of God. His eyes were opened, and he altered his language. Gratitude has
succeeded to his murmuring; instead of the trials beneath whose weight he succumbed,
he has seen, he sees always better, the favours which are eternally his inheritance. "Thou
hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterwards
receive me to glory."
E. Bersier, Sermons, vol. i., p. 165.
BI 1-28, "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
The trouble of Asaph
In human biographies men are wont to cover up their heroes’ imperfections. They see no
reason why they should be recalled, but many why they should not. And in religious
biographies what evident exaggeration there often is. But this can never be said of the
lives of the men told of in the Bible. They are evidently men like ourselves. They have
known our misery, passed through our struggles, and often, like us, have had to bow
their heads in repentance. By this single trait I recognize the book of God. Nothing but
the guidance of the Spirit of truth could have held back these writers from glorifying
their national heroes. Now, this psalm tells of one who undoubtedly was a believe, but
nevertheless passed through doubt and knew all its bitterness. See—
I. What made asaph doubt. It was the sorrow Of those who feared God combined with
the prosperity of the wicked. The spectacle of this world is a great school for unbelief,
and makes more unbelievers than all the books of atheists. Instinctively we believe in the
God of holiness and love; but when we look out into the world we cannot find Him.
Fatality is what we see. In nature, for it cares neither for our prayers nor our tears. In
history, for if now and then there seems to be a providential law therein, more often
there is no trace of anything of the kind See the fate of those vast empires which for ever
have passed away. In life: was not the old prophet deceived when he said he had never
seen the righteous forsaken? How often our prayers are not heard. Fatalism is what the
world teaches every hour. Antiquity was fatalistic, and so are our chief thinkers of to-
day. What problems are brought before us by the sorrows that befall the godly. Poverty,
sickness, injustice—this most unendurable of all.
II. What saved him from his doubt.
1. He believed in God, the God of his race and people. He came—and it is a blessed
thing to come—of a holy race.
2. But he could not explain these problems. Human reason cannot. There are the
mysteries, insoluble, of affliction; yet more of sin; and of the future life. Science has
no answer for them.
3. But Asaph went into the sanctuary of God, and then he understood the end, the
purpose of God in all this which the future alone, and not the short-lived present, can
unfold. Now, Asaph saw God’s purpose in regard to the wicked, and his tone changed
from bitterness to pity, as he thought of the “slippery places” in which they stood,

and of the “destruction” which was their end. How all changes to our eyes when we
consider things from God’s point of view. And he saw God’s purpose in regard to
those who wait on Him and fear Him. Even now consolation, sweetness, peace are
theirs. The meanest calling is invested with grandeur when God is served in it.
Without doubt the struggles of God’s people have been terrible. But consider their
end—“Nevertheless I am continually with thee.” Asaph has come out of the
sanctuary, and his face is beaming; his tears are effaced. His look is brightened by a
divine hope, and it is a song of thanks which comes from his lips. And so shall it be
with all them whose trust is in Asaph’s God. (E. Bersier.)
The Asaph psalms
Here in the beginning of the third book of the Psalter we have eleven psalms which are
grouped together as being Asaph’s psalms. Those psalms have very much of a common
character and a common style; they are the production of some oriental Bacon, of some
Tacitus of grace. They are obscure if you will, they are oracular, they are sententious,
they are occasionally, it must be admitted, sublime. And, first of all, Asaph’s was no
affected scepticism; Asaph was a real doubter. In a certain sense he may be looked upon
as the St. Thomas of the Old Testament, but the doubt of St. Thomas, as we all know,
was about a fact and about a dogma which underlay that fact—the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead—the doubt of Asaph was about the moral truth of the government
of God, for the cause of his doubt about the goodness of God was the inequality of
human society, the fatal injustice as it appears to some in the distribution of the good
things of this life. It was the base and mean character of many of those who are the most
tremendous winners in what seems to be the ignoble lottery sometimes of a successful
life. These men did not repeatedly hear the summons of the grim sergeant, Death; they
were not repeatedly dragged by chains; “there are no bands in their death;” that
oppressive burden that lies on the rest of our suffering humanity—they seem for a time
clean outside of it; they are not in trouble as other men. And then there comes the
deterioration of character, the encompassing pride, being robed with violence; the
fulfilment of the words of that fierce satire, “Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have
more than their hearts can wish.” There are hearts and hearts, and they have all, more
than all, that hearts like theirs can wish for. Now, the means of removing Asaph’s doubt
we find to have been these four.
1. In the first place, there was his own spiritual life. If these haunting doubts about
the goodness and the justice of God were real, if there was no good God in the heaven
above, then his whole spiritual life was worthless. Well might he say in the thirteenth
verse, if it were so, “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocency.”
2. And the second means of the removal of this doubt was the spiritual life of the
children of God—“If I say I will speak thus, behold I should offend against the
generation of Thy children”—he would be doing wrong to them, he would be
breaking faith with the saints of God, who had lived this life upon earth and who had
passed into the home beyond with this full faith.
3. Then a third means of removing this doubt we find in the closing part of the psalm
(Psa_73:23-28). The spiritual life is also an eternal life, an eternal life in God and
with God. Now, this psalm might almost be marked as the great psalm of the Hebrew
“Summum Bonum, The Highest Good.” We are told by St. Augustine that the ancient
classical philosophy had worked out no less than two hundred and eighty-eight

different views or solutions of the “Summum Bonum,” the highest good of man. It
was, we have been told on great authority, a sort of scholastic theology of the Pagans,
but here is Asaph’s view of the “Summum Bonum,” hero is the view of all the saints
of God. How nobly the psalm begins! The prophet had long been encompassed about
with the shadows of darkness and doubt. At last he looks upward and he says, “And
yet, after all, God is good to Israel, even to those who are of a clean heart”; and as the
psalm begins so it ends: “It is good for me to draw nigh unto God.” Take this in, take
in the eternal life with God in the home above, take in that and no doubt will arise
about the distribution of God’s good things, and we shall say with the psalmist: “So
foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a beast before Thee.”
4. And then the fourth means was this—it was a revelation in the sanctuary: “When I
thought upon this, it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God.”
All of us who love the Psalter have critical friends who tell us not to be too mystical in
our views, not to think of Christ or Heaven in the psalms; but when they comment
upon this verse they begin to turn mystical and say, “Think of some inward sanctuary
in your mind, think of some place where you may be alone with God”; to which I only
reply, “My literal friend, you must be literal here at all events.” The word
unquestionably means the outward sanctuary of God, the visible sanctuary built up
upon Mount Zion, the place upon which men walked with human feet, and listened
with human ears. This was where Asaph learned to find the solution of his difficulty.
(A. Alexander.)
A perplexing problem, and satisfactory solution
I. A perplexing problem. We live under the government of God, and His government
extends to all persons, and all interests in every life. This is a fundamental fact. From
what we know of the character of God as good and just, and seeing that He has power to
carry out all His decisions, we might expect that in every instance virtue would be
rewarded and vies would be punished. But, in observing the circumstances of men, this
expectation is falsified. For a time, at least, some of the wicked prosper, and some of the
righteous do not prosper, until bad men say, and good men are tempted to say in their
depression and doubt, surely the sympathy of the Divine Ruler must be on the side of
vies, the reins of government must have fallen out of His hands, and what ought to be an
orderly creation is simply a chaos. Why is the life of many a good man embittered by the
wickedness of his son, whilst the ungodly father in some instances is surrounded by the
best children? Why is the breadwinner taken away when the family seem to need most
the strength of his arm, the intelligence of his mind, and the influence of his example?
Why is it that some of the beautiful and noble, full of intellectual and Christian promise,
are out off in youth, whilst not a few of the stained and mean are allowed to drag their
ignominy through a long, stained and dishonoured life? Why is it that sunshine and
sorrow seem in so many eases to follow no rule of effort or desert? Ah! those are some of
the dark riddles, the strange perplexities, of which many a life is full. Here we are
confronted with a business problem. Now, nothing is more clear than that in worldly
affairs the battle is not always to the strong. Whatever we may say in our conceit, worldly
success does not always reflect commercial genius. It is surprising indeed with how little
brains some business men succeed. They ought to succeed in business, for they exhaust
themselves in the one supreme and strenuous effort of money-making, and have no time
or taste for anything else. Some of the most shallow and superficial men I have met are
men of this mould. Beecher said of such: “They resemble a pyramid, which is broad
where it touches the ground, but grows narrower as it reaches the sky.” In saying this I

do not wish it to be understood that the righteous man is less fit and likely to succeed in
temporal affairs than the unrighteous. No, religion helps a man to get on in the world.
Other things being equal in the man, that man who is honest, industrious and
persevering is more likely to succeed than his neighbour, who may have the same
natural ability, but no Christian principle. Undoubtedly religion quickens and expands
the whole man, and fertilizes the wide area of life. A man who is formed, reformed, and
informed by religion will do far more effectual work than the same man without religion.
Another fact must also be borne in mind. Some good men, whom we like to hear sing
and pray in the “sanctuary,” are not strong and smart at the “receipt of customs.”
Business is not their forte. They are estimable men in their home and Church relations,
but they lack the keenness, suspicion, alertness, push, and enterprise so greatly
necessary in these days of keen competition and quick movement. One can easily see
why some easy, confiding, unsuspicious men who do not adapt themselves to certain
changed conditions in business do not succeed. The wonder would be if they did. But
baying said this, we all know worthy men who comply with the conditions Of worldly
success, and are even then disadvantaged, kept down and back by the greedy, avaricious
worldlings, with whom they do not and cannot compete in certain questionable and
wicked practices. Some are too delicately fibred, too considerate of justice, generosity,
handsome behaviour, too Scripturally conscientious to chord in practice with those who
do not scruple at lying advertisements, fictitious capital, adulterated articles. And so they
secretly and silently suffer in mind and state. They are beaten and baffled, not simply by
the greedy and gigantic monopolies, which appear to be the order of the day, but by the
positive wrong-doing of the unscrupulous, who will have gain by means fair or foul. And
so it is in my pastoral round, I have seen the good man—a struggling tradesman
“fretting” because of evil-doers, “envious” against the “workers of iniquity.”
1. It tries his trust. It is easy to trust God when the “cup runneth over.” But it is very
hard for a man with an ill-stocked larder, and an ill-furnished wardrobe, to lean his
whole weight upon God.
2. It proves his zeal. “Money is a defence.” The rich man is protected by earthworks
against much that beats pitilessly and cruelly upon the poor man.
3. It tests his humility. To retrench the pleasant superfluities of life, to abridge his
sphere of usefulness, to curtail his gifts, to live in a smaller house, to miss his name
from the subscription list, to rank among the unfortunates and be quiet—all this goes
against the grain of a spirited, mettled man, who, although poor, is still a man of
desire and ambition.
4. It taxes patience. Baffled and utterly bewildered, there are sad moments when the
tempted Christian says he cannot understand the Divine dealings with him.
II. A satisfactory solution. For a moment Asaph’s conscience wavered, for a time
giddiness seized him. How is it he did not fall into the abyss? Asaph believed in God. He
could not after all believe in chance. That was the saving thought. Like a ship swinging at
anchor, he swayed about by the ebb and the flow of the tide, but he did not drift from his
moorings. What was it that wrought the vast change in the psalmist? It was going into
the house of God. This is the Divinely-appointed place where God graciously answers
those who are perplexed and pained, and who kneel, saying, “Speak, Lord, for Thy
servant heareth.” The judicial faculty to weigh things, to take a calm survey of the entire
situation, needs stillness and retreat. It is here, in the sanctuary, we see the relationship
of this brief and broken life on earth to the wide, boundless kingdom of the eternal. Wait
calmly until the clouds roll by. Said Dr. Dixon, “It is in the nature of a cloud to pass
away.” Possess your soul in patience, and, amid the sweet silences and kindling visions

of the sanctuary, you shall change your murmur to a psalm. Revelation reconciles, if it
does not explain, by telling us that there is a magnificent future, veiled, but certain, for
which present inequalities and seeming injustices are the necessary, the suitable, the
merciful preparation. You are now moving in the twilight, but it is the morning twilight,
to be followed by the glory of eternity, when all these tangled things shall be smoothed
out, and the vexed things of earth made plain in the light of heaven. (G. Woodcock.)
The goodness of God to Israel
I. The description given of the people of God.
1. Their name.
2. Their character.
II. The considerations by which their interest in the Divine love may be proved.
1. By His Son He has saved them from hell.
2. By His Spirit He purifies them from sin.
3. By His providence He guides and guards them on earth.
4. At their death He receives them to heaven.
Lessons:
1. If the goodness of God to the true Israel be thus great, how great should be their
confidence in Him, and the love with which they love Him in return!
2. Let the sinner so come and share with the Israel of God in the blessing described
in the text. (Evangelical Preacher.)
Bad men in good circumstances, and a good man in a bad temper
I. Bad men in good circumstances. The bad men are described as the “foolish and the
wicked.” Folly and wickedness are convertible terms. Sin is folly. Man sinning is man
violating all the laws of reason, all the principles of true policy. Such are the bad
characters before us, and they are found in good circumstances, they are in great
prosperity. The material heavens shine on them, the earth yields up her fruit to gratify
their every taste and to supply their every want. Providence pours into their lap those
gifts which it denied the Son of God Himself.
II. A good man in a bad temper. Asaph, the supposed writer of this psalm, acknowledges
that he was “envious” of these bad men who were living in good circumstances.
1. He was in an envious temper.
(1) Now, envy is ever a bad thing. It is ever the attribute of selfishness, and
selfishness is the root of wrong.
(2) Nor could envy well appear in a more unreasonable aspect. He was “envious
at the wicked.” This is truly irrational. Poor godless wretches, what have they of
which the good should be envious?
2. He was in a murmuring temper (Psa_73:18).

(1) A right act. Cleansing the heart and washing the hands means the cultivation
of personal holiness; and this is certainly a right work for man. It implies—
(1) The consciousness of personal defilement.
(2) The possession of a cleansing element.
(3) The effort of personal application. Moral evil is the defilement; Christianity is
the cleansing element; and practical faith is the personal application.
3. A wrong opinion. The writer thought that it was “in vain.” Three facts show that
this is a great mistake:
(1) That moral holiness involves its own reward.
(2) That moral holiness is promoted by temporal adversity.
(3) That moral holiness will meet with its perfect recompense hereafter.
No; this cleansing the heart is no vain work. No engagement is so real and profitable.
Every fresh practical idea of God is a rising in the scale of being and of bliss; every
conquest over sense, appetite, and sin, is a widening and strengthening of our spiritual
sovereignty; every devout sentiment, earnest resolve, and generous sacrifice attunes our
hearts to higher music. (Homilist.)
COFFMA , “I TRODUCTIO FOR BOOK III
Psalms 73-89 are entitled Book III. These Psalms are classified as "The Asaph
Group," composed of Psalms 73-83, the only other Asaph Psalm being Psalms 50 in
Book II. "All of this group are Elohimic."[1] Most of the remaining Psalms in Book
IV are ascribed to the Sons of Korah. "Some of these are Elohimic and some are
Jehovist."[2] Three Psalms in this Book are ascribed, one each, to David, Heman
and Ethan.
"The Psalms of Asaph are of different dates, but are similar in character and have
many features in common ... They are national and historical ... They have a definite
doctrine of God, who is presented as "The Shepherd of Israel" (Psalms 80:1), and
the people are the sheep of his pasture (Psalms 74:1; 77:20; 79:13) ... History is used
for instruction, admonition and encouragement."[3]
Dr. DeHoff summarized this entire book as follows: Psalms 73 handles the problem
of the wicked's prosperity; Psalms 74 discusses the national disaster in Jerusalem's
destruction; Psalms 75 speaks of the final judgment; Psalms 76 gives thanks for a
great victory; Psalms 77-78 are historical extolling God's marvelous works; Psalms
79-80 give us a glance of a great disaster; Psalms 81-82 deplore the sinfulness of
God's people; Psalms 83 is a prayer for protection; Psalms 84 stresses the
blessedness of those `in God's house.' (with an application to Christ's church);
Psalms 85-86 contain prayers of thanksgiving to God and pleas for mercy and
forgiveness; Psalms 88 is the prayer of a shut-in suffering from a long illness; and

Psalms 89 is a magnificent presentation of the Throne of David which will endure
forever.[4]
This is the shortest of the Five Books of Psalms.
"Each of the major Psalm-types is represented in Book IV, except Penitential."[5]
We shall also observe that there are many quotations in the ew Testament from
this portion of the Psalms. This is especially true of Psalms 89 which is referred to in
Acts 13:22, (Psalms 73:20); 2 Thessalonians 1:10 (Psalms 73:7); Revelation 1:5
(Psalms 73:27,37). Other quotations are Malachi 13:35 (Psalms 78:2), John 6:31
(Psalms 78:24), and John 10:34 (Psalms 82:6).
PSALM 73
THE PROBLEM OF THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED
Where is the Christian who has not struggled with this same problem? Righteous
people seem pressed down on every hand, often struggling for the very necessities of
life, whereas openly arrogant and wicked unbelievers flaunt their godless lives,
sometimes wallowing in wealth and luxuries. This psalm addresses that very
problem.
Of course, there is one practical reason for the seeming disparity between what
appears to be God's treatment of the righteous and the wicked, and that is the truth
emphasized by Jesus who stated that, "The sons of this world are for their own
generation wiser than the sons of the light" (Luke 16:8). There surely seems to be a
naivete among God's people that often hinders their worldly success. This is not the
only Old Testament Scripture that deals with this problem. Psalms 37 and Psalms
49, as well as the Book of Job likewise confront this problem, dealing with it
extensively. We have already commented extensively on this problem in Psalms 37
and Psalms 49.
For word on Asaph, see under Psalms 50 in Vol. I of this Series. Asaph (or possibly
his sons) authored Psalms 73-83.
In this psalm, the conclusion is announced at the beginning.

Psalms 73:1-2
"Surely God is good to Israel.
Even to such as are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
My steps had well nigh slipped."
"Surely God is good" (Psalms 73:1). God is not partial to the wicked. However the
opposite of this may appear at times to be true, it is never the correct view. God's
goodness toward the righteous is by no means limited to the present time but
extends throughout eternity. Whatever advantage wickedness may appear to have
in the present life is of no consequence whatever when considered in the light of the
eternal rewards and punishments to be meted out on the Day of Judgment.
"But as for me" (Psalms 73:2). Here the Psalmist looks back upon the temptations
which almost overcame him and recognizes how fatal it would have been for him to
succumb thereunto.
U K OW AUTHOR, "This is a song of Asaph, a mature believer who…
Flourished as a psalmist. Asaph composed Psalm 73 and 10 that follow – plus Psalm
50. He was a worship leader in the temple in Jerusalem.
Prospered as a prophet. 2 Chronicles 29:30 refers to him as being a “seer” - a word
used for prophet or beholder of visions.
Succeeded as a parent. He was sincere in public and private, demonstrated by his
children following him in serving the Lord. 1 Chronicles 25:1 says that four of his
sons helped conduct the chorus that sang at the temple dedication.
In the opening phrase of this song, the psalmist presents what we might expect from
a worship leader. It’s what I call his “orthodox disclaimer.” The man of God knows
what he should say. “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”
That is the “company line” after all. What else would you expect from a preacher?
God’s promise to the people of Israel under Moses was “If you obey me I will bless
you, but if you disobey, I will curse you.” (See Deuteronomy 28 for the full litany of
blessings and curses.) God certainly had been good to Israel, so what else could he
say?
It reminds me of the story of the Sunday school teacher who asked her class:

“Children, what is furry, has a long tail, eats nuts, and lives in a tree?” A little boy
raised his hand and answered: “I know the answer is ‘Jesus’ but it sure sounds like
a squirrel to me.”
Asaph declares that God is good but then follows with a surprisingly candid
admission. And so begins his disorientation because it doesn’t match the “blessed is
the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly” scheme of things. It’s a bit
unsettling for the reader who has never been honest enough to admit her doubts.
(For a good discussion of the orientation/disorientation dichotomy, see Walter
Brueggemann’s The Psalms: The Life of Faith, pages 204-210.) The psalmist
confesses some serious intellectual schizophrenia or what we might call cognitive
dissonance here. The world he observes doesn’t seem to match what he has been
taught from Scriptures. So with refreshing honesty Asaph shocks us – revealing that
he almost went AWOL from the faith. It’s almost like “parents cover your
children’s ears. You don’t want them to hear this. It’s heavy stuff.”
He says: “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold”
(v. 2) Wow! What had occurred in this man’s life that had rocked his world? Did his
wife walk out on him? Did he lose a child? Had he experienced a financial reversal?
Had he been passed over for a promotion? Had someone slandered him? Was he
suffering from a serious illness? Were his children having profound problems at
school? We don’t know. He doesn’t say. But some serious event or some bitter
disappointment gave rise to what he goes on to write.
EBC, “THE perennial problem of reconciling God’s moral government with
observed facts is grappled with in this psalm, as in Psalms 37:1-40; Psalms 49:1-20.
It tells how the prosperity of the godless, in apparent flat contradiction of Divine
promises, had all but swept the psalmist from his faith, and how he was led, through
doubt and struggle, to closer communion with God, in which he learned, not only
the evanescence of the external well-being which had so perplexed him, but the
eternity of the true blessedness belonging to the godly. His solution of the problem is
in part that of the two psalms just mentioned, but it surpasses them in its clear
recognition that the portion of the righteous, which makes their lot supremely
blessed, is no mere earthly prosperity, but God Himself, and in its pointing to
"glory" which comes afterwards, as one element in the solution of the problem.
The psalm falls into two divisions, in the first of which (Psalms 73:1-14) the psalmist
tells of his doubts, and, in the second (Psalms 73:15-28), of his victory over them.
The body of the psalm is divided into groups of four verses, and it has an
introduction and conclusion of two verses each.
The introduction (Psalms 73:1-2) asserts, with an accent of assurance, the conviction
which the psalmist had all but lost, and therefore had the more truly won. The
initial word "Surely" is an indication of his past struggle, when the truth that God
was good to Israel had seemed so questionable. "This I have learned by doubts; this
I now hold as most sure; this I proclaim, impugn it who list, and seem to contradict
it what may." The decisiveness of the psalmist’s conviction does not lead him to

exaggeration. He does not commit himself to the thesis that outward prosperity
attends Israel. That God is good to those who truly bear that name is certain; but
how He shows His goodness, and who these are, the psalmist has, by his struggles,
learned to conceive of in a more spiritual fashion than before. That goodness may be
plainly seen in sorrows, and it is only sealed to those who are what the name of
Israel imports-"pure in heart." That such are blessed in possessing God, and that
neither are any other blessed, nor is there any other blessedness, are the lessons
which the singer has brought with him from the darkness, and by which the ancient
faith of the wellbeing of the righteous is set on surer foundations than before.
The avowal of conquered doubts follows on this clear note of certitude. There is a
tinge of shame in the emphatic "I" of Psalms 73:2, and in the broken construction
and the change of subject to "my feet" and "my steps." The psalmist looks back to
that dreary time, and sees more clearly than he did, while he was caught in the toils
of perplexity and doubt, how narrow had been his escape from casting away his
confidence. He shudders as he remembers it; but he can do so now from the vantage
ground of tried and regained faith. How eloquently the order of thought in these
two verses speaks of the complete triumph over doubt!
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
BAR ES, "But as for me - literally, “And I.” The meaning is, “And I, who so
confidently now trust in God, and believe that he is good, was formerly in a far different
state of mind; I was so hesitating, so troubled, and so doubtful, that I had almost entirely
lost confidence in him as a wise and just moral governor.”
My feet were almost gone - I was just ready to fall. Of course, this refers to his
state of mind. In regard to his faith or confidence in God, he was like a man standing in a
slippery place, and scarcely able to remain upright.
My steps had well nigh slipped - The expression rendered “well nigh” means “like
nothing,” or “as nothing;” that is, in reference to firmness it was as if there was “nothing”
left. There was nothing which would keep him from slipping. The word rendered
“slipped” means “poured out.” That is, in his going he was like water poured out, instead
of being like something solid and firm. The idea is, that his faith seemed to be all gone.

He was like a falling man; a man who had no strength to walk.
CLARKE, "My feet were almost gone - I had nearly given up my confidence. I
was ready to find fault with the dispensations of providence; and thought the Judge of
all the earth did not do right.
GILL, "But as for me,.... Who am one of the Israel of God whose heart has been
renewed and purified by the grace of God, and to whom he has been kind and good in a
thousand instances; yet, ungrateful creature that I am,
my feet were almost gone; out of the good ways of God, the ways of truth and
holiness just upon the turn, ready to forsake them, and give up all religion as a vain
thing:
my steps had well nigh slipped, or "poured out" (c) like water; the allusion is to
standing on wet and slippery ground, where a man can scarcely keep upon his feet. It
may be observed, that good men are liable to slips and falls, to fall into sin, snares, and
temptations, and from their steadfastness in the faith, but not totally and finally; their
feet may be "almost", but not "altogether", gone: their steps may "well nigh" slip, but not
"quite"; they may fall, but not be utterly cast down; at least they rise again, and are made
to stand; for God is able to keep them, and does keep them, from a total and final falling
away.
HE RY, "II. He comes now to relate the shock that was given to his faith in God's
distinguishing goodness to Israel by a strong temptation to envy the prosperity of the
wicked, and therefore to think that the Israel of God are no happier than other people
and that God is no kinder to them than to others.
1. He speaks of it as a very narrow escape that he had not been quite foiled and
overthrown by this temptation (Psa_73:2): “But as for me, though I was so well satisfied
in the goodness of God to Israel, yet my feet were almost gone (the tempter had almost
tripped up my heels), my steps had well-nigh slipped (I had like to have quitted my
religion, and given up all my expectations of benefit by it); for I was envious at the
foolish.” Note, 1. The faith even of strong believers may sometimes be sorely shaken and
ready to fail them. There are storms that will try the firmest anchors. 2. Those that shall
never be quite undone are sometimes very near it, and, in their own apprehension, as
good as gone. Many a precious soul, that shall live for ever, had once a very narrow turn
for its life; almost and well-nigh ruined, but a step between it and fatal apostasy, and yet
snatched as a brand out of the burning, which will for ever magnify the riches of divine
grace in the nations of those that are saved. Now,
JAMISO , "The figures express his wavering faith, by terms denoting tottering and
weakness (compare Psa_22:5; Psa_62:3).
CALVI , "2.As for me, etc. Literally, it is, And I: which ought to be read with

emphasis; for David means that those temptations, which cast an affront upon the
honor of God, and overwhelm faith, not only assail the common class of men, or
those who are endued only with some small measure of the fear of God, but that he
himself, who ought to have profited above all others in the school of God, had
experienced his own share of them. By thus setting himself forth as an example, he
designed the more effectually to arouse and incite us to take great heed to ourselves.
He did not, it is true, actually succumb under the temptation; but, in declaring that
his feet were almost gone, and that his steps had well nigh slipped, he warns us that
all are in danger of falling, unless they are upheld by the powerful hand of God.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. Here begins the narrative of a great soul battle, a spiritual
Marathon, a hard and well fought field, in which the half defeated became in the
end wholly victorious.
But as for me. He contrasts himself with his God who is ever good; he owns his
personal want of good, and then also compares himself with the clean in heart, and
goes on to confess his defilement. The Lord is good to his saints, but as for me, am I
one of them? Can I expect to share his grace? Yes, I do share it; but I have acted an
unworthy part, very unlike one who is truly pure in heart.
My feet were almost gone. Errors of heart and head soon affect the conduct. There
is an intimate connection between the heart and the feet. Asaph could barely stand,
his uprightness was going, his knees were bowing like a falling wall. When men
doubt the righteousness of God, their own integrity begins to waver.
My steps had well nigh slipped. Asaph could make no progress in the good road, his
feet ran away from under him like those of a man on a sheet of ice. He was
weakened for all practical action, and in great danger of actual sin, and so of a
disgraceful fall. How ought we to watch the inner man, since it has so forcible an
effect upon the outward character. The confession in this case is, as it should be,
very plain and explicit.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 2. But as for me. Literally, it is, And I, which ought to be read with emphasis;
for David means that those temptations which cast an affront upon the honour of
God, and overwhelm faith, not only assail the common class of men, or those who
are endued only with some small measure of the fear of God, but that he himself,
who ought to have profited above all others in the school of God, had experienced
his own share of them. By thus setting himself forth as an example, he designed the
more effectually to arouse and incite us to take great heed to ourselves. John Calvin.
Ver. 2. Let such also as fear God and begin to look aside on the things of this world,
know it will be hard even for them to hold out in faith and in the fear of God in time
of trial. Remember the example of David, he was a man that had spent much time in
travelling towards heaven; yet, looking but a little aside upon the glittering show of
this world, had very near lost his way, his feet were almost gone, his steps had well
nigh slipped. Edward Elton. 1620.
Ver. 2. He tells us that his feet were almost gone. The word signifies to bow, or bend
under one. My steps had well nigh slipped, or poured out, kept not within their true
bounds; but like water poured out and not confined, runs aside. Though these
expressions be metaphorical, and seemingly dark and cloudy, yet they clearly
represent unto us this truth, that his understanding was misguided, his judgment

was corrupt, his affections disordered, turbulent, and guilty of too great a passion;
and this, the consequence (Psalms 73:22 in which he acknowledges himself ignorant,
foolish, and brutish) do sufficiently evidence. Our understanding and judgment may
well bear the comparison for feet, for as the one, in our motion, supports the body,
so the other, in human actions and all employments, underprops the soul. The
affections, also, are as paths and steps; as these of the feet, so these are the prints
and expressions of the judgment and mind. Edward Parry, in "David Restored."
1660.
Ver. 2. Almost gone. There is to be noted that the prophet said he was almost gone,
and not altogether. Here is the presence, providence, strength, safeguard, and
keeping of man by Almighty God, marvellously set forth. That although we are
tempted and brought even to the very point to perpetrate and do all mischief, yet he
stays us and keeps us, that the temptation shall not overcome us. John Hooper.
1495-1555.
Ver. 2-14. But the prosperity of wicked and unjust men, both in public and in
private life, who, though not leading a happy life in reality, are yet thought to do so
in common opinion, being praised improperly in the works of poets, and all kinds of
books, may lead you --and I am not surprised at your mistake--to a belief that the
gods care nothing for the affairs of men. These matters disturb you. Being led astray
by foolish thoughts, and yet not able to think ill of the gods, you have arrived at
your present state of mind, so as to think that the gods to indeed exist, but that they
despise and neglect human affairs. Plato.
BE SO , "Psalms 73:2-3. But as for me — Yet I must acknowledge with grief and
shame, concerning myself, that notwithstanding all my knowledge of this truth, and
my own experience and observation of God’s dealings with me and other good men;
my feet were almost gone — My faith in God’s promises and providence was almost
overthrown by the force of temptation; and I was almost ready to repent of my
piety, Psalms 73:13, and to follow the example of ungodly men. My steps had well
nigh slipped — Hebrew, ‫,שׁפכו‬ shuppechu, were almost poured forth, namely, like
water upon the ground, which is unstable, and runs hither and thither with great
disorder and uncertainty, till it be irrecoverably lost. So was I almost transported by
my unruly fancies and passions into unworthy thoughts of God, and a sinful course
of life. For I was envious at the foolish — I was vexed and murmured to see the
wicked, notwithstanding their guilt and desert of punishment, in a very flourishing
condition, and I thought it very hard that pious men should not equal, if not exceed,
them in such happiness; especially when I saw no likelihood that it would end, but
that they continued in their prosperity. With great propriety are the wicked, and
those that live as if there were no God, called the foolish; for nothing can show
greater folly.
Clovis G. Chappell
"But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped."
(Psalm 73:2)

Clovis G. Chappell: This valiant climber is sharing with us some of the
experiences that he has met along the pilgrim's road. He has come at last to where
he walks with a certain sureness of step. He feels the road firm and solid beneath his
feet because he has learned the secret and source of strength. But it has not always
been so. As he looks back over his yesterdays he sees one stretch of road in
particular that he found very difficult. In fact, at this spot he came very near to
tripping and falling headlong. Here he escaped, by the narrowest margin, losing his
footing and slipping into the chasm that skirted the way, where he might have been
seen and heard no more. He recalls the experience after these years with mingled
terror and gratitude. "I almost slipped. I nearly lost my footing."
This is a bit of the spiritual biography of a man who struggled and triumphed
many centuries ago. Yet his story is amazingly modern and up-to-date. How
thoroughly at home it is in these perplexing days in which we live! Some of us are
saying sadly: "I know exactly what the psalmist is talking about. His experience
differs from mine only in this: He managed somehow to keep his footing, but I lost
mine altogether. I went down. I fell prostrate. Since then I have about quit trying. I
have become afraid of that which is high. Christ's promises are still wonderfully
beautiful and appealing, but for me at least they have not worked out, and I fear
they never will. My feet have slipped, and I have given up the fight."
Then there are others for whom these words represent a present experience.
Though you have not altogether lost your footing, yet you are painfully aware that
you walk in slippery places. You feel that any moment may bring collapse. You have
come out to God's house this morning, not with any great confidence. You are not at
all sure that you will find here anything to steady you and to enable you to stand
firmly upon your feet. But at any rate you are here, dimly hoping that such may be
the case; that perchance there may come some word of strength; that there may be
somehow a hand stretched out to help. You are in sore and desperate need and
know not where else to turn. May God grant that your fainting faith may be richly
rewarded, and that you may go away with a firm sense of the undergirding of the
Everlasting Arms. (Deut. 33:27)
I
What was it that came so near to tripping this man of the long ago? Over what
did he stumble? It is evident that he was greatly bewildered at God's perplexing
ordering of things. He could not for the life of him understand how an infinite and
holy God could govern the world in the manner in which he felt that the world of his
day was being governed. The faith in which he had been reared and to which he
clung made his difficulties in this respect only the greater. He had been taught that
the good always prosper and that the wicked always go to the wall. That was the
faith that was prevalent among all pious Jews at that time. It was old when this
psalmist was born and continued long after he had gone to his reward.
For instance, when Job was overwhelmed by one crushing blow after another,
there were three men who loved him well enough to undertake to share his sorrow

with him. But they assumed at once that, in spite of all appearances to the contrary,
Job was being punished for his sin. "It simply cannot be otherwise," they declared
emphatically. "Who ever suffered being innocent? Such a thing is simply
unthinkable in a God-ordered world. Prosperity is a sure indication of the smile of
God; adversity is no less a sure indication of his displeasure and biting indignation."
(Job 4:7)
With this faith also the disciples of Jesus were in hearty agreement. One day,
with their Master, they came upon a blind man. This man had been blind from his
birth. They asked Jesus: "Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born
blind?" (John 9:2) They could not conceive of any form of calamity, any sorrow,
any suffering that was not born directly of the anger and displeasure of God. They
believed that without exception the good are prosperous and happy, while the
wicked always fail and are always wretched.
There are those who cling to this faith in some measure to this very hour. It is
often a very comfortable faith and is therefore one that dies hard. There are those
still who believe that God rewards us in the here and now with material and
temporal blessings for being good. If he fails to do this, they feel that they have not
been treated quite fairly. When they ask for bread, they are rather shocked and
disappointed because God refuses to give them a stone. I received a letter only last
week telling me of a man who had been a tither all his life, but who, in spite of that
fact, had been overtaken by financial disaster. The writer seemed to feel that God
should have paid him in dollars and cents for his faithfulness. ow there is no doubt
that honesty is in the long run the best policy, and that, all things being equal, a
good man stands a better chance at worldly prosperity than a bad man. But even
then the good do not always prosper, and when they do, this prosperity is not given
in payment for faithful service. We seem to forget that while the devil pays wages,
God never does. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)
ow it was when this psalmist began to test his faith by the plain facts of
experience that he found himself slipping. For when he looked with open eyes upon
the world he saw that it simply could not be true. Doubtless there was a neighbor of
his that lived not a block away, who despised the worship of the temple and lived in
utter disregard of God. This neighbor declared emphatically that he was not in
business for his health, that he was in it solely for the money. And there was no
denying the fact that he was succeeding amazingly. Everything he touched seemed
to turn to gold. ot only so, but both he and his family enjoyed the best of health
and to all appearances were finding life exceedingly livable. He was not in trouble
like other men; neither was he plagued like other men.
But how about himself? He was trying desperately hard to be a good man. He
was diligent in his religious duties. He tithed, he went to the synagogue, he sought
earnestly to please God. But what was he getting out of it? Less than nothing. In
spite of it all, he was not prosperous. On the contrary, everything he touched seemed
to turn to dust and ashes. He declared in bewilderment, not mixed with hot

indignation, that he was plagued all day long and that some new chastening came to
him every morning. More than once, while in darkness he was sobbing out his
perplexities to God, he had been disturbed and half angered by the noise of joyful
revelry that had come from the house of his godless and prosperous neighbor.
"It is not fair," he cried hotly into his tear-soaked pillows. "What is the good of
my loyalty to my convictions? Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed
my hands in innocency. Goodness does not pay, and since goodness does not pay,
how can there be a God who cares about our loyalty? How can we be sure that there
is a righteous God on the throne when all about us we see the good suffer and the
wicked enjoying prosperity? How can any man under such circumstances be sure
that because right is right, to follow right were wisdom in the scorn of
consequence?' Is it not possible after all for one to gather grapes of thorns and figs
of thistles? Would it not be far wiser for me to follow my neighbor, fling away from
God, quit trying to be right, take the cash, and let the credit go?"
And if every one who has at times felt sympathy with the views of this psalmist
were to say "Amen," it would shake like an earthquake. There are some of you as
indignant over God's amazing ordering of things as was this psalmist. You, too,
have tried to be right as God gave you to see the right. But there have been financial
losses, sickness, death. So many have been your reverses that at times you doubt the
real worth of righteousness. You have chosen to play the game fairly and have lost,
while those who played unfairly are winners and are acclaimed for their victory.
You had an opportunity for a questionable business adventure, but for
conscientious reasons you turned it down. Others without your scruples entered the
enterprise and now live in handsome residences on the avenue. "Their eyes stand
out with fatness" while you are having a desperate struggle to keep the wolf from
the door. Therefore, like this psalmist, you are questioning whether it pays to be
true to God or not. You are even questioning whether there is a God who concerns
himself about us and our petty affairs. You, too, can say: "My feet are almost gone;
my steps are on the point of slipping." Yet it is heartening to know that this psalmist
came safely through and ended by finding a firm footing for his feet. So may we, if
we are only willing.
II
How did he keep from falling? What was it that steadied him?
He did not find new strength by abandoning all religious faith. He did not find it
by flinging away from God altogether. It may be that in your perplexity you feel
sorely tempted to do this. It may be that you feel that there is no hope, even in God.
But, even assuming that you are right, this is surely true: If there is no hope in him,
there is none anywhere. There is certainly nothing to steady us in the thought of a
godless world. There is a poem that I have often heard quoted with appreciation,
and I am not denying that it has a quantity of desperate courage about it, yet to my
mind it is of the very essence of despair.

"Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll;
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul."
W. E. Henley, 1849-1903
But how pathetically little his captaincy has accomplished! It has only brought
him into a night as "black as the pit from pole to pole." It has given him no larger
hope for the future than the "horror of the shade." Certainly there is nothing in the
renouncing of religious faith to steady our feet.
What then did the psalmist do? The answer to some will seem perfectly childish.
He went to church. "I went into the sanctuary of God." Oh, I know the Church of
his day was not perfect. o more is it in our day. Sometimes church services can be
very disappointing. Sometimes the preacher contributes but little, and the
congregation less. I am afraid that I have preached more than once when the
hungry sheep looked up and were not fed. I am afraid that more than once I have
darkened counsel with words (Job 38:2).
Yet it is my conviction that if one turns to God's house with a hungry heart, God
will break through a stupid sermon and past the personality of a very commonplace
preacher, to the soul that really longs to know him. Just what others got out of this
service we are not told. But the psalmist came into possession of certain gripping
convictions that steadied him and enabled him to walk in the after days with
firmness and assurance.
III
What were these convictions that he glimpsed in the house of the Lord and that
he came to hold with clearer vision and with firmer grip through all his later years?
1. He discovered that he had greatly exaggerated the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalm 73 commentary

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Psalm 73 commentary