Psalm 73: 1 – 28
Their heaven is earth
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to Israel, to such as 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 boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. 6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment. 7 Their eyes bulge with abundance; They have more than heart could wish. 8 They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression; They speak loftily. 9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth. 10 Therefore his people return here, and waters of a full cup are drained by them. 11 And they say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; They increase in riches. 13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children. 16 When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me—17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one awakes, so, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image. 21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. 22 I was so foolish and ignorant I was like a beast before You. 23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. 24 You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. 26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. 28 But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Your works.
In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 19 we read this, “16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’?” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
We do not realize how bad sin has seized us. Here we find three things that would make us perfect on earth – Youth, powerful, and rich. So, we think!
We do not stay young forever. Power only lasts for a while until someone else more powerful comes along and unseats us. Riches have a way of also speaking to us when it says, ‘goodbye’.
In today’s study verse 12 highlights these points, “Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; They increase in riches.” People desire to live their heaven while here on earth.
Stop and think about the crushing regret people will feel upon learning you were incorrect that will cause punishment for all eternity upon learning the truth.
That’s hell. It’s utterly crushing. The fire of regret/remorse is damning.
Your world/life/view turns upside down.
It’s a “comparative” moment. Meaning? There’s you. There’s god. You can feel the difference in every particle of your being… and there’s the regret.
The moment you realize that you could have accepted the pure truth of love from God that was in front of you, but there you are now with no hope.
You wasted all your time, your very being, for temporary worldly pleasures. Your version of heaven on earth.
Let us take some time now and see the truth from God’s word on this type of attitude.
A Psalm of Asaph.
Asaph was one of David’s three chief musicians, the other two being Heman and Jeduthun (Ethan). They were prophets in a secondary way (1 Chronicles 25.1-3). Along with the other two Asaph was also called ‘the seer’ (2 Chronicles 29.30). ‘The sons of Asaph’ continued throughout the generations to provide music for the Temple (2 Chronicles 20.14), and the reference to ‘of Asaph’ probably indicates that at least some were composed by ‘the sons of Asaph’, rather than by Asaph
The theme of the Psalm is of a good man who was baffled because he was undergoing such trials, at the same time as the wicked rich prospered. He did not understand how or why it could happen. Surely the opposite should have been true. But then he went into the Sanctuary of God and came to recognize that the wicked rich would finally receive their deserts. It can be divided up as follows:
. An opening conclusion and expression of confidence (73.1).
. He contrasts the prosperity and careless attitude of the unrighteous with his own sore trials and genuine response to God, and his faith consequently falters (73.2-14).
. He then brings himself up short and recognizes that by his thoughts he is betraying God’s righteous children and overlooking the deserved judgment that is coming on the unrighteous (73.15-20).
. He admits how foolish he has been and shamefacedly recognizes that God has in fact been with him all the time (73.21-24).
. He asserts his full confidence in God (73.25-26).
. His way is now certain as against the ways of the evildoers who had nearly caused him to lose faith (73.27-28).
1 Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart.
His opening words express the confidence that he feels in God. He has come to recognize that despite outward appearances, those whose hearts are pure towards God will come to fully experience His goodness. As our Lord Jesus Himself would later say, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God’ (Matthew 5.8).
The Psalmist gives testimony to the fact that he had not always had this confidence. He describes the trial of faith that he had experienced when he considered the seeming peace and prosperity of the unrighteous.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped.
He admits that he had not always had the confidence in God that he revealed in verse 1. There had been a time when he had looked at the world around him, and had seen the unrighteous flourish, and true saints trodden under, and he had become envious of those who lived as they liked and got away with it. It had almost resulted in his becoming unbelieving. His feet had almost gone from under him, bringing him down with a crash, and his steps had slithered and almost caused him to fall. He had found himself walking in ‘slippery places’. His walk had become unsteady and unsure.
In a vivid cameo picture, he describes the outward peace and prosperity of the well-to-do who lived unrighteous, and the consequences of it in their pride, violence and oppressiveness against those less fortunate than themselves, as well as against God. He finds it difficult to understand why it is so.
3 For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men.
Why had he nearly lost faith? It was because while the righteous were suffering he had seen those who were arrogant and unrighteous, becoming rich, enjoying peace and fancying themselves as superior to others. They had become boastfully arrogant. They appeared to ride over the problems of life and die peaceful deaths and remain strong through it all. Nothing restrained them (‘no bands’) in their deaths. They passed on at peace. It was as though they were given immunity from life’s troubles. Unlike other men, who constantly faced problems, their lives were trouble free, and they appeared to enjoy a charmed life as far as disease and trials were concerned.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment.
And what was the consequence of their good fortune? They were proud and thought of themselves as superior to others. They insolently wore their pride like someone shows of a necklet, not hiding it but letting all see their adornment. And as can so often happen, their pride and arrogance led on to violence, for people, especially servants and minions, meant nothing to them and were simply there to be abused. They saw themselves as having a right to treat people as they liked.
7 Their eyes bulge with abundance; They have more than heart could wish.
Moreover, their wealth and prosperity shone out from their eyes. Wherever they went men could read from their eyes their wealth and self-satisfaction. For they possessed more than the heart could wish. Everything life had to offer seemed to have been laid out for them, and you could see it in their faces. They appeared to be life’s favorites.
8 They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression; They speak loftily
Instead of it making them better people, their good fortune caused them to be scornful of others. In their self-satisfied state they revealed the truth about themselves. Because they were unrighteous within, their mouths spoke of wickedness, and of the oppression of the humble and poor, of whom they spoke with lofty contempt. They saw themselves as superior and untouchable. And it had seemed as though they were untouched.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.
They had become so uplifted in their own eyes that they thought that they could control heaven and earth by what they said. To set their mouth in the heavens may indicate that they thought that they could dictate to God, or it may be thinking of maneuvering false gods. It may also mean that they thought that they could speak down to men as though they were God. Their tongue walking through the earth suggests that they thought that they could talk people into anything.
Not only were they well-to-do, they were also admired by others, and thus also turned them away from God..
10 Therefore his people return here, and waters of a full cup are drained by them. 11 And they say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
The thought ‘His people’ are those who saw themselves as ‘God’s people’ were nevertheless led astray and returned to their old ways as exemplified in the godless wealthy. They drank to excess the activities and ways and sensual pleasures of the rich in their godless ease (Jeremiah 2.12). They followed them in all that they did. They were wholly absorbed in imitating them. And as they do so they slid deeper and deeper into sin, but they thought that it did not matter because they assured themselves that God did not know, and that He was not aware of their behavior. They shut their eyes to the certainty of God’s Omniscience. They forgot that all things are open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do (Hebrews 4.13).
The enlarging upon of ‘God’ (El) by ‘the Most High’ (Elyon) exemplifies their folly. They thought that they could even deceive God Most High.
The Psalmist had thus begun to think that he had chosen the wrong path. It is so easy when the going gets tough to look at the world around, seemingly at ease, and to ask whether following their ways might have been a better option. In other words, he was asking himself, is ‘righteousness’ worth all the trouble? Those had been the thoughts that had been going through the Psalmist’s mind.
12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; They increase in riches. 13 Surely, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence.
As he continues to gaze enviously at the unrighteous he points out that though they were unrighteous, they always appeared to be at ease and to increase in riches. Such people appeared to enjoy all the good things in life. And it made him ask himself why then he should have purified his heart, and indulged in the ways of innocence and purity, abstaining from the ways of the godless. For what had it brought him? Only trouble and chastening. It had even begun to look to him as though he had made a bad choice.
He had cleansed his heart by abstaining from all evil. He had ‘washed his hands’ by being obedient to God in all things, as far as he was able. The idea has more in mind the thought of Isaiah 1.16 where they were to ‘wash themselves’ by putting away evil and being obedient to God. In other words, by living free from sin as best as he was able, he had kept his hands clean.
14 For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning.
He asked himself, what good had his purity and innocence done him? All that had resulted from it had been trouble, and daily chastening. He had suffered under divine afflictions. All he could think of at the time was how much he had undergone, and that the world’s way seemed easier. He had lost sight of what God was accomplishing in his life through it. He had for a moment forgotten that, ‘the LORD chastens those whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights’ (Proverbs 3.12). Instead he was feeling neglected and forsaken.
Fortunately, a visit to the Sanctuary of God brought him to his senses. He suddenly realized what he was doing, and that by doing it he was being treacherous towards those who walked in the way of righteousness. Iit was still a problem to him until he went into the Sanctuary of God, and it was there that God brought home to him that the latter end of the unrighteous was in fact not pleasant at all. All that awaited them was desolation and destruction. Thus, he came to himself, berated himself for his previous sinful attitude, and acknowledged that as a consequence of being one of the righteous he enjoyed something better, the continual sense of the presence of God, and the assurance of His continual guiding hand, and that before being received into the glory of His presence.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
He stresses that he had not as yet put his thoughts into words, acknowledging that had he done so he would have been betraying a whole generation of God’s righteous children, God’s righteous ones in his own generation. He would have undermined the faith of some and made life even more difficult for the remainder.
16 When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me—17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.
His wisdom in keeping silent concerning his doubts did not prevent it being a real problem to him. Why should God’s righteous ones be the ones who suffered? He was desperately trying to understand it, but it was causing him real trouble. And then he found his solution in the place where many solutions are found, in the true sanctuary of God.
He had stopped and looked around him, and seen the outwardly pious behavior of the unrighteous with his thoughts racing concerning his intellectual problem. It was at that moment that the truth came home to him. He was made to recognize their ‘latter end’. At any time, they could be made to face destruction, and desolation, and terror (verse 18-19), and in death they would fail to be recognized by God (verse 20). They would be deserted in Hades, that shadowy world of the dead.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.
He now saw that these unrighteous, self-satisfied, godless men were themselves set in slippery places. Their lives were not as secure as they seemed. At any time, they could be undermined, either by physical disaster, disease or invasion. And because their satisfaction lay in the things of this world, they had most to lose. They would be brought to ruin.
Please notice the Psalmist’s comparison with verse 2 where he had nearly slipped. It had seemed to him that his way of life was about to collapse under the weight of his doubts. His position had been precarious, in total contrast with seeming peace and ease of the wealthy godless. But now he saw that it was their way which was precarious, for they had nothing and No One to fall back on. And life was uncertain even for them.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.
As he prayed in the Temple courts it dawned on him that far from being at ease in death, the godless rich often experienced desolation that came suddenly on them and were often consumed with terrors. It was far more difficult for them to flee to the mountains when invaders came, they had too much to lose, and the wealthy were the targets on whom the invader set their sights. Furthermore, it was the wealthy who were carried away in chains into captivity. Lesser men were left to tend the land.
We do not know how far he saw the afterlife as playing a part in their desolation, for then men did not have a formulated idea about judgment and punishment beyond the grave, we do know that they also did not believe in the complete cessation of existence. They saw their ‘shadows’ as passing on into the shadowy grave world (Ezekiel 32.14-30; Isaiah 14.15-20), leaving everything behind for the emptiness and darkness which lay ahead. The thought of this would certainly for many have caused desolation and terror at death. That this may have been in the Psalmist’s mind is suggested by his own awareness of future for himself as hinted at in verses 23-24. He is not anticipating emptiness and darkness for himself but being received into ‘glory’.
20 As a dream when one awakes, so, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image.
Just as when a man has had a dream, and then wakes up, he dismisses the images in his dream with derision, so when the Lord ‘arouses Himself’ on the death of the godless rich, he sees their remaining ‘image’ as something dreamlike, to be dismissed with derision. He has no thoughts for them in death. They have passed on and are but forgotten shadows.
Having been made aware of the desolations and terrors awaiting the godless rich he recognizes how much he has been misjudging God. Instead of thinking spiritually he has been thinking ignorantly. He realizes thankfully that his folly has not cut him off from God. He recognizes that all the time he has half unconsciously been continually with Him, and that in fact God has kept firmly hold of his right hand. God has not deserted him as he deserved. And he now knows that God will continually guide him with His wisdom and counsel, and will afterwards receive him to glory, a stark contrast to the empty darkness awaiting the unrighteous.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. 22 I was so foolish and ignorant I was like a beast before You.
He describes his own folly unmercifully. At the philosophical problem that had seemed so pressing (the thought of the godless prospering while the righteous suffered grievous trials) his soul had been grieved, his heart had been wounded. But now he recognized that that had been because his only thought was food and sleep, and who had no spiritual sense of God.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.
He recognized that during the whole time when he had thought that God had deserted him, he had been with God. God had been with him despite his folly He had learned that God does not forsake His own even when they are having grave doubts. And what was more God had not only been with him but had also continually kept hold of his right hand. He had guided him aright.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Now he was confident that, as he was no longer behaving like a beast, God would continue to lead him by his right hand, would continue to guide him with His wisdom and advice, and that He would afterwards ‘receive him to glory’ (or ‘honor’).
We might see here that while again there was no formulated view of an afterlife, he had gained the certainty that after death he would come into the presence of the glory of God, rather than into the dark, misty shadows of the grave.
The Psalmist now asserts that God Is everything to him, whether things in Heaven or things on earth. And whilst his flesh and his heart may fail he is confident that God will strengthen his heart and will be his portion forever. Thus, while those who are far from God will perish, it is his intention to draw ever nearer to God, for he has made ‘the Lord YHWH’ his refuge, so that he may proclaim all that God has done for him to others.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
The question ‘Whom have I in heaven but you’ gains added meaning if the Psalmist is thinking of one day experiencing that ‘Heaven’. Just as he desires YHWH above all who on earth while he is resident on earth, so when he is received to glory he will desire YHWH above all which is in Heaven. He wants it known, and he wants God to know, that God is now filling his horizon whether in this world or the next.
26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
He recognizes that his weak, sinful flesh, and his own mind, will and emotions (his ‘heart’) have failed him, and are failing him, and will continue to fail him. But now he has no fear for God is the rock on which his heart is founded so that it will finally stand firm, and God is all that he looks forward to. God is his portion ‘forever’, that is, into the distant future. This last also assumes that he will live on after death.
The Psalm ends with a contrast between those who are far from God and have ‘played the harlot’ (seen idols as their refuge), thus departing from Him, and those who like the Psalmist have drawn near to God and have made Him their refuge.
27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
He sums up his thoughts in the Psalm by recognizing the latter end of those who live godless lives and go after idols. Being ‘far from God’ they will perish. Because they have ‘departed from God’ and ‘played the harlot’ (partly an indication that they have rejected YHWH as their ‘husband’ and gone after idols (Hosea 1-3) and they will be destroyed. God will no longer watch over them and protect them, but will rather bring catastrophe on them, with its consequences. (They will have nothing good to proclaim).
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Your works.
In contrast is the Psalmist (and all those who truly trust in YHWH). He recognizes now that it is good for him to draw near to God, and indeed to make the Lord YHWH his refuge. For therefore he will have grounds again and again for boasting concerning what God has done for him, and ‘telling of all His works’. As he had declared at the beginning (verse 1), to the Israel which is pure in heart, God will be good.
For us, of course, this message comes with even greater power, for we have the New Testament revelation of eternal life and eternal judgment. We live our lives in the light of the things that are unseen (2 Corinthians 4.18), and recognize that the things which are seen will perish. We are thus urged not to love this present world with its desires and false aims (1 John 2.15-17), but to count all such things as unprofitable for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3.6), reaching out for the things which are unseen and eternal. We have a much clearer understanding than they had of the benefits of living for God.
Now before we end I want you to examine yourself. Are you in or out. Is this earth your heaven as you consider what you read? If you are not sure then I want, you to pray right now. Let me lead you in prayer. If you say these words with the truth of your heart in belief our Holy Lord God will accept your confession.
“Father God please forgive me my sins that I have done against you. Lord Jesus please forgive me. I know You gave Your life for me. You shed your Precious Blood and died on the cross for me. I know that You have risen again that I may have eternal life with You in Heaven, please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Help me to live the rest of my life pleasing to You, Thank You for forgiveness and for eternal life Lord Jesus. Amen!
Please know today if you prayed to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior you have the real Heaven in store for you.
