Bible Commentary

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 73:1 A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. Psalm 73:1-28 THE perennial problem of reconciling God’s moral government with observed facts is grappled with in this psalm, as in Psalm 37:1-40 ; Psalm 49:1-20 . It tells how the prosperity of the godless, in apparent flat contradiction of Divine promises, had all but swept the psalmist from his faith, and how he was led, through doubt and struggle, to closer communion with God, in which he learned, not only the evanescence of the external well-being which had so perplexed him, but the eternity of the true blessedness belonging to the godly. His solution of the problem is in part that of the two psalms just mentioned, but it surpasses them in its clear recognition that the portion of the righteous, which makes their lot supremely blessed, is no mere earthly prosperity, but God Himself, and in its pointing to "glory" which comes afterwards, as one element in the solution of the problem. The psalm falls into two divisions, in the first of which ( Psalm 73:1-14 ) the psalmist tells of his doubts, and, in the second ( Psalm 73:15-28 ), of his victory over them. The body of the psalm is divided into groups of four verses, and it has an introduction and conclusion of two verses each. The introduction ( Psalm 73:1-2 ) asserts, with an accent of assurance, the conviction which the psalmist had all but lost, and therefore had the more truly won. The initial word "Surely" is an indication of his past struggle, when the truth that God was good to Israel had seemed so questionable. "This I have learned by doubts; this I now hold as most sure; this I proclaim, impugn it who list, and seem to contradict it what may." The decisiveness of the psalmist’s conviction does not lead him to exaggeration. He does not commit himself to the thesis that outward prosperity attends Israel. That God is good to those who truly bear that name is certain; but how He shows His goodness, and who these are, the psalmist has, by his struggles, learned to conceive of in a more spiritual fashion than before. That goodness may be plainly seen in sorrows, and it is only sealed to those who are what the name of Israel imports-"pure in heart." That such are blessed in possessing God, and that neither are any other blessed, nor is there any other blessedness, are the lessons which the singer has brought with him from the darkness, and by which the ancient faith of the wellbeing of the righteous is set on surer foundations than before. The avowal of conquered doubts follows on this clear note of certitude. There is a tinge of shame in the emphatic "I" of Psalm 73:2 , and in the broken construction and the change of subject to "my feet" and "my steps." The psalmist looks back to that dreary time, and sees more clearly than he did, while he was caught in the toils of perplexity and doubt, how narrow had been his escape from casting away his confidence. He shudders as he remembers it; but he can do so now from the vantage ground of tried and regained faith. How eloquently the order of thought in these two verses speaks of the complete triumph over doubt! In the first quatrain of verses, the prosperity of the godless, which had been the psalmist’s stumbling block, is described. Two things are specified-physical health, and exemption from calamity. The former is the theme of Psalm 73:4 . Its first clause is doubtful. The word rendered "bands" only occurs here and in Isaiah 58:6 . It literally means bands, but may pass into the figurative signification of pains, and is sometimes by some taken in that meaning here, and the whole clause as asserting that the wicked have painless and peaceful deaths. But such a declaration is impossible in the face of Psalm 73:18-19 , which assert the very opposite, and would be out of place at this point of the psalm, which is here occupied with the lives, not the deaths, of the ungodly. Hupfeld translates "They are without pains even until their deaths"; but that rendering puts an unusual sense on the preposition "to," which is not "till." A very plausible conjecture alters the division of words, splitting the one which means "to their death" ( l’motham ) into two ( lamo tam ), of which the former is attached to the preceding words ("there are no pains to them" =" they have no pains"), and the latter to the following clause ("sound and well nourished is," etc .). This suggestion is adopted by Ewald and most modern commentators, and has much in its favour. If the existing text is retained, the rendering above seems best. It describes the prosperous worldling as free from troubles or diseases, which would be like chains on a captive, by which he is dragged to execution. It thus gives a parallel to the next clause, which describes their bodies (lit., belly) as stalwart. Psalm 73:5 carries on the description, and paints the wicked’s exemption from trouble. The first clause is literally, "In the trouble of man they are not." The word for man here is that which connotes frailty and mortality, while in the next clause it is the generic term "Adam." Thus the prosperous worldlings appeared to the psalmist in his times of scepticism, as possessing charmed lives, which were free from all the ills that came from frailty and mortality, and, as like superior beings, lifted above the universal lot. But what did their exemption do for them? Its effects might have taught the doubter that the prosperity at which his faith staggered was no blessing, for it only inflated its recipients with pride, and urged them on to high-handed acts. Very graphically does Psalm 73:6 paint them as having the former for their necklace, and the latter for their robe. A proud man carries a stiff neck and a high head. Hence the picture in Psalm 73:6 of "pride" as wreathed about their necks as a chain or necklace. High-handed violence is their garment, according to the familiar metaphor by which a man’s characteristics are likened to his dress, the garb of his soul. The double meaning of "habit," and the connection between "custom" and "costume," suggests the same figure. As the clothing wraps the body and is visible to the world, so insolent violence, masterfulness enforced by material weapons and contemptuous of others’ rights, characterised these men, who had never learned gentleness in the school of suffering. Tricked out with a necklace of pride and a robe of violence, they strutted among men, and thought themselves far above the herd, and secure from the touch of trouble. The next group of verses ( Psalm 73:7-10 ) "further describes the unfeeling insolence begotten of unbroken prosperity, and the crowd of hangers on, admirers, and imitators attendant on the successful wicked. "Out of fat their eye flashes" gives a graphic picture of the fierce glare of insolent eyes, set in well-fed faces. But graphic as it is, it scarcely fits the context so well as does a proposed amended reading, which by a very small change in the word rendered "their eye" yields the meaning "their iniquity" and takes "fat" as equivalent to a fat, that is, an obstinate, self-confident, or unfeeling heart. "From an unfeeling heart their iniquity comes forth" makes a perfect parallel with the second clause of the verse rightly rendered. "the imaginations of their heart overflow"; and both clauses paint the arrogant tempers and bearing of the worldlings. Psalm 73:8 deals with the manifestation of these in speech. Well-to-do wickedness delights in making suffering goodness a butt for its coarse jeers. It does not need much wit to do that. Clumsy jests are easy, and poverty is fair game for vulgar wealth’s ridicule. But there is a dash of ferocity in such laughter, and such jests pass quickly into earnest, and wicked oppression. "As from on high they speak,"-fancying themselves set on a pedestal above the common masses. The LXX, followed by many moderns, attaches "oppression" to the second clause, which makes the verse more symmetrical; but the existing division of clauses yields an appropriate sense. The description of arrogant speech is carried on in Psalm 73:9 , which has been variously understood, as referring in a to blasphemy against God ("they set against the heavens their mouth"), and in b to slander against men; or, as in a, continuing the thought of Psalm 73:8 b, and designating their words as spoken as if from heaven itself, and in b ascribing to their words sovereign power among men. But it is better to regard "heaven" and "earth" as the ordinary designation of the whole visible frame of things, and to take the verse as describing the self-sufficiency which gives its opinions and lays down the law about everything, and on the other hand, the currency and influence which are accorded by the popular voice to the dicta of prosperous worldlings. That thought prepares the way for the enigmatic verse which follows. There are several obscure points in it. First, the verb in the Hebrew text means turns (transitive), which the Hebrew margin corrects into returns (intransitive). With the former reading, "his people" is the object of the verb, and the implied subject is the prosperous wicked man, the change to the singular "he" from the plural "they" of the preceding clauses being not unusual in Hebrew. With the latter reading, "his people" is the subject. The next question is to whom the "people" are conceived as belonging. It is, at first sight, natural to think of the frequent Scripture expression, and to take the "his" as referring to God, and the phrase to mean the true Israel. But the meaning seems rather to be the mob of parasites and hangers on, who servilely follow the successful sinner, in hope of some crumbs from his table. "Thither" means "to himself," and the whole describes how such a one as the man whose portrait has just been drawn is sure to attract a retinue of dependants, who say as he says, and would fain be what he is. The last clause describes the share of these parasites in their patron’s prosperity. "Waters of abundance"- i.e ., abundant waters-may be an emblem of the pernicious principles of the wicked, which their followers swallow greedily; but it is more probably a figure for fulness of material good, which rewards the humiliation of servile adherents to the prosperous worldling. The next group ( Psalm 73:11-14 ) begins with an utterance of unbelief or doubt, but it is difficult to reach certainty as to the speakers. It is very natural to refer the "they" to the last-mentioned persons-namely, the people who have been led to attach themselves to the prosperous sinners, and who, by the example of these, are led to question the reality of God’s acquaintance with and moral government of human affairs. The question is, as often, in reality a denial. But "they" may have a more general sense, equivalent to our own colloquial use of it for an indefinite multitude. "They say"-that is, "the common opinion and rumour is." So here, the meaning may be, that the sight of such flushed and flourishing wickedness diffuses widespread and deep-going doubts of God’s knowledge, and makes many infidels. Ewald, Delitzsch, and others take all the verses of this group as spoken by the followers of the ungodly; and, unquestionably, that view avoids the difficulty of allotting the parts to different unnamed interlocutors. But it raises difficulties of another kind-as, for instance, those of supposing that these adulators should roundly call their patrons wicked, and that an apostate should profess that he has cleansed his heart. The same objections do not hold against the view that these four verses are the utterance, not of the wicked rich man or his coterie of admirers, but of the wider number whose faith has been shaken. There is nothing in the verses which would be unnatural on such lips. Psalm 73:11 would then be a question anxiously raised by faith that was beginning to reel; Psalm 73:12 would be a statement of the anomalous fact which staggered it; and Psalm 73:13-14 the complaint of the afflicted godly. The psalmist’s repudiation of a share in such incipient scepticism would begin with Psalm 73:15 . There is much in favour of this view of the speakers, but against it is the psalmist’s acknowledgment, in Psalm 73:2 , that his own confidence in God’s moral government had been shaken, of which there is no further trace in the psalm, unless Psalm 73:13-14 , express the conclusion which he had been tempted to draw, and which. as he proceeds to say, he had fought down. If these two verses are ascribed to him, Psalm 73:12 is best regarded as a summary of the whole preceding part, and only Psalm 73:11 as the utterance either of the prosperous sinner and his adherents (in which case it is a question which means denial), or as that of troubled faith (in which case it is a question that would fain be an affirmation, but has been forced unwillingly to regard the very pillars of the universe as trembling). Psalm 73:15-18 tell how the psalmist strove with and finally conquered his doubts, and saw enough of the great arc of the Divine dealings, to be sure that the anomaly, which had exercised his faith, was capable of complete reconciliation with the righteousness of Providence. It is instructive to note that he silenced his doubts, out of regard to "the generation of Thy children"-that is, to the true Israel, the pure in heart. He was tempted to speak as others did not fear to speak, impugning God’s justice and proclaiming the uselessness of purity; but he locked his lips, lest his words should prove him untrue to the consideration which he owed to meek and simple hearts, who knew nothing of the speculative difficulties torturing him. He does not say that his speaking would have been sin against God. It would not have been so, if, in speaking, he had longed for confirmation of his wavering faith. But whatever the motive of his words, they might have shaken some lowly believers. Therefore be resolved on silence. Like all wise and devout men, he swallowed his own smoke, and let the process of doubting go on to its end of certainty, one way or another, before he spoke. This psalm, in which he tells how he overcame them, is his first acknowledgment that he had had these temptations to cast away his confidence. Fermentation should be done in the dark. When the process is finished, and the product is clear, it is fit to be produced and drank. Certitudes are meant to be uttered; doubts are meant to be struggled with. The psalmist has set an example which many men need to ponder today. It is easy, and it is also cruel, to raise questions which the proposer is not ready to answer. Silent brooding over his problem did not bring light, as Psalm 73:16 tells us. The more he thought over it, the more insoluble did it seem to him. There are chambers which the key of thinking will not open. Unwelcome as the lesson is, we have to learn that every lock will not yield to even prolonged and strenuous investigation. The lamp of the Understanding throws its beams far, but there are depths of darkness too deep and dark for them; and they are wisest who know its limits and do not try to use it in regions where it is useless. But faith finds a path where speculation discerns none. The psalmist "went into the sanctuary (literally sanctuaries) of God," and there light streamed in on him, in which he saw light. Not mere entrance into the place of worship, but closer approach to the God who dwelt there, cleared away the mists. Communion with God solves many problems which thinking leaves unresolved. The eye which has gazed on God is purged for much vision besides. The disproportion between the deserts and fortunes of good and bad men assumes an altogether different aspect when contemplated in the light of present communion with Him, which brings a blessedness that makes earthly prosperity seem dross, and earthly burdens seem feathers. Such communion, in its seclusion from worldly agitations, enables a man to take calmer, saner views of life, and in its enduring blessedness reveals more clearly the transiency of the creatural good which deceives men with the figment of its permanence. The lesson which the psalmist learned in the solemn stillness of the sanctuary was the end of ungodly prosperity. That changes the aspect of the envied position of the prosperous sinner, for his very prosperity is seen to contribute to his downfall, as well as to make that downfall more tragic by contrast. His sure footing, exempt as he seemed from the troubles and ills that flesh is heir to, was really on a treacherous slope, like smooth sheets of rock on a mountainside. To stand on them is to slide down to hideous ruin. The theme of the end of the prosperous sinners is continued in the next group ( Psalm 73:19-22 ). In Psalm 73:19 the psalmist seems as if standing an amazed spectator of the crash, which tumbles into chaos the solid-seeming fabric of their insolent prosperity. An exclamation breaks from his lips as he looks. And then destruction is foretold for all such, under the solemn and magnificent image of Psalm 73:20 . God has seemed to sleep, letting evil run its course; but He "rouses Himself"-that is, comes forth in judicial acts-and as a dreamer remembers his dream, which seemed so real, and smiles at its imaginary terrors or joys, so He will "despise" them, as no more solid nor lasting than phantasms of the night. The end contemplated by the psalmist is not necessarily death, but any sudden overthrow, of which there are many in the experience of the godless. Life is full of such awakings of God, both in regard to individuals and nations, which, if a man duly regards, he will find the problem of the psalm less insoluble than at first it appears. But if there are lives which, being without goodness, are also without chastisement, Death comes at last to such as God’s awaking, and a very awful dissipating of earthly prosperity into a shadowy nothing. The psalmist has no revelation here of future retribution. His vindication of God’s justice is not based on that, but simply on the transiency of worldly prosperity, and on its dangerous character. It is "a slippery place," and it is sure to come to an end. It is obvious that there are many other considerations which have to be taken into account, in order to a complete solution of the problem of the psalm. But the psalmist’s solution goes far to lighten the painful perplexity of it; and if we add his succeeding thoughts as to the elements of true blessedness, we have solution enough for peaceful acquiescence, if not for entire understanding. The psalmist’s way of finding an answer is even more valuable than the answer which he found. They who dwell in the secret place of the Most High can look on the riddle of this painful world with equanimity, and be content to leave it half unsolved. Psalm 73:21-22 are generally taken as one sentence, and translated as by Delitzsch "if my heart should grow bitter I should be brutish" etc ; or as by Hupfeld, "When my heart grew bitter then I was as a beast," etc .; but they are better regarded as the psalmist’s penitent explanation of his struggle. "Unbelieving thoughts had fermented in his mind, and a pang of passionate discontent had pierced his inmost being. But the higher self blames the lower self for such folly" (Cheyne, in loc .). His recognition that his doubts had their source, not in defect in God’s providence, but in his own ignorance and hasty irritation, which took offence without cause, prepares him for the sweet, clear note of purely spiritual aspiration and fruition which follows in the next strophe. He had all but lost his hold of God; but though his feet had almost gone astray, his hand had been grasped by God, and that strong hold had kept him from utterly falling. The pledge of continual communion with God is not our own vacillating, wayward hearts, but God’s gentle, strong clasp, which will not let us go. Thus conscious of constant fellowship, and feeling thrillingly God’s touch in his inmost spirit, the psalmist rises to a height of joyous assurance, far above doubts and perplexities caused by the unequal distribution of earth’s trivial good. For him, all life will be illumined by God’s counsel, which will guide him as a shepherd leads his sheep, and which he will obey as a sheep follows his shepherd. How small the delights of the prosperous men seem now! And can there be an end to that sweet alliance, such as smites earthly good? There are blessings which bear in themselves assurance of their own undyingness; and this psalmist, who had nothing to say of the future retribution falling on the sinner whose delights were confined to earth, feels that death cannot put a period to a union so blessed and spiritual as was his with God. To him, "afterwards" was irradiated with light from present blessedness; and a solemnly joyful conviction springs in his soul, which he casts into words that glance at the story of Enoch’s translation, from which "take" is quoted. {cf. Psalm 49:16 } Whether we translate "with glory" or "to glory," there can be no question that the psalmist is looking beyond life on earth to dwelling with God in glory. We have in this utterance, the expression of the conviction, inseparable from any true, deep communion with God, that such communion can never be at the mercy of Death. The real proof of a life beyond the grave is the resurrection of Jesus; and the pledge of it is present enjoyment of fellowship with God. Such thoughts lift the psalmist to a height from which earth’s troubles show small, and as they diminish, the perplexity arising from their distribution diminishes in proportion. They fade away altogether, when he feels how rich he is in possessing God. Surely the very summit of devotional rapture is reached in the immortal words which follow! Heaven without God were a waste to this man. With God, he needs not nor desires anything on earth. If the impossible should be actual, and heart as well as flesh should fail, his naked self would be clothed and rich, steadfast and secure, as long as he had God; and he is so closely knit to God, that he knows that he will not lose Him though he dies, but have Him for his very own forever. What care need he have how earth’s vain goods come and go? Whatever outward calamities or poverty may be his lot, there is no riddle in that Divine government which thus enriches the devout heart; and the richest ungodly man is poor, because he shuts himself out from the one all-sufficient and enduring wealth. A final pair of verses, answering to the introductory pair, gathers up the double truth, which the psalmist has learned to grasp more firmly by occasion of his doubts. To be absent from God is to perish. Distance from Him is separation from life. Drawing near to Him is the only good; and the psalmist has deliberately chosen it as his good, let worldly prosperity come or go as it list, or, rather, as God shall choose. By the effort of his own volition he has made God his refuge, and, safe in Him, he can bear the sorrows of the godly, and look unenvying on the fleeting prosperity of sinners, while, with insight drawn from communion, he can recount with faith and praise all God’s works, and find in none of them a stumbling block, nor fail to find in any of them material for a song of thankfulness. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. Psalm 73 The trouble of Asaph E. Bersier. In human biographies men are wont to cover up their heroes' imperfections. They see no reason why they should be recalled, but many why they should not. And in religious biographies what evident exaggeration there often is. But this can never be said of the lives of the men told of in the Bible. They are evidently men like ourselves. They have known our misery, passed through our struggles, and often, like us, have had to bow their heads in repentance. By this single trait I recognize the book of God. Nothing but the guidance of the Spirit of truth could have held back these writers from glorifying their national heroes. Now, this psalm tells of one who undoubtedly was a believe, but nevertheless passed through doubt and knew all its bitterness. See — I. WHAT MADE ASAPH DOUBT. It was the sorrow Of those who feared God combined with the prosperity of the wicked. The spectacle of this world is a great school for unbelief, and makes more unbelievers than all the books of atheists. Instinctively we believe in the God of holiness and love; but when we look out into the world we cannot find Him. Fatality is what we see. In nature, for it cares neither for our prayers nor our tears. In history, for if now and then there seems to be a providential law therein, more often there is no trace of anything of the kind See the fate of those vast empires which for ever have passed away. In life: was not the old prophet deceived when he said he had never seen the righteous forsaken? How often our prayers are not heard. Fatalism is what the world teaches every hour. Antiquity was fatalistic, and so are our chief thinkers of to-day. What problems are brought before us by the sorrows that befall the godly. Poverty, sickness, injustice — this most unendurable of all. II. WHAT SAVED HIM FROM HIS DOUBT. 1. He believed in God, the God of his race and people. He came — and it is a blessed thing to come — of a holy race. 2. But he could not explain these problems. Human reason cannot. There are the mysteries, insoluble, of affliction; yet more of sin; and of the future life. Science has no answer for them. 3. But Asaph went into the sanctuary of God, and then he understood the end, the purpose of God in all this which the future alone, and not the short-lived present, can unfold. Now, Asaph saw God's purpose in regard to the wicked, and his tone changed from bitterness to pity, as he thought of the "slippery places" in which they stood, and of the "destruction" which was their end. How all changes to our eyes when we consider things from God's point of view. And he saw God's purpose in regard to those who wait on Him and fear Him. Even now consolation, sweetness, peace are theirs. The meanest calling is invested with grandeur when God is served in it. Without doubt the struggles of God's people have been terrible. But consider their end — "Nevertheless I am continually with thee." Asaph has come out of the sanctuary, and his face is beaming; his tears are effaced. His look is brightened by a divine hope, and it is a song of thanks which comes from his lips. And so shall it be with all them whose trust is in Asaph's God. ( E. Bersier. ) The Asaph psalms A. Alexander. Here in the beginning of the third book of the Psalter we have eleven psalms which are grouped together as being Asaph's psalms. Those psalms have very much of a common character and a common style; they are the production of some oriental Bacon, of some Tacitus of grace. They are obscure if you will, they are oracular, they are sententious, they are occasionally, it must be admitted, sublime. And, first of all, Asaph's was no affected scepticism; Asaph was a real doubter. In a certain sense he may be looked upon as the St. Thomas of the Old Testament, but the doubt of St. Thomas, as we all know, was about a fact and about a dogma which underlay that fact — the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead — the doubt of Asaph was about the moral truth of the government of God, for the cause of his doubt about the goodness of God was the inequality of human society, the fatal injustice as it appears to some in the distribution of the good things of this life. It was the base and mean character of many of those who are the most tremendous winners in what seems to be the ignoble lottery sometimes of a successful life. These men did not repeatedly hear the summons of the grim sergeant, Death; they were not repeatedly dragged by chains; "there are no bands in their death;" that oppressive burden that lies on the rest of our suffering humanity — they seem for a time clean outside of it; they are not in trouble as other men. And then there comes the deterioration of character, the encompassing pride, being robed with violence; the fulfilment of the words of that fierce satire, "Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than their hearts can wish." There are hearts and hearts, and they have all, more than all, that hearts like theirs can wish for. Now, the means of removing Asaph's doubt we find to have been these four. 1. In the first place, there was his own spiritual life. If these haunting doubts about the goodness and the justice of God were real, if there was no good God in the heaven above, then his whole spiritual life was worthless. Well might he say in the thirteenth verse, if it were so, "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency." 2. And the second means of the removal of this doubt was the spiritual life of the children of God — "If I say I will speak thus, behold I should offend against the generation of Thy children" — he would be doing wrong to them, he would be breaking faith with the saints of God, who had lived this life upon earth and who had passed into the home beyond with this full faith. 3. Then a third means of removing this doubt we find in the closing part of the psalm (vers. 23-28). The spiritual life is also an eternal life, an eternal life in God and with God. Now, this psalm might almost be marked as the great psalm of the Hebrew "Summum Bonum, The Highest Good." We are told by St. that the ancient classical philosophy had worked out no less than two hundred and eighty-eight different views or solutions of the "Summum Bonum," the highest good of man. It was, we have been told on great authority, a sort of scholastic theology of the Pagans, but here is Asaph's view of the "Summum Bonum," hero is the view of all the saints of God. How nobly the psalm begins! The prophet had long been encompassed about with the shadows of darkness and doubt. At last he looks upward and he says, "And yet, after all, God is good to Israel, even to those who are of a clean heart"; and as the psalm begins so it ends: "It is good for me to draw nigh unto God." Take this in, take in the eternal life with God in the home above, take in that and no doubt will arise about the distribution of God's good things, and we shall say with the psalmist: "So foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a beast before Thee." 4. And then the fourth means was this — it was a revelation in the sanctuary: "When I thought upon this, it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God." All of us who love the Psalter have critical friends who tell us not to be too mystical in our views, not to think of Christ or Heaven in the psalms; but when they comment upon this verse they begin to turn mystical and say, "Think of some inward sanctuary in your mind, think of some place where you may be alone with God"; to which I only reply, "My literal friend, you must be literal here at all events." The word unquestionably means the outward sanctuary of God, the visible sanctuary built up upon Mount Zion, the place upon which men walked with human feet, and listened with human ears. This was where Asaph learned to find the solution of his difficulty. ( A. Alexander. ) A perplexing problem, and satisfactory solution G. Woodcock. I. A PERPLEXING PROBLEM. We live under the government of God, and His government extends to all persons, and all interests in every life. This is a fundamental fact. From what we know of the character of God as good and just, and seeing that He has power to carry out all His decisions, we might expect that in every instance virtue would be rewarded and vies would be punished. But, in observing the circumstances of men, this expectation is falsified. For a time, at least, some of the wicked prosper, and some of the righteous do not prosper, until bad men say, and good men are tempted to say in their depression and doubt, surely the sympathy of the Divine Ruler must be on the side of vies, the reins of government must have fallen out of His hands, and what ought to be an orderly creation is simply a chaos. Why is the life of many a good man embittered by the wickedness of his son, whilst the ungodly father in some instances is surrounded by the best children? Why is the breadwinner taken away when the family seem to need most the strength of his arm, the intelligence of his mind, and the influence of his example? Why is it that some of the beautiful and noble, full of intellectual and Christian promise, are out off in youth, whilst not a few of the stained and mean are allowed to drag their ignominy through a long, stained and dishonoured life? Why is it that sunshine and sorrow seem in so many eases to follow no rule of effort or desert? Ah! those are some of the dark riddles, the strange perplexities, of which many a life is full. Here we are confronted with a business problem. Now, nothing is more clear than that in worldly affairs the battle is not always to the strong. Whatever we may say in our conceit, worldly success does not always reflect commercial genius. It is surprising indeed with how little brains some business men succeed. They ought to succeed in business, for they exhaust themselves in the one supreme and strenuous effort of money-making, and have no time or taste for anything else. Some of the most shallow and superficial men I have met are men of this mould. Beecher said of such: "They resemble a pyramid, which is broad where it touches the ground, but grows narrower as it reaches the sky." In saying this I do not wish it to be understood that the righteous man is less fit and likely to succeed in temporal affairs than the unrighteous. No, religion helps a man to get on in the world. Other things being equal in the man, that man who is honest, industrious and persevering is more likely to succeed than his neighbour, who may have the same natural ability, but no Christian principle. Undoubtedly religion quickens and expands the whole man, and fertilizes the wide area of life. A man who is formed, reformed, and informed by religion will do far more effectual work than the same man without religion. Another fact must also be borne in mind. Some good men, whom we like to hear sing and pray in the "sanctuary," are not strong and smart at the "receipt of customs." Business is not their forte. They are estimable men in their home and Church relations, but they lack the keenness, suspicion, alertness, push, and enterprise so greatly necessary in these days of keen competition and quick movement. One can easily see why some easy, confiding, unsuspicious men who do not adapt themselves to certain changed conditions in business do not succeed. The wonder would be if they did. But baying said this, we all know worthy men who comply with the conditions Of worldly success, and are even then disadvantaged, kept down and back by the greedy, avaricious worldlings, with whom they do not and cannot compete in certain questionable and wicked practices. Some are too delicately fibred, too considerate of justice, generosity, handsome behaviour, too Scripturally conscientious to chord in practice with those who do not scruple at lying advertisements, fictitious capital, adulterated articles. And so they secretly and silently suffer in mind and state. They are beaten and baffled, not simply by the greedy and gigantic monopolies, which appear to be the order of the day, but by the positive wrong-doing of the unscrupulous, who will have gain by means fair or foul. And so it is in my pastoral round, I have seen the good man — a struggling tradesman "fretting" because of evil-doers, "envious" against the "workers of iniquity." 1. It tries his trust. It is easy to trust God when the "cup runneth over." But it is very hard for a man with an ill-stocked larder, and an ill-furnished wardrobe, to lean his whole weight upon God. 2. It proves his zeal. "Money is a defence." The rich man is protected by earthworks against much that beats pitilessly and cruelly upon the poor man. 3. It tests his humility. To retrench the pleasant superfluities of life, to abridge his sphere of usefulness, to curtail his gifts, to live in a smaller house, to miss his name from the subscription list, to rank among the unfortunates and be quiet — all this goes against the grain of a spirited, mettled man, who, although poor, is still a man of desire and ambition. 4. It taxes patience. Baffled and utterly bewildered, there are sad moments when the tempted Christian says he cannot understand the Divine dealings with him. II. A SATISFACTORY SOLUTION. For a moment Asaph's conscience wavered, for a time giddiness seized him. How is it he did not fall into the abyss? Asaph believed in God. He could not after all believe in chance. That was the saving thought. Like a ship swinging at anchor, he swayed about by the ebb and the flow of the tide, but he did not drift from his moorings. What was it that wrought the vast change in the psalmist? It was going into the house of God. This is the Divinely-appointed place where God graciously answers those who are perplexed and pained, and who kneel, saying, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." The judicial faculty to weigh things, to take a calm survey of the entire situation, needs stillness and retreat. It is here, in the sanctuary, we see the relationship of this brief and broken life on earth to the wide, boundless kingdom of the eternal. Wait calmly until the clouds roll by. Said Dr. Dixon, "It is in the nature of a cloud to pass away." Possess your soul in patience, and, amid the sweet silences and kindling visions of the sanctuary, you shall change your murmur to a psalm. Revelation reconciles, if it does not explain, by telling us that there is a magnificent future, veiled, but certain, for which present inequalities and seeming injustices are the necessary, the suitable, the merciful preparation. You are now moving in the twilight, but it is the morning twilight, to be followed by the glory of eternity, when all these tangled things shall be smoothed out, and the vexed things of earth made plain in the light of heaven. ( G. Woodcock. ) The goodness of God to Israel Evangelical Preacher. I. THE DESCRIPTION GIVEN OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD. 1. Their name. 2. Their character. II. THE CONSIDERATIONS BY WHICH THEIR INTEREST IN THE DIVINE LOVE MAY BE PROVED. 1. By His Son He has saved them from hell. 2. By His Spirit He purifies them from sin. 3. By His providence He guides and guards them on earth. 4. At their death He receives them to heaven.Lessons: 1. If the goodness of God to the true Israel be thus great, how great should be their confidence in Him, and the love with which they love Him in return! 2. Let the sinner so come and share with the Israel of God in the blessing described in the text. ( Evangelical Preacher. ) Bad men in good circumstances, and a good man in a bad temper Homilist. I. BAD MEN IN GOOD CIRCUMSTANCES. The bad men are described as the "foolish and the wicked." Folly and wickedness are convertible terms. Sin is folly. Man sinning is man violating all the laws of reason, all the principles of true policy. Such are the bad characters before us, and they are found in good circumstances, they are in great prosperity. The material heavens shine on them, the earth yields up her fruit to gratify their every taste and to supply their every want. Providence pours into their lap those gifts which it denied the Son of God Himself. II. A GOOD MAN IN A BAD TEMPER. Asaph, the supposed writer of this psalm, acknowledges that he was "envious" of these bad men who were living in good circumstances. 1. He was in an envious temper.(1) Now, envy is ever a bad thing. It is ever the attribute of selfishness, and selfishness is the root of wrong.(2) Nor could envy well appear in a more unreasonable aspect. He was "envious at the wicked." This is truly irrational. Poor godless wretches, what have they of which the good should be envious? 2. He was in a murmuring temper (ver. 18).(1) A right act. Cleansing the heart and washing the hands means the cultivation of personal holiness; and this is certainly a right work for man. It implies — (1) The consciousness of personal defilement. (2) The possession of a cleansing element. (3) The effort of personal application. Moral evil is the defilement; Christianity is the cleansing element; and practical faith is the personal application. 3. A wrong opinion. The writer thought that it was "in vain." Three facts show that this is a great mistake: (1) That moral holiness involves its own reward. (2) That moral holiness is promoted by temporal adversity. (3) That moral holiness will meet with its perfect recompense hereafter.No; this cleansing the heart is no vain work. No engagement is so real and profitable. Every fresh practical idea of God is a rising in the scale of being and of bliss; every conquest over sense, appetite, and sin, is a widening and strengthening of our spiritual sovereignty; every devout sentiment, earnest resolve, and generous sacrifice attunes our hearts to higher music. ( Homilist. ) But am for me, my feet were almost gone: my steps had well nigh slipped . Psalm 73:2 Spiritual crises Homiletic Quarterly. The problems of human life and destiny pressed sore upon the mind of the good and thoughtful Asaph, the writer of this psalm. The story of his struggle and victory is here recorded. I. THE PERILOUS CRISIS IN A GOOD MAN'S LIFE. "My feet were," etc. The sword is dropping from his nerveless hand, the shield from his grasp. His strength is ebbing fast. Now — 1. Such crises may arise from circumstances over which we have no control: and — 2. In the holiest lives. II. THE ANTECEDENT HISTORY OF THIS CRISIS IS DISCLOSED (vers. 3, 4, 13, etc.). 1. Asaph had come to doubt of the Divine Sovereignty. "How doth God know?" If God were Sovereign, how could He let such wickedness be? He forgot the future retribution. 2. And the Divine Fatherhood. 3. And had endeavoured to extricate himself by the aid of human reason alone (ver. 16). 4. This crisis was not an innocent one. Its root was unbelief. III. THE METHOD OF DELIVERANCE IS REVEALED. "Until I went into the sanctuary" (ver. 17). On which note — 1. The sanctuary is the best place for trembling faith. Because (1) There are special promises attached to its services ( 1 Kings 9:8 ; 2 Chronicles 7:15, 16 ). (2) There we enter the domain of faith. (3) And are brought face to face with eternal realities. The future life comes into view. 2. The sanctuary is not necessarily any material edifice. Probably in this case it was. But every spot hallowed by heavenly intercourse is a sanctuary. Jacob's stony temple; Peter's housetop, etc. And even within the sanctuary it is the attitude of the mind, not the position of the body, which brings relief. IV. A RECIPE OF PREVENTION IS RECORDED. We have — 1. A confession of folly (ver. 22). 2. An expression of confidence (ver. 23). 3. An affirmation of trust (ver. 24). 4. A testimony of gratitude (vers. 28, 25). Therefore, learn — (1) A querulous spirit is a source of spiritual danger. (2) The record of past experience is the safeguard of to-day. (3) God is our refuge and strength, and a very present help in trouble. ( Homiletic Quarterly. ) Narrow escapes W. L. Watkinson. The victorious general in the hour of triumph has not unfrequently reason be remember how nearly, through oversight or miscalculation, he had lost the day: a little more pressure on this wing or that, a trifling prolongation of the struggle, a few minutes' further delay in the arrival of reinforcements — and his proud banner had been dragged in the dust. The pilot guiding his barque safely into port sometimes knows how through lack of seamanship he nearly made shipwreck. The successful merchant remembers crises in his history when he found himself on the brink of ruin, when the last straw only was wanting to precipitate the catastrophe. And like narrow escapes occur in the spiritual life. I. THE OCCASIONS OF OUR PERIL. 1. Our soul is sometimes in imminent danger from unbelief. Many of God's people find their faith severely tried, and hardly endure the trial. We have perhaps been exercised on the Divine existence, or we doubted the Divine Word. Sometimes these doubts have been pressed upon us from the outside by the disciples and literature of scepticism, at other times suggested by our own experience; and our soul fluttered in the fowler's net. 2. At other seasons our special danger has arisen from worldliness. The most spiritual of God's people may perchance remember when their heart was all but absorbed by the secular — the inner man forgotten in the outer, the eternal in the temporary, the love of the Father in the love of the world. Little by little we yielded to the authority of worldly maxims, to the tyranny of worldly interests, to the indulgences of worldly society and pleasure. Prayer became infrequent and unreal; the house of God was neglected; the Scriptures lost their relish; the family altar was dropping stone by stone into the dust. 3. Again, our peril has been actual immorality. How nearly betrayed by passion, appetite, covetousness, pride: the partition thin between us and the fallen. II. THE LESSONS OF OUR DELIVERANCE. 1. Thankfulness. Great is our debt of gratitude to Him who renders our venial errors innocuous, who sustains us as we unwittingly step on slippery place or giddy brink; who delivers us from our inexperience, short-sightedness and frailty, not permitting our infirmity to work its natural issue of woe. 2. Humiliation. When we remember the fulness of light, the strength of motive, the richness of grace against which we sinned and brought ourselves into jeopardy, we may justly be humbled. 3. Caution. Narrow escapes gender presumption in foolish men, but the wise are admonished. 4. Sympathy. Having so narrowly escaped condemnation, we must think kindly and hopefully of those who went a little further, only a little further, and fell; having been so nearly run over, we must think tenderly of those who are carried to the hospital. 5. Consecration to God. Where a Christian is ever stumbling and slipping there is a real weakness of character, a deep defect of mind or heart or will, a central lack of balance and force. What such of us need is to come to the psalmist's conclusion — complete, final devotion to God. Let us thus yield ourselves to God, and these humiliating, dangerous episodes we shall know no more. Let us dwell in the sanctuary. Every visit to the throne purges our vision, refreshes our soul, renews our strength. In communion with God we find the secret grounds of God's ways, and become able to await calmly and hopefully the solution of all painful problems. Worship, too, fills the soul with spiritual images and forces, preserving from the insidious en-croachments of worldliness. And, faithful to our priestly privilege and purity, we shrink from contact with the unclean thing. ( W. L. Watkinson. ) Faith -- its peril and rescue John Love. I. WHEN WAS THE FAITH OF THE PSALMIST ENDANGERED? 1. When he "saw the prosperity of the wicked." 2. When he observed the apparent desertion of the righteous. The adversity of the saints was more mysterious than the prosperity of the wicked. II. WHY WAS THE FAITH OF ASAPH IMPERILLED? Faith is designed for times of darkness, distress, etc. Job declared, "Though He slay me, yet," etc. 1. The psalmist has a wrong spirit. "I was envious," etc. Our opinions are affected by our moods. Envy impaired the judgement and blurred the spiritual vision of Asaph. 2. The psalmist had narrow views. We are apt to express our opinions as if we understood all events and could compass all time. III. THE RESCUE OF FAITH. 1. Through holy influences. "I went into the sanctuary" — the place nearest God. 2. Through clearer views, "Then understood I their end." As we trace, on the other hand, the closing chapters in the lives of Joseph, Daniel and others, apparent discrepancies fade away. 3. Faith becomes more vigorous than before. He not only was satisfied but jubilant: "Whom have I in heaven but Thee," etc.Lessons: 1. Guard against judging by appearances, or from imperfect data. 2. Trust where it is difficult to trace infinite love. 3. Faith rests, questionings are silenced, when the soul is nearer to God. ( John Love. ) I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 73:3 A popular fallacy exposed Homilist. The position I wish to lay down is this: — THAT THE CONDITION OF THE GODLY POOR EVEN IN THIS WORLD, IS FAR SUPERIOR TO THAT OF THE UNGODLY RICH. Public sentiment, I am aware, is against this doctrine; hence the universal struggle to be rich. Hence, too, the popular disregard of goodness as goodness, and the almost contempt for it if found in connection with poverty. Hence the current cant in some districts of the religious world that God's "dear people " have the worst portion in this life; that as a rule their situation here is not comparable to that of those who forget God. I. THE WEALTH OF THE ONE IS IN HIS HAND; THAT OF THE OTHER IN HIS HEART. 1. The one is of contingent value; the other is of absolute worth. 2. The one is essentially virtuous; the other is not. 3. The one is essentially a blessing; the other often a bane. 4. The one is alienable; the other is not. II. THE GREATNESS OF THE ONE IS IN HIS CIRCUMSTANCES; THAT OF THE OTHER IN HIS SOUL. 1. The one is respected for what he has; the other for what he is. 2. The respect rendered to the one is in proportion to the low state of moral education among the people; not so with the other. III. THE HAPPINESS OF THE ONE IS FROM WITHOUT; THAT OF THE OTHER IS FROM WITHIN. 1. The happiness that springs from without is sensational; the other spiritual. 2. The happiness that springs from without is selfish; the other generous. 3. The happiness that springs from without decreases; the other is ever heightening. ( Homilist. ) Our wealth is proportionate to our content The Quiver. Our incomes should be like our shoes; if too small they will gall and pinch us, but if too large they will cause us to stumble and trip. Wealth, after all, is a relative thing, since he that has little and wants less is richer than he that has much and wants more. True contentment depends not upon what we have, but upon what we would have. A tub was large enough for Diogenes, but a world was too little for Alexander. ( The Quiver. ) For there are no bands in their death. Psalm 73:4 No bands in the death of the wicked J. Stewart. I. THEIR MINDS ARE OCCUPIED EXCLUSIVELY WITH THE THINGS OF A PRESENT WORLD ( Philippians 3:19 ). 1. Habits. 2. Tastes. 3. Wants. II. THE CONSCIENCE AND HEART, THEN, EXEMPLIFY THE EFFECT OF LONG-CONTINUED RESISTANCE TO THE GOSPEL. 1. The natural effect. 2. The judicial effect. 3. This produced by the abuse of abundant mercy. III. THE MORAL CHARACTER OF GOD IS GROSSLY MISAPPREHENDED. 1. It is with God they have to do. 2. Did they apprehend His character, infinitely holy and just. 3. They have an idol in His place. IV. THE NATURE OF THE LAW BY WHICH THEY ARE TO BE TRIED AND JUDGED IS NOT UNDERSTOOD. V. THERE IS GENERALLY AN EXTREME IGNORANCE AS TO THE NATURE OF THE SALVATION WHICH IS OFFERED IN THE GOSPEL. ( J. Stewart. ) Bands in death G. B. Blake, M. A. I. Let us see what are SOME OF THE BANDS OF DEATH, the sufferings of the Christian at his departure, that we may realize more fully this seeming freedom and tranquillity of the wicked. Need we say that death, when seriously looked at, is always terrible? Consider that religion teaches men to be far more jealous of themselves, and to think far more deeply and correctly of judgment and of eternity than others do. At death the books are made up, our fate sealed irrevocably. There is also the sense of the holiness of God, before whom he must so soon appear, with the eager desire that he had served Him in his day and generation with all tenderness of conscience, and a consequently painful sense of shortcomings and offences. II. THE FREEDOM OF THE WICKED. 1. The quietness and peacefulness of the death-bed of a wicked man, without the agony of remorse, without bitter self-chiding and awful presentiments of judgment and eternity, may tell the same tale that the violence, the pride, the cruelty, the rashness, the unrestrained licentiousness of his life did. 2. The placid death-bed of the wicked, without a groan, or pain, or fetter, without regrets or murmurs, is sometimes welcomed by him in his stolidity and ignorance as a happy escape from some disappointment or trouble. 3. The wicked shall be freed from bands in their death, if, by the temptations of Satan, they have been led to presume on that mercy from God which they have never sought. 4. They have no bands in their death, because of its utter suddenness and unexpectedness. This busy present, these manifold wants, and cravings, and indulgences, these strong drinks that deaden the soul, and their over-mastering passions of a life of brief rule over others, of vengeance, of rivalry, of tyranny, of temporary renown and influence — oh, how they succeed in banishing the thought of death while yet the vigour of life is full in veins and body! ( G. B. Blake, M. A. ) They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Psalm 73:5, 6 The mercy of a changeful life H. Melvill, B. D. In the first verse a fact is stated; in the second verse an inference is drawn; and our business will lie with the showing you that the inference is just, The stated fact is, that the wicked have less of trouble than other men — and this fact we shall assume without any endeavour to prove; the inference which the psalmist drew was, that on this account, on account of their comparative exemption from tribulation and the changes and chances of life, the wicked remain the wicked — "compassed with pride as a chain, and covered with violence as a garment." And here therefore is the principle, which we shall endeavour to exhibit and establish; — namely, that continuance in wickedness is a natural consequence of exemption from trouble. You have the same principle announced in other portions of Scripture; so that we shall not be building on a solitary passage, in laying before you an important topic ( Jeremiah 48:11 ; Psalm 55:19 ). We are well aware, that so natural is the desire for prosperity, and the aversion from the trials and changes of life/ that we may expect to have prejudices and inclinations arrayed against us, as we attempt to make good the position derivable from our text; but nevertheless, the cases we shall have to describe are so common, and the reasons we shall have to advance so simple, that we may calculate on obtaining the assent of the understanding, if not on overcoming the repugnance of the heart. I. And we shall perhaps best compass our design by endeavouring to show you, in the first place, THE TENDENCIES OF A STATE IN WHICH THERE ARE NO ADVERSE CHANGES. We may not hesitate be affirm of prosperity that it is far harder to bear than adversity. We may apply to it the remarkable words of Solomon in reference to praise: "As the fining-pot for silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise." As though he had said, that praise as much tries a man, and detects what is in him, as the fire of the furnace the metals submitted to its alchemy. You will occasionally meet with cases in which there appear to have been few or none of the thwartings of what is called Fortune; whatsoever has been undertaken has succeeded, and the individuals have worn all the aspect of being the favourites of some overruling power, with whom it rested to dispense the good and the evil of life. And where there has not been from the first a course of unbroken prosperity, there will often set in a sudden tide of success, and the man is borne along year after year on the waters of this tide, with no storms to retard him, and no rocks to endanger. This is far

73:1-14 The psalmist was strongly tempted to envy the prosperity of the wicked; a common temptation, which has tried the graces of many saints. But he lays down the great principle by which he resolved to abide. It is the goodness of God. This is a truth which cannot be shaken. Good thoughts of God will fortify against Satan's temptations. The faith even of strong believers may be sorely shaken, and ready to fail. There are storms that will try the firmest anchors. Foolish and wicked people have sometimes a great share of outward prosperity. They seem to have the least share of the troubles of this life; and they seem to have the greatest share of its comforts. They live without the fear of God, yet they prosper, and get on in the world. Wicked men often spend their lives without much sickness, and end them without great pain; while many godly persons scarcely know what health is, and die with great sufferings. Often the wicked are not frightened, either by the remembrance of their sins, or the prospect of their misery, but they die without terror. We cannot judge men's state beyond death, by what passes at their death. He looked abroad, and saw many of God's people greatly at a loss. Because the wicked are so very daring, therefore his people return hither; they know not what to say to it, and the rather, because they drink deep of the bitter cup of affliction. He spoke feelingly when he spoke of his own troubles; there is no disputing against sense, except by faith. From all this arose a strong temptation to cast off religion. But let us learn that the true course of sanctification consists in cleansing a man from all pollution both of soul and body. The heart is cleansed by the blood of Christ laid hold upon by faith; and by the begun works of the Lord's Spirit, manifested in the hearty resolution, purpose, and study of holiness, and a blameless course of life and actions, the hands are cleansed. It is not in vain to serve God and keep his ordinances. 73:15-20 The psalmist having shown the progress of his temptation, shows how faith and grace prevailed. He kept up respect for God's people, and with that he restrained himself from speaking what he had thought amiss. It is a sign that we repent of the evil thoughts of the heart, if we suppress them. Nothing gives more offence to God's children, than to say it is vain to serve God; for there is nothing more contrary to their universal experience. He prayed to God to make this matter plain to him; and he understood the wretched end of wicked people; even in the height of their prosperity they were but ripening for ruin. The sanctuary must be the resort of a tempted soul. The righteous man's afflictions end in peace, therefore he is happy; the wicked man's enjoyments end in destruction, therefore he is miserable. The prosperity of the wicked is short and uncertain, slippery places. See what their prosperity is; it is but a vain show, it is only a corrupt imagination, not substance, but a mere shadow; it is as a dream, which may please us a little while we are slumbering, yet even then it disturbs our repose. 73:21-28 God would not suffer his people to be tempted, if his grace were not sufficient, not only to save them from harm, but to make them gainers by it. This temptation, the working of envy and discontent, is very painful. In reflecting upon it, the psalmist owns it was his folly and ignorance thus to vex himself. If good men, at any time, through the surprise and strength of temptation, think, or speak, or act amiss, they will reflect upon it with sorrow and shame. We must ascribe our safety in temptation, and our victory, not to our own wisdom, but to the gracious presence of God with us, and Christ's intercession for us. All who commit themselves to God, shall be guided with the counsel both of his word and of his Spirit, the best counsellors here, and shall be received to his glory in another world; the believing hopes and prospects of which will reconcile us to all dark providences. And the psalmist was hereby quickened to cleave the closer to God. Heaven itself could not make us happy without the presence and love of our God. The world and all its glory vanishes. The body will fail by sickness, age, and death; when the flesh fails, the conduct, courage, and comfort fail. But Christ Jesus, our Lord, offers to be all in all to every poor sinner, who renounces all other portions and confidences. By sin we are all far from God. And a profession Christ, if we go on in sin, will increase our condemnation. May we draw near, and keep near, to our God, by faith and prayer, and find it good to do so. Those that with an upright heart put their trust in God, shall never want matter for thanksgiving to him. Blessed Lord, who hast so graciously promised to become our portion in the next world, prevent us from choosing any other in this.