Psalms 73

Asaph, Heman, and Ethan (Jeduthun) were Levites who served as musicians and worship leaders at the sanctuary during David’s reign (1 Chron. 15:16–19; 16:4–7, 37–42; 2 Chron. 5:12–14; 29:13; 35:15). Apparently they established “guilds” for their sons and other musicians so they might carry on the worship traditions. Twelve psalms are attributed to Asaph (50, 73—83). This one deals with the age-old problem of why the righteous suffer while the ungodly seem to prosper (37; 49; Job 21; Jer. 12; Hab. 1:l3ff.). Asaph could not lead the people in divine worship if he had questions about the ways of the Lord, but he found in that worship the answer to his problems. Note five stages in his experience.

The French mystic Madame Guyon wrote, “In the commencement of the spiritual life, our hardest task is to bear with our neighbor; in its progress, with ourselves; and in the end, with God.” Asaph’s problems were with God. Asaph affirmed “God is,” so he was not an atheist or an agnostic, and he was certain that the God he worshipped was good. Furthermore, he knew that the Lord had made a covenant with Israel that promised blessings if the people obeyed Him (Lev. 26; Deut. 28—30). The phrase “a clean [pure] heart” means, not sinlessness, but total commitment to the Lord, the opposite of verse 27. (See 24:4; Matt. 5:8.) But it was these foundational beliefs he stated that created the problem for him, because unbelievers don’t face problems of this sort. If the Lord was good and kept His covenant promises, why were His people suffering and the godless prospering? This first verse marked both the beginning and the end of his meditations. He came full circle. Note that he used “surely” or “truly” in verses 1, 13, and 18, and that “heart” is used six times in the psalm (vv. 1, 7, 13, 21, 26). When pondering the mysteries of life, hold on to what you know for sure, and never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light.

The Hebrew word translated “but” in verses 2 and 28, and “nevertheless” (yet) in verse 28, indicates a sharp contrast. In verse 2, the more he measured his situation against that of the ungodly, the more he began to slip from his firm foundation. There is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Doubt comes from a struggling mind, while unbelief comes from a stubborn will that refuses surrender to God (v. 7). The unbelieving person will not believe, while the doubting person struggles to believe but cannot. “Prosperity” in verse 3 is the familiar Hebrew word shalom. It’s an act of disobedience to envy the wicked (37:1; Prov. 3:31; 23:17; 24:1, 19).

The Wrestler: Struggling with What He Sees and

From Asaph’s viewpoint, the ungodly had it made. They were healthy (vv. 4–5) and had no struggles in either life or death (Job 21:13,23). They were proud of their wealth and stations in life, and they wore that pride like jewelry. They used violence to get their wealth and wore that violence like rich garments. Like an overflowing river, their hard hearts and evil minds produced endless ideas for getting richer, and they frequently spoke words of opposition against the Lord in heaven. The words of the arrogant would “strut through the land” and take possession of whatever they wanted. But the greatest tragedy is that many of God’s people don’t seem to know any better, but follow their bad example and enjoy their friendship (v. 10)! These ungodly men are sinning, but their foolish followers are “drinking it all up.” (For drinking as a metaphor for sinning, see Job 15:16; 34:7; Prov. 4:17; 19:28; Rev. 14:8.) To encourage their hard hearts and quiet their evil consciences, the wicked affirmed that God didn’t know what they were doing (Ps. 10).

Based on the evidence he could see around him, Asaph came to the wrong conclusion that he has wasted his time and energy maintaining clean hands and a pure heart (vv. 13 and 1; and see 24:4; 26:6). If he had ever read the book of Job, then he had missed its message, for we don’t serve God because of what we get out of it but because He is worthy of our worship and service regardless of what He allows to come to our lives. Satan has a commercial view of the life of faith and encourages us to serve God for what we get out of it (Job 1—2), and Asaph almost bought into that philosophy. (See also Dan. 3:16–18.)

Before going public with his philosophy and resigning his office, Asaph paused to consider the consequences. How would the younger believers in the land respond if one of the three sanctuary worship leaders turned his back on Jehovah, the covenants, and the faith? To abandon the faith would mean undermining all that he had taught and sung at the sanctuary! The more he pondered the problem, the more his heart was pained (see vv. 21–22), So he decided to go to the sanctuary and spend time with the Lord in worship. There he would be with other people, hear the Word and the songs of praise, and be a part of the worshipping community. After all, Jehovah isn’t a problem to wrestle with but a gracious Person to love and worship—especially when you are perplexed by what he is doing. God is awesome in His sanctuary (68: niv), and when we commune with Him, we see the things of this world in their right perspective.

Asaph did get a new perspective on the problem when he considered, not the circumstances around him but the destiny before him. He realized that what he saw in the lives of the prosperous, ungodly people was not a true picture but only pretense: “you will despise them as fantasies” (v. 20 niv). In New Testament language, “the world is passing away, and the lust of it …” (1 John 2: nkjv). Although God can and does give success and wealth to dedicated believers, worldly success and prosperity belong to the transient dream world of unbelievers, a dream that one day will become a nightmare. (See Luke 12:16–21.) Asaph was humbled before the Lord and regained his spiritual balance.

The psalm opened with “Truly God is good to Israel,” but Asaph wasn’t sure what the word good really meant. (See Matt. 19:16–17.) Is the “good life” one of wealth and authority, pomp and pleasure? Surely not! The contrast is striking between Asaph’s picture of the godless life in verses 4–12 and the godly life in verses 23–28. The ungodly impress each other and attract admirers, but they don’t have God’s presence with them. The Lord upholds the righteous but casts down the wicked (v. 18). The righteous are guided by God’s truth (v. 24) but the ungodly are deluded by their own fantasies. The destiny of the true believers is glory (v. 24), but the destiny of the unbelievers is destruction (vv. 19, 27). “Those who are far from You shall perish” (). The ungodly have everything they want except God, and the godly have in God all that they want or need. He is their portion forever (see 16:2). The possessions of the ungodly are but idols that take the place of the Lord, and idolatry is harlotry (Ex. 34:15–16; 1 Chron. 5:25). Even death cannot separate God’s people from His blessing, for the spirit goes to heaven to be with the Lord, and the body waits in the earth for resurrection (vv. 25–26; 2 Cor. 5:1–8; 1 Thess. 4:13–18).

When the worship service ended and Asaph had gotten his feet firmly grounded on the faith, he left the sanctuary and told everybody what he had learned. He had drawn near to God, he had trusted God, and now he was ready to declare God’s works. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8: nkjv).