BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 73 — When the Wicked Prosper and the Righteous Stumble
A psalm of Asaph that moves from near-despair over the prosperity of the wicked, through a turning point in God's sanctuary, to renewed confidence that God is the only lasting portion.
Scripture
1A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, Even to such as are pure in heart.
2But as for me, my feet were almost gone; My steps had well nigh slipped.
3For I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4For there are no pangs in their death; But their strength is firm.
5They are not in trouble as other men; Neither are they plagued like other men.
6Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; Violence covereth them as a garment.
7Their eyes stand out with fatness: They have more than heart could wish.
8They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression: They speak loftily.
9They have set their mouth in the heavens, And their tongue walketh through the earth.
10Therefore his people return hither: And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?
12Behold, these are the wicked; And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
13Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;
14For all the day long have I been plagued, And chastened every morning.
15If I had said, I will speak thus; Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
16When I thought how I might know this, It was too painful for me;
17Until I went into the sanctuary of God, And considered their latter end.
18Surely thou settest them in slippery places: Thou castest them down to destruction.
19How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20As a dream when one awaketh, So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
21For my soul was grieved, And I was pricked in my heart:
22So brutish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee.
23Nevertheless I am continually with thee: Thou hast holden my right hand.
24Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.
25Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.
26My flesh and my heart faileth; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
27For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.
28But it is good for me to draw near unto God: I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge, That I may tell of all thy works.
What this passage means
The psalm opens with a foundational confession that God is good to the pure in heart (v. 1), then immediately admits the speaker's own near-fall: 'my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped' (v. 2). The cause is envy (v. 3) — not hatred of evil, but the seductive observation that the arrogant seem to prosper without pain, without trouble, and without the chastening that the psalmist himself receives daily (vv. 4–5, 13–14). The catalog of the wicked's arrogance (vv. 6–9) culminates in their practical atheism: 'How doth God know?' (v. 11), and the psalmist's anguish reaches the point where keeping innocence seems futile (v. 13).
The turning point is geographic and theological: 'Until I went into the sanctuary of God, And considered their latter end' (v. 17). What looked like stability is now seen as a 'slippery place' leading to destruction (v. 18). The prosperity of the wicked is reframed as a momentary dream that God will dismiss (vv. 19–20). The psalmist confesses his prior 'brutish' ignorance (v. 22) and then makes one of Scripture's clearest statements of exclusive devotion: 'Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee' (v. 25).
The resolution is twofold. First, a confession that God holds the psalmist's right hand, guides by counsel, and afterward receives to glory (vv. 23–24). Second, an eschatological contrast: those far from God will perish (v. 27), but 'it is good for me to draw near unto God' (v. 28). The Hebrew root בַּר (bar, 'pure,' v. 1) and the framing 'draw near' (qārav, implied in v. 28) show that purity of heart is not merely moral status but relational proximity to God. The psalm ends not with vindication of the righteous against the wicked, but with the worshiper choosing God as refuge in order to proclaim all His works.
Context
The chapter is labeled 'A Psalm of Asaph' (v. 1), identifying it with the Asaphite guild of temple musicians. The psalm has a clear three-part movement: complaint (vv. 2–16), turning point at God's sanctuary (vv. 17–22), and resolution in worship and testimony (vv. 23–28). The pivotal verse 17 supplies the structural hinge: the prosperity puzzle is unresolved until viewed from God's presence. Within the Psalter, the 'latter end' (ʾaḥărît) motif in verse 17 anticipates later wisdom and prophetic contrasts between present appearance and ultimate outcome.
Key words in the original
- H4210 מִזְמוֹר (mizmôr, 'psalm'): the superscription term for a poem set to musical accompaniment, marking the piece for liturgical temple use rather than private meditation.
- H1249 בַּר (bar, 'pure,' v. 1): the root means both 'pure/clean' and 'empty,' and here qualifies the heart (לֵבָב). In context it describes not sinless perfection but single-minded orientation toward God, which the rest of the psalm equates with drawing near to Him.
- H2896 טוֹב (ṭôḇ, 'good,' v. 1): used here as a noun ('does good') rather than adjective. The psalm's whole argument hinges on whether God's טוֹב is visible in present circumstances — Asaph's crisis is precisely that it did not appear to be.
Related verses
- Matthew 5:8 Echoes v. 1: 'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.' Jesus confirms that purity of heart, as Asaph describes it, leads to seeing God — the very access to God's presence that resolves the psalm's crisis in v. 17.
- Psalms 138:3 Pairs with vv. 23–24: God 'encouraged me with strength in my soul' parallels Asaph's testimony 'Thou hast holden my right hand… Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel.' Both psalms move from distress to confidence in God's upholding presence.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8 Mirrors Asaph's experience in vv. 13–14: 'pressed on every side, yet not straited' corresponds to the psalmist who is 'plagued all the day long' (v. 14) yet ultimately declares 'God is the strength of my heart' (v. 26). Daily affliction without final destruction is the shared pattern.
Common questions
Why does the psalm begin with a confession of God's goodness if the speaker is in crisis?
The opening line is the theological anchor the speaker is trying to hold onto. The psalm does not deny the crisis; it structures the poem as a movement from that confession through doubt and back to a deeper grasp of the same goodness. Verse 28 restates the confession in transformed terms — goodness is now located in drawing near to God rather than in present circumstances.
What does 'going into the sanctuary of God' (v. 17) actually change?
According to the chapter itself, it changes perspective, not the empirical facts of the wicked's situation. The same prosperity that looked stable from outside is now seen as 'slippery places' (v. 18) and a momentary dream (v. 20). The text attributes the insight to worship and presence, not to new information.
Does the psalm teach that the wicked always suffer visibly in this life?
No. Verses 4–5 explicitly describe the wicked as having no pangs and no trouble, and the complaint is precisely that they 'increase in riches' (v. 12). The resolution is eschatological — 'their latter end' (v. 17) and final destruction (vv. 18–19, 27). The psalm does not promise immediate reversal; it promises ultimate resolution.