God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

73 A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and peak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into he sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

III. Book III (Pss. 73-89)
Eleven of the 17 psalms in this section are attributed to Asaph (Pss. 73-83), one to David (Ps. 86), three to the sons of Korah (Pss. 84-85; 87), one to Heman (Ps. 88), and another to Ethan (Ps. 89). Asaph, Heman, and Ethan were Levite musicians in David’s day (1 Chron. 15:17, 19).
Psalm 73
This psalm strikes the same theme as Psalm 49, and thus may be classified as a wisdom psalm or at least may be studied for its wisdom motifs. In it “Asaph” told of the doubts which nearly overwhelmed him when he compared the life of a worldly man with his own. But then he confessed the sinfulness of his thoughts and explained that the contrast in their destinies enabled him to keep a proper perspective.
A. Prosperity of the wicked (73:1-14)
73:1-3. Asaph began this psalm by affirming that though God is good to those in Israel who trust Him and are pure in heart (cf. v. 13), he himself nearly slipped (cf. 94:18) in his confidence in the Lord. The psalmist emphasized his own situation by beginning four verses with the Hebrew expression translated But as for me (73:2, 22-23, 28). His offense was that he was envious of the prosperity of the wicked. Why should the people who oppose God be better off than those who trust Him? This problem was so overwhelming he almost lost faith in God’s goodness.
73:4-12. Asaph explained the prosperity that troubled him. He observed that the wicked do not seem to suffer trouble as other people do (vv. 4-5). They cover themselves with pride and violence (v. 6). Their evil devices are unbounded (v. 7). Their speech is scornful, malicious, and arrogant, as if they owned the earth (vv. 8-9). Many people are carried away by their evil (they turn to them, v. 10) and presumptuous self-confidence, thinking God does not know of their sin (v. 11; cf. 94:7). With no cares in the world (cf. 73:4-5, 12) wicked, arrogant people continue to prosper.
73:13-14. Asaph said he was confused over the value of his salvation. He felt that he had cleansed himself in vain (cf. pure in v. 1) because since trusting the Lord he had been plagued and chastened. Like many saints before and after him, Asaph was puzzled that God seemed to prosper the wicked and punish the righteous.
B. Destiny of the wicked and the righteous (73:15-28)
73:15-20. Asaph overcame his doubts by considering the destiny of the wicked. First, he acknowledged the impiety of his former conclusion in view of this consideration. His words are like a confession, for he knew the treachery his words could have been to the congregation (v. 15). The entire conflict was painful (oppressive) to him, till in the sanctuary he understood what will happen to the wicked. God will set them in dangerous (slippery; cf. “slipped” in v. 2) places where they will stumble and fall, be cast . . . down in ruin, and suddenly be destroyed.
When God finally sets things right, the wicked will be like fantasies (a dream), counterfeits of reality. This was the negative aspect of the solution to Asaph’s problem.
73:21-26. The positive aspect of the solution was Asaph’s conviction of his own glorious destiny. He confessed that his perspective had been dulled by brutish ignorance. If he had not been so ignorant, he admitted, his heart would not have been so bitter (vv. 21-22). (Grieved is lit., “grew sour”; embittered is lit., “felt stinging pains.”) His true position was in stark contrast with the wicked, for he knew God was always with him (v. 23) and would guide him wisely (with His counsel) and receive him into glory (v. 24). “Into glory” could also be translated “with glory,” meaning that God would guide him through his troubles so that he would enjoy honor (and not shame; cf. 4:2) in this life. Since “glory” for individuals in the Old Testament seldom meant heavenly glory the psalmist was probably looking for deliverance in his lifetime. This would demonstrate that he was in God’s favor. Of course believers today know from the New Testament that God’s punishment of the wicked and blessing of the righteous extend beyond death.
In addition, Asaph affirmed that God was his only possession in heaven or on the earth. Though Asaph was overwhelmed, God was his Strength (cf. 18:1) and His Portion (cf. 16:5; 119:57; 142:5). Some wicked people prosper materially but only the spiritual “possessions” of the righteous will last.
73:27-28. Asaph concluded that those who are far from God and are unfaithful will be destroyed, but that those who are near God find joy and safety. Though he had nearly slipped in his confidence in God (cf. v. 2) he now was reassured that God was keeping him secure. God was his Refuge (maḥseh, “shelter from danger”; cf. 14:6; 46:1; 61:3; 62:7-8; 71:7; 91:2, 9). Nearness to God always helps believers maintain a balanced perspective on material things and on the wicked.

cf. confer, compare
v. verse
vv. verses
lit. literal, literally