Psalm 73

Psalm Category: Wisdom poem

Central Thought: Looking at life from God’s perspective shows that the prosperity of evil people is tenuous, and the inheritance of the godly is eternal.

This psalm is the story of one person’s search for an answer to an age-old question: Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer in a world that is controlled by a good God? The author, Asaph, tells of his temptation to envy the prosperity of the wicked, and how this envy was almost fatal to his faith. In the end, however, his thoughts are reoriented toward the Lord as his envy is displaced by the peace of salvation.

This journey from envy to glory begins with Asaph looking at the world around him and noticing how the wicked prosper (vv. 3-14). Incidentally, this is the exact opposite conclusion that Job’s three companions reached as they tried to convince their suffering friend that only great sinners suffer great hardships. This illustrates how we can often be selective in what we see, and paint a picture of the world that suits our own perspective.

Asaph seemed to be guilty of tainting the evidence, but in the opposite direction of Job’s friends. Is it really true that “there are no pangs in their death”(v. 4), or that “they are not in trouble as other men” (v. 5) ? The moral incongruities of the world that cause doubt in believers and that cause hardened atheism in unbelievers are surely seen as if in a vacuum and lopsidedly assessed. In verses 4-14 we see the tunnel vision brought on by envy. The wicked do not always prosper, as Asaph thought, nor do they always suffer, as Job’s friends contended. The real problem of the “problem of evil” is, first of all, that people misinterpret the presence of evil to mean the absence or weakness of God. The whole point of this psalm is that Asaph was wrong to think this way. He misinterpreted the prosperity of the wicked, and he has not been alone. Second, the “problem of evil” is revealed to be the problem of evil people (vv. 4-14). Evil is no abstraction. It has a very human face.

In verse 15 the prodigal envier comes to himself and realizes his previous thoughts would have, if spoken, blinded God’s people and caused them to stumble. The title he uses for God’s people—“Your children”—introduces the forgotten factor of the covenant relationship, which is a wealth much greater than any of the earthly treasures of the wicked. The truth of the matter is found when Asaph seeks the Lord and sees the world in the light of God’s revelation (v. 17).

When he does this, he can finally see the prosperous wicked for what they are and understand their end: “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction” (v. 18). The psalmist’s shift in focus can be tracked by his use of pronouns. In verses 1-12 the focus is on “they.” In verses 13-17 the dominant pronoun is “I.” The focus of verses 18-22 shifts to “You.” Finally, the focus of verses 23-28 is the relationship between “You” and “I.” There is a valuable lesson here. If we focus too much on what “they” have, or what hardships “I” must endure, our minds are diverted from “You”—the Savior—and we may forget the true comfort we have in the covenant relationship between “You” and “I.”

Asaph learned the hard way that envy is beastly (v. 22). It is no blueprint for life, and it is certainly no pathway to happiness. Envy is, at base, only criticism of God’s providence. With his mind now refocused on God, Asaph now delights in the true riches of the mounting experience of salvation; he is grasped (v. 23), guided (v. 24) and glorified (vv. 24-25) by God.
This marvelous sequence of salvation finds its New Testament counterpart in Romans 8:29-39. The reality of our salvation, from its beginnings in the mind of God to its glorious conclusion at the consummation, is what gives Asaph and all believers the strength to live joyfully in Christ Jesus in the present.

The climax of this journey from envy to glory is a promise to declare the works of God (v. 28). This is how to practically respond to the great truths of this psalm: Declare the works of God, especially the work of salvation in Jesus Christ, to a world gone astray. As in Asaph’s day, there are many in our contemporary world who trust in their riches, and many more who envy those riches. Our message to such a world must be the message of this psalm—to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

—C. J. Williams