Title. - A Psalm of Asaph. This is the second Psalm ascribed to Asaph, and the first of eleven consecutive Psalms bearing the name of this eminent singer. Some writers are not sure that Asaph wrote them, but incline to the belief that David was the author, and Asaph the person to whom they were dedicated, that he might sing them when in his turn he became the chief musician. But though our own heart turns in the same direction, facts must be heard; and we find in 2 Chronicles 29:30, that Hezekiah commanded the Levites to sing "the words of David and of Asaph the seer;" and, moreover, in Nehemiah 12:46, David and Asaph are mentioned together, as distinct from "the chic! of the singers," and, as it would seem, as joint authors of psalmody. We may, therefore, admit Asaph to be the author of some, if not all, of the twelve Psalms ascribed to him. Often a great star which seems to be but one to the eyes of ordinary observers, turns out upon closer inspection to be of a binary character; so here the Psalms of David are those of Asaph, too. The great sun of David has a satellite in the moon of Asaph. By reading our notes on Psalm Fifty, in Vol. 1 the reader will glean a little more concerning this man of God.

Subject. - Curiously enough this Seventy-third Psalm corresponds in subject with the Psalm 37:1; it will help the memory of the young to notice the reversed figures. The theme is that ancient stumbling-block of good men, which Job's friends could not get over; viz. - the present prosperity of wicked men and the sorrows of the godly. Heathen philosophers have puzzled themselves about this, while to believers it has too often been a temptation.

Divisions. - In Psalm 73:1 the Psalmist declares his confidence in God, and, as it were, plants his loot on a rock while he recounts his inward conflict. From Psalm 73:2-14 he states his temptation; then, from Psalm 73:15-17 he is embarrassed as to how to act, but ultimately finds deliverance from his dilemma. He describes with awe the fate of the ungodly in Psalm 73:18-20, condemns his own Jolly and adores the grace of God, Psalm 73:21-24, and concludes by renewing his allegiance to his God, whom he takes afresh to be his portion and delight.

Hints to Preachers

Whole Psalm. - It containeth the godly man's trial, in the former part of it, and his triumph, in the latter part of it. We have,

I. The grievous conflict between the flesh and the spirit, Psalm 73:1-15.

II. The glorious conquest of the spirit over the flesh, Psalm 73:16-28. - G. Swinnock.

Whole Psalm. -

I. The cause of his distemper.

II. The cure of it.

III. The Psalmist's carriage after it. - G. Swinnock.

Psalm 73:1. - The true Israel, the great blessing, and the sureness of it: or, the proposition of the text expounded, enforced, and applied.

Psalm 73:1 (first clause). - Israel's receipts from God are,

I. For quantity, the greatest;

II. For variety, the choicest;

III. For quality, the sweetest;

IV. For security, the surest;

V. For duration, the most lasting. - Simeon Ash.

Psalm 73:2. -

I. How far a believer may fall.

II. How far he shall not fall.

III. What fears are and what are not allowable.

Psalm 73:2. - A retrospect of our slips; prospect of future danger; present preparation for it.

Psalm 73:4. - Quiet deaths: the cases or the godly and ungodly distinguished by the causes of the quiet, and the unreliableness of mere feelings shown.

Psalm 73:5. - The bastard's portion contrasted with that of the true son.

Psalm 73:7. - The dangers of opulence and luxury.

Psalm 73:8. - Connection between a corrupt heart and a proud tongue.

Psalm 73:10. -

I. The believer's cup is bitter.

II. It is full.

III. Its contents are varied "waters."

IV. It is but a "cup," measured and limited.

V. It is the cup of "his people," and, consequently, works good in the highest degree.

Psalm 73:11. - The atheist's open question; the oppressor's practical question; the careless man's secret question; and the fearful saint's fainting question. The reasons why it is ever asked, and the conclusive reasons which put the matter beyond question.

Psalm 73:12. - This verse suggests solemn enquiries for persons who are growing rich.

Psalm 73:14. - The frequent and even constant chastisements of the righteous; the necessity and design thereof; and the consolations connected therewith.

Psalm 73:15. - How we may bring injury on the saints; why we should avoid so doing, and how.

Psalm 73:17. -

I. Entrance into the place of fellowship with God, its privileges, and the way thereto.

II. Lessons learned in that hallowed place; the text mentions one.

III. Practical influence of the fellowship, and the instruction.

Psalm 73:17, Psalm 73:18. - The sinner's end; See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 486.

Psalm 73:18. - "Thou didst set them in slippery places."

I. It implies that they were always exposed to sudden, unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning.

II. They are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.

III. There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell but the mere pleasure of God. - Jonathan Edwards.

Psalm 73:19. - The first sight and sense of hell by a proud and wealthy sinner, who has just died in peace.

Psalm 73:18-20. - The end of the wicked is,

I.:Near: "Thou hast set," etc. It may happen at any time.

II.:Judicial: "Thou bringest," etc.

III.:Sudden: "How are they," etc.

IV. Tormenting: "They are utterly consumed," etc.

V. Eternal: Left to themselves; gone from the mind of God; and disregarded as a dream when one awaketh. No after act respecting them, either for deliverance or annihilation. - G. R.

Psalm 73:20. - The contemptible object: - a self-righteous, or boastful, or persecuting, or cavilling, or wealthy sinner when his soul is called before God.

Psalm 73:22. - Our folly, ignorance, and brutishness. When displayed. What effect the fact should have upon us; and how greatly it illustrates divine grace.

Psalm 73:23. -

I. God does not forsake his people when they forsake him: "Nevertheless I am continually," etc.

II. God does not lose his hold on them when they lose their hold on him: "Nevertheless thou hast holden," etc. - G. R.

Psalm 73:22-25. -

I. The Psalmist's confession concerning the flesh.

II. The faithful expressions of the spirit.

III. The conclusion of the whole matter. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 467.

Psalm 73:23, Psalm 73:24. -

I. What he says of the present: "I am continually with thee."

II. What he says of the past: "Thou hast holden me," etc.

III. What he says of the future: "Thou shalt guide," etc. - W. Jay.

Psalm 73:23, Psalm 73:24. - Communion, upholding, on-leading, reception to glory, four glorious privileges; especially as bestowed on one who was grieved, foolish, ignorant, and a beast. Note the contrasts.

Psalm 73:24. - The Enoch walk, and the Enoch reception into glory.

Psalm 73:25. - God the best portion of the Christian. - Jonathan Edwards' Works, Vol. II., pp. 104-7.

Psalm 73:25. - Heaven and earth ransacked to find a joy equal to the Lord himself. Let the preacher take up various joys and show the inferiority.

Psalm 73:26. -

I. The Psalmist's complaint: "My flesh and my heart faileth."

II. His comfort: "But God," etc. Or, we may take notice,

III. Of the frailty of his flesh.

IV. Of the flourishing of his faith.

1. Doctrine 1. That man's flesh will fail him. The highest, the holiest man's heart will not always hold out. The prophet was great and gracious, yet his flesh failed him.

2. Doctrine 2. That it is the comfort of a Christian, in his saddest condition, that God is his portion. - G. Swinnock.

Psalm 73:26. - "The Fading of the Flesh." - Swinnock's Treatise. [Nichol's Puritan Series.]

Psalm 73:26. - Where we fail and where we cannot fail.

Psalm 73:27. -

I. The sad conditions.

II. The terrible punishments.

III. The implied consolations.

Psalm 73:28. - To draw near to God is our wisdom, our honour, our safety, our peace, our riches. - Thomas Watson's Sermon, "The Happiness of Drawing near to God." 1669. See also, "The Saint's Happiness," R. Sibbes's Sermon.

Psalm 73:28. - David's conclusion; or, the saint's resolution. - R. Sibbes.

Psalm 73:28. -

I. The language of prayer: "It is good," etc.

II. Of faith: "I have put," etc.

III. Of praise: "That I may declare." - G. R.

Psalm 73:28. - See "Spurgeon's Sermons," Nos. 287-8, "Let us pray." No. 879, "An assuredly good thing."

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Whole Psalm

The Seventy-third Psalm is a very striking record of the mental struggle which an eminently pious Jew underwent, when he contemplated the respective conditions of the righteous and the wicked. Fresh from the conflict, he somewhat abruptly opens the Psalm with the confident enunciation of the truth of which victory over doubt had now made him more and more intelligently sure than ever, that "God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart." And then he relates the most fatal shock which his faith had received, when he contrasted the prosperity of the wicked, who, though they proudly contemned God and man, prospered in the world and increased in riches, with his own lot, who, though he had cleansed his heart and washed his hands in innocency, had been "plagued all the day long and chastened every morning." 'The place where his doubts were removed and his tottering faith re-established, was "the sanctuary of God." God himself was the Teacher. What, then, did he teach? By what divinely imparted considerations was the Psalmist reassured? Whatever is the proper rendering of Psalm 73:4; whether, "There are no sorrows (tending) to their death," or, "There are no sorrows until their death," - their whole life to the very last is one unchequered course of happiness - that verse conveys to us the Psalmist's mistaken estimate of the prosperity of the wicked, before he went unto the sanctuary of God. The true estimate, at which he afterwards arrived, is found in Psalm 73:18-20. Now, admitting (what, by the way, is somewhat difficult of belief, inasmuch as the sudden and fearful temporal destruction of all or even the most prosperous cannot be made out) that the end of these men "means only and always their end in this world, we come to the conclusion that, in the case of the wicked, this Psalm does not plainly and undeniably teach that punishment awaits them after death; but only that, in estimating their condition, it is necessary, in order to vindicate the justice of God, to take in their whole career, and set over against their great prosperity the sudden and fearful reverses and destruction which they not unfrequently encounter. But, in turning to the other side of the comparison, the case of the righteous, we are not met by the thought, that as the prosperity of the wicked is but the preparation for their ruin, the raising higher the tower that the fall may be the greater, so the adversity of the godly is but an introduction to worldly wealth and honour. That thought is not foreign to the Old Testament writers. "Evil-doers shall be cut off;" writes one of them, "but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Psalm 37:9-11. But it is not so much as hinted at here, The daily chastening may continue, flesh and heart may fail, but God is good to Israel notwithstanding: he is their portion, their guide, their help while they live, and he will take them to his glorious presence when they die. "Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." The New Testament has nothing higher or more spiritual than this. The reference of the last clause to happiness after death is, I believe, generally acknowledged by Jewish commentators. They left it to the candour of Christian expositors to doubt or deny it. - Thomas Thomason Perowne, in "The Essential Coherence of the Old and New Testaments." 1858.

Whole Psalm

In Psalm 73:1 the soul looks out, and reasons on what it sees there; namely, successful wickedness and suffering righteousness. What is the conclusion? "I have cleansed my heart in vain." So much for looking about. In Psalm 77:1the soul looks in, and reasons on what it finds there. What is the conclusion? "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" So much for looking in. Where, then, should we look? Look up, straight up, and believe what you See there. What will be the conclusion? You will understand the "end" of man, and trace the "way" of God. - From "Things New and Old, a Monthly Magazine." 1858.

Whole Psalm

In this Psalm, the Psalmist (Asaph) relates the great difficulty which existed in his own mind, from the consideration of the wicked. He observes (Psalm 73:2-3), "As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." In the fourth and following verses he informs us what, in the wicked, was his temptation. In the first place, he observed, that they were prosperous, and all things went well with them. He then observed their behaviour in their prosperity, and the use which they made of it; and that God, notwithstanding such abuse, continued their prosperity. Then he tells us by what means he was helped out of this difficulty, viz., by going into the sanctuary (Psalm 73:16-17), and proceeds to inform us what considerations they were which helped him, viz. - 1. The consideration of the miserable end of wicked men. However they prosper for the present, yet they come to a woeful end at last (Psalm 73:18-20). 2. The consideration of the blessed end of the saints. Although the saints, while they live, may be afflicted, yet they come to a happy end at last (Psalm 73:21-24). 3. The consideration that the godly have a much better portion than the wicked, even though they have no other portion; but God; as in Psalm 73:25, 19 73:26. Though the wicked are in prosperity, and are not in trouble as other men; yet the godly, though in affliction, are in a state infinitely better, because they have God for their portion. They need desire nothing else; he that hath God hath all. Thus the Psalmist professes the sense and apprehension which he had of things; "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee." In the Psalm 73:24 the Psalmist takes notice how the saints are happy in God, both when they are in this world: and also when they are taken to another. They are blessed in God in this world, in that he guides them by his counsel; and when he takes them out of it they are still happy, in that he receives them to glory. This probably led him to declare that he desired no other portion, either in this world or in that to come, either in heaven or upon earth. - Jonathan Edwards.

Psalm 73:1

"Truly" it is but a particle; but the smallest filings of gold are gathered up. Little pearls are of great price. And this small particle is not of small use, being rightly applied and improved. First, take it (as our translators give it us) as a note of asseveration. "Truly." It is a word of faith, opposite to the Psalmist's sense and Satan's injections. Whatsoever sense sees or feels, whatsoever Satan insinuates and says; yet precious faith with confidence asserts, "Truly, verily God is good." He is not only good in word, but in deed also. Not only seemingly good, but certainly good. Secondly, consider it as an adversative particle, "Yet," so our old translation. Ainsworth renders it, yet surely; taking in the former and this together. And then the sense runs thus: How ill soever things go in the world, how ill soever it fares with God's church and people amongst men, yet God is good to Israel. Thirdly, some conceive that the word carries admiration. Oh, how good is God to Israel. Where expressions and apprehensions fail, there the Psalmist takes up God's providences with admiration. Oh, how wonderfully; how transcendently good is God to Israel!

This "yet" (as I conceive) hath a threefold reference to the body of the Psalm. For as interpreters observe, though these words are set in the beginning, yet they suggest the conclusion of the Psalmist's conflict. And the Psalmist seems to begin somewhat abruptly: "Yet God is good." But having filled his thoughts with his former foiles and fears, and now seeing himself in a safe condition both for the present and the future, he is full of confidence and comfort; and that which was the strongest and chiefest in his heart now breaks out first: "Yet God is good." 1. This "yet" relates unto his sufferings, Psalm 73:14, "All the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning." Notwithstanding the variety and frequency of the saint's sufferings, "yet God is good." Though sorrow salutes them every morning at their first awaking, and trouble attends them to bed at night, "yet God is good." Though temptations many and terrible make batteries and breaches upon their spirits, "yet God is good to Israel." 2. This "yet" reflects upon his sinnings, the frettings and wranglings of his distempered heart (Psalm 73:2, 19 73:3, and Psalm 73:21). Though sinful motions do mutiny in the soul against God's wise administrations, though there be foolish, proud quarrellings with divine providences, and inexcusable distrust of his faithful promises; though fretfulness at others' prosperity and discontent at their own adversity, "yet God is good." Israel's sinful distempers cause not the Almighty to change the course of his accustomed goodness. While corruptions are kept from breaking out into scandal, while the soul contends against them, and is humbled for them (as the Psalmist was), this conclusion must be maintained: "yet God is good." 3. This "yet" looks back upon his misgivings. There had been distrustful despondency upon the good man's heart. For from both the premises (viz., his sufferings and sinnings) he had inferred this conclusion, Psalm 73:13, "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency." As if he had said, "I have kept fasts, observed Sabbaths, heard sermons, made prayers, received sacraments, given alms, avoided sins, resisted temptations, withstood lusts, appeared for Christ and his cause and servants in vain: yea, his heart had added an asseveration (verily) to this faithless opinion, but now he is of another mind: "Yet God is good." The administrations of God are not according to the sad surmises of his people's misgiving hearts. For, though they through diffidence are apt often to give up their holy labours as lost, and all their conscientious care and carriage as utterly cast away; "yet God is good to Israel." - Simeon Ash, in a Sermon entitled "God's Incomparable Goodness unto Israel." 1647.

Psalm 73:1

David opens the Psalm abruptly, and from this we learn what is worthy of particular notice, that, before he broke forth into this language, his mind had been agitated with many doubts and conflicting suggestions. As a brave and valiant champion, he had been exercised in very painful struggles and temptations; but, after long and arduous exertion, he at length succeeded in shaking off all perverse imaginations, and came to the conclusion that yet God is gracious to his servants, and the faithful guardian of their welfare. Thus these words contain a tacit contrast between the unhallowed imaginations suggested to him by Satan, and the testimony in favour of true religion with which he now strengthens himself, denouncing, as it were, the judgment of the flesh, in giving place to misgiving thoughts with respect to the providence of God. We see, then, how emphatic is this exclamation of the Psalmist. He does not ascend into the chair to dispute after the manner of the philosophers, and to deliver his discourse in a style of studied oratory; but, as if he had escaped from hell, he proclaims with a loud voice, and with impassioned feeling, that he had obtained the victory. - John Calvin.

Psalm 73:1 (first clause)

Yet sure the gods are good: I would think so,

If they would give me leave!

But virtue in distress, and vice in triumph,

2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.

9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

11 And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

14 For all the day long have I been plagued: and chastened every morning.

Psalm 73:2

continued...

15 If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

Psalm 73:15

"If I say, I will speak thus." It is not always wise to speak one's thoughts; if they remain within, they will only injure ourselves; but, once uttered, their mischief may be great. From such a man as the Psalmist, the utterance which his discontent suggested would have been a heavy blow and deep discouragement to the whole brotherhood. He dared not, therefore, come to such a resolution, but paused, and would not decide to declare his feelings. It was well, for in his case second thoughts were by far the best. "I should offend against the generation of thy children." I should scandalise them, grieve them, and perhaps cause them to offend also. We ought to look at the consequences of our speech to all others, and especially to the church of God. Woe unto the man by whom offence cometh! Rash, undigested, ill-considered speech, is responsible for much of the heart-burning and trouble in the churches. Would to God that, like Asaph, men would bridle their tongues. Where we have any suspicion of being wrong, it is better to be silent; it can do no harm to be quiet, and it may do serious damage to spread abroad our hastily formed opinions. To grieve the children of God by appearing to act perfidiously and betray the truth, is a sin so heinous, that if the consciences of heresy-mongers were not seared as with a hot iron, they would not be so glib as they are to publish abroad their novelties. Expressions which convey the impression that the Lord acts unjustly or unkindly, especially if they fall from the lips of men of known character and experience, are as dangerous as firebrands among stubble; they are used for blasphemous purposes by the ill-disposed; and the timid and trembling are sure to be cast down thereby, and to find reason for yet deeper distress of soul.

Psalm 73:16

"When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me." The thought of scandalising the family of God he could not bear, and yet his inward thoughts seethed and fermented, and caused an intolerable anguish within. To speak might have relieved one sorrow, but, as it would have created another, he forbore so dangerous a remedy; yet this did not remove the first pangs, which grew even worse and worse, and threatened utterly to overwhelm him. A smothered grief is hard to endure. The triumph of conscience which compels us to keep the wolf hidden beneath our own garments, does not forbid its gnawing at our vitals. Suppressed fire in the bones rages more fiercely than if it could gain a vent at the mouth. Those who know Asaph's dilemma will pity him as none others can.

Psalm 73:17

"Until I went into the sanctuary of. God." His mind entered the eternity where God dwells as in a holy place, he left the things of sense for the things invisible, his heart gazed within the veil, he stood where the thrice holy God stands. Thus he shifted his point of view, and apparent disorder resolved itself into harmony, The motions of the planets appear most discordant from this world which is itself a planet; they appear as "progressive, retrograde, and standing still;" but could we fix our observatory in the sun, which is the centre of the system, we should perceive all the planets moving in perfect circle around the head of the great solar family. "Then understood I their end." He had seen too little to be able to judge; a wider view changed his judgment; he saw with his mind's enlightened eye the future of the wicked, and his soul was in debate no longer as to the happiness of their condition. No envy gnaws now at his heart, but a holy horror both of their impending doom, and of their present guilt, fills his soul. He recoils from being dealt with in the same manner as the proud sinners, whom just now he regarded with admiration.

18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.

20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

Psalm 73:18

The Psalmist's sorrow had culminated, not in the fact that the ungodly prospered, but that God had arranged it so: had it happened by mere chance, he would have wondered, but could not have complained; but how the arranger of all things could so dispense his temporal favours, was the vexatious question. Here, to meet the case, he sees that the divine hand purposely placed these men in prosperous and eminent circumstances, not with the intent to bless them but the very reverse. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places." Their position was dangerous, and, therefore, God did not set his friends there but his foes alone. He chose, in infinite love, a rougher but safer standing for his own beloved. "Thou castedst them down into destruction." The same hand which led them up to their Tarpeian rock, hurled them down from it. They were but elevated by judicial arrangement for the fuller execution of their doom. Eternal punishment will be all the more terrible in contrast with the former prosperity of those who are ripening for it. Taken as a whole, the case of the ungodly is horrible throughout; and their worldly joy instead of diminishing the horror, actually renders the effect the more awful, even as the vivid lightning amid the storm does not brighten but intensify the thick darkness which lowers around. The ascent to the fatal gallows of Haman was an essential ingredient in the terror of the sentence - "hang him thereon." If the wicked had not been raised so high they could not have fallen so low.

Psalm 73:19

"How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment!" This is an exclamation of godly wonder at the suddenness and completeness of the sinners' overthrow. Headlong is their fall; without warning, without escape, without hope of future restoration! Despite their golden chains, and goodly apparel, death stays not for manners but hurries them away; and stern justice unbribed by their wealth hurls them into destruction. "They are utterly consumed with terrors." They have neither root nor branch left. They cease to exist among the sons of men, and, in the other world, there is nothing left of their former glory. Like blasted trees, consumed by the lightning, they are monuments of vengeance; like the ruins of Babylon they reveal, in the greatness of their desolation, the judgments of the Lord against all those that unduly exalt themselves. The momentary glory of the graceless is in a moment effaced, their loftiness is in an instant consumed.

Psalm 73:20

"As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image." They owe their existence and prosperity to the forbearance of God, which the Psalmist compares to a sleep; but, as a dream vanishes so soon as a man awakes, so the instant the Lord begins to exercise his justice and call men before him, the pomp and prosperity of proud transgressors shall melt away. When God awakes to judgment, they who despise him shall be despised; they are already "such stuff as dreams are made of," but then the baseless fabric shall not leave a wreck behind. Let them flaunt their little hour, poor unsubstantial sons of dreams; they will soon be gone; when the day breaketh, and the Lord awakes as a mighty man out of his sleep, they will vanish away. Who cares for the wealth of dreamland? Who indeed but fools? Lord, leave us not to the madness which covets unsubstantial wealth, and ever teach us thine own wisdom.

21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.

22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.

24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Psalm 73:21

The holy poet here reviews his inward struggle and awards himself censure for his folly. His pain had been intense; he says, "Thus my heart was grieved." It was a depp-seated sorrow, and one which penetrated his inmost being. Alexander reads it, "My heart is soured." His spirit had become embittered; he had judged in a harsh, crabbed, surly manner. He had become atrabilious, full of black bile, melancholy, and choleric; he had poisoned his own life at the fountain-head, and made all its streams to be bitter as gall. "And I was pricked in my reins." He was as full of pain as a man afflicted with renal disease; he had pierced himself through with many sorrows; his hard thoughts were like so many calculi in his kidneys; he was utterly wretched and woebegone, and all through his own reflections. O miserable philosophy, which stretches the mind on the rack, and breaks it on the wheel! O blessed faith, which drives away the inquisitors, and sets the captives free!

Psalm 73:22

"So foolish was I." He, though a saint of God, had acted as if he had been one of the fools whom God abhorreth. Had he not even envied them? - and what is that but to aspire to be like them? The wisest of men have enough folly in them to ruin them unless grace prevents. "And ignorant." He had acted as if he knew nothing, had babbled like an idiot, had uttered the very drivel of a witless loon. He did not know how sufficiently to express his sense of his own fatuity. "I was as a beast before thee." Even in God's presence he had been brutish, and worse than a beast. As the grass-eating ox has but this present life, and can only estimate things thereby, and by the sensual pleasure which they afford, even so had the Psalmist judged happiness by this mortal life, by outward appearances, and by fleshly enjoyments. Thus he had, for the time, renounced the dignity of an immortal spirit, and, like a mere animal, judged after the sight of the eyes. We should be very loth to call an inspired man a beast, and yet, penitence made him call himself so; nay, he uses the plural, by way of emphasis, and as if he were worse than any one beast. It was but an evidence of his true wisdom that he was so deeply conscious of his own folly. We see how bitterly good men bewail mental wanderings; they make no excuses for themselves, but set their sins in the pillory, and cast the vilest reproaches upon them. O for grace to detest the very appearance of evil!

Psalm 73:23

"Nevertheless I am continually with thee." He does not give up his faith, though he confesses his folly. Sin may distress us, and yet we may be in communion with God. It is sin beloved and delighted in which separates us from the Lord, but when we bewail it heartily, the Lord will not withdraw from us. What a contrast is here in this and the former verse! He is as a beast, and yet continually with God. Our double nature, as it always causes conflict, so is it a continuous paradox: the flesh allies us with the brutes, and the spirit affiliates us to God. "Thou hast holden me by my right hand." With love dost thou embrace me, with honour ennoble me, with power uphold me. He had almost fallen, and yet was always upheld. He was a riddle to himself, as he had been a wonder unto many. This verse contains the two precious mercies of communion and upholding, and as they were both given to one who confessed himself a fool, we also may hope to enjoy them.

Psalm 73:24

"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel." I have done with choosing my own way, and trying to pick a path amid the jungle of reason. He yielded not only the point in debate, but all intention of debating, and he puts his hand into that of the great Father, asking to be led, and agreeing to follow. Our former mistakes are a blessing, when they drive us to this. The end of our own wisdom is the beginning of our being wise. With Him is counsel, and when we come to him, we are sure to be led aright. "And afterward." "Afterward!" Blessed word. We can cheerfully put up with the present, when we foresee the future. What is around us just now is of small consequence, compared with afterward. "Receive me to glory." Take me up into thy splendour of joy. Thy guidance shall conduct me to this matchless terminus. Glory shall I have, and thou thyself wilt admit me into it. As Enoch was not, for God took him, so all the saints are taken up - received up into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

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 thy works.

Psalm 73:25

"Whom have I in heaven but thee?" Thus, then, he turns away from the glitter which fascinated him to the true gold which was his real treasure. He felt that his God was better to him than all the wealth, health, honour, and peace, which he had so much envied in the worldling; yea, He was not only better than all on earth, but more excellent than all in heaven. He bade all things else go, that he might be filled with his God. "And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee," No longer should his wishes ramble, no other object should tempt them to stray; henceforth, the Everliving One should be his all in all.

Psalm 73:26

"My flesh and my heart faileth." They had failed him already, and he had almost fallen; they would fail him in the hour of death, and, if he relied upon them, they would fail him at once. "But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." His God would not fail him, either as a protection or a joy. His heart would be kept up by divine love, and filled eternally with divine glory. After having been driven far out to sea, Asaph casts anchor in the old port. We shall do well to follow his example. There is nothing desirable save God; let us, then, desire only him. All other things must pass away; let our hearts abide in him, who alone abideth for ever.

Psalm 73:27

"For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish." We must be near God to live; to be far off by wicked works is death. "Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee." If we pretend to be the Lord's servants, we must remember that he is a jealous God, and requires spiritual chastity from all his people. Offences against conjugal vows are very offensive, and all sins against God have the same element in them, and they are visited with the direst punishments. Mere heathens, who are far from God, perish in due season; but those who, being his professed people, act unfaithfully to their profession, shall come under active condemnation, and be crushed beneath his wrath. We read examples of this in Israel's history; may we never create fresh instances in our own persons.

Psalm 73:28

"But it is good for me to draw near to God." Had he done so at first he would not have been immersed in such affliction; when he did so he escaped from his dilemma, and if he continued to do so he would not fall into the same evil again. The greater our nearness to God, the less we are affected by the attractions and distractions of earth. Access into the most holy place is a great privilege, and a cure for a multitude of ills. It is good for all saints, it is good for me in particular; it is always good, and always will be good for me to approach the greatest good, the source of all good, even God himself. "I have put my trust in the Lord God." He dwells upon the glorious name of the Lord Jehovah, and avows it as the basis of his faith. Faith is wisdom; it is the key of enigmas, the clue of mazes, and the pole star of pathless seas. Trust and you will know. "That I may declare all thy works," He who believes shall understand, and so be able to teach. Asaph hesitated to utter his evil surmisings, but he has no diffidence in publishing abroad a good matter. God's ways are the more admired the more they are known. He who is ready to believe the goodness of God shall always see fresh goodness to believe in, and he who is willing to declare the works of God shall never be silent for lack of wonders to declare.