THE LORD IS OUR REFUGE
Opening Prayer
O God, thank you for the presence of your Spirit in me. Make the truths of your Word real for me today.
Read PSALM 73
BOOK III
Psalms 73–89
Psalm 73
A psalm of Asaph.
1 Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.[a]
5 They are free from common human burdens;
they are not plagued by human ills.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.
7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity[b];
their evil imaginations have no limits.
8 They scoff, and speak with malice;
with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.[c]
11 They say, “How would God know?
Does the Most High know anything?”
12 This is what the wicked are like—
always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
14 All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.
15 If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed your children.
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!
20 They are like a dream when one awakes;
when you arise, Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.
21 When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.
Footnotes
- Psalm 73:4 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text struggles at their death; / their bodies are healthy
- Psalm 73:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew Their eyes bulge with fat
- Psalm 73:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Jesus says, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28).In our readings in Luke, Jesus has been teaching about the different paths one could take in life—and this psalm follows a similar theme. It’s a ‘wisdom’ psalm, with the psalmist exploring some of the themes from his life, from which we can also learn.
The psalmist sets out the way of ‘the arrogant’ and ‘the wicked’ in verses 3-12, a path that can feel attractive to us—who wouldn’t want to avoid being ‘plagued by human ills’ (v 5)? Do you sometimes feel conflicted between living God’s way and living in the way of the world? Sometimes, the apparently carefree lives of the wicked don’t seem fair (v 12)! But in the end, the wicked will perish (vs 18-20, 27)—and it will be God’s doing (v 18).
Meanwhile, like the psalmist, we can feel weary (v 16) —Jesus did too!—and even bitter (v 21). But verses 23-28 are a marvelous expression of what it means to have faith. Unlike the psalmist, we know that Jesus has conquered over all—and we can be near God because of all he achieved for us on the cross (v 28). ‘Surely God is good’ (v 1).
Apply
Read through Psalm 49—another wisdom psalm—and look for the ways God offers wisdom to live in today’s world.
Closing prayer
I confess, Jesus, that there are times when I am wearied by life’s challenges—personal, national, global—that seem impossible to overcome. Help me to keep focused on you and your promise to be with me and for me, and to overcome.
Book and Author Intros
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