Psalm 73

Why do the wicked get rich?

Wicked and rich

A psalm of Asaph. [1]

1God treats Israel well.
And pure-hearted people, too.
2But I almost walked away from God.
I wandered down the wrong trail.
3Envy was the problem.
I envied the enviable.
I saw how successful the wicked can be.
4They don’t die in pain.
And their bellies are full.
5They don’t suffer like the rest of us do.
Troubles common to humanity are foreign to them.
6So they wear arrogance like jewelry
And violence like evening attire.
7Their eyeballs bulge from the fat in their heads.
Their hearts swell with plans to get richer.
8They make fun of others and hatch wicked plots.
And they speak from positions of power.
9They trash-talk heaven,
And take their show on the road.
10It’s a sideshow, distracting.
Crowds drink it up
Like secrets to success
From the rich and the famous. [2]
11These wicked folks say,
“How can God know what’s best for you?
In fact, how can the Most High know anything.”
12That’s how wicked people talk.
Yet they live in peace,
And get richer than ever.

No payday for good behavior?

13So, I get nothing for being a good person?
I get nothing for these innocent hands?
14I’m under attack all the time.
Every new day it’s new trouble.
15If I had said this out loud
It would have shocked a lot of people.
16So I quietly tried to figure it out.
But I couldn’t understand it at all.
17Everything changed when I went to your Temple.
That’s when I realized what you were doing.

Fake flattery for the rich

18You give them false confidence, built on fake flattery.
They’re going to fall flat on their faces.
19One moment they’re here, and the next they’re gone,
Terrified, then swept away forever.
20You’ll hate the very thought of them,
As though waking from a nightmare.

You never left me alone

21I was angry and bitter.
I hurt too much to think clearly.
22I had the brains of a boulder,
And no patience for you.
23Yet there you were, always with me,
Holding my hand and never letting go.
24You’ll show me the way,
Then welcome me with honor.
25With you beside me,
What more could I ask of heaven?
With you beside me,
I want nothing more on earth.
26My body and mind will fail.
But God puts his strength in my spirit.
And God is mine forever.
26Look, those who have left you will die.
You destroy those who reject you.
28As for me, I enjoy the company of God.
The Lord God guards and protects me.
So, I’m here to tell you
The great things he has done.

Footnotes

Intro Notes for Psalms

Intro Notes for Book 3 of 5 in Psalms

173:1

The subtitle wasn’t part of the original psalm. And the possible byline “of Asaph,” isn’t necessarily a byline. The vague phrase could mean the song was written by Asaph, about Asaph, or was inspired by Asaph. Asaph led a musical family in the tribe of Levi, one of the 12 tribes that made up the original nation of Israel. Levite families worked as priests and worship leaders and worship assistants for the Jewish nation. Asaph was a leader of worship music during the time of King David (1 Chronicles 16:5). His family carried on the musical tradition, showing up five centuries later, when a Jewish man named Nehemiah, in the 500s BC, helped rebuild Jerusalem after Babylonian invaders from what is now Iraq leveled Jerusalem in 586 BC.

273:10

This verse is a guess. Every version of this Bible verse is an educated guess. It’s so impossible to interpret that some scholars recommend dropping it from the psalm. Some interpret it as a promise to restore Israel, while others say it’s about punishing people for buying into the evil ideas that the wicked are pitching. The idea about drinking, literally “waters of abundance,” seems to be talking about prosperity. In context, that may refer to ordinary folks finding the rich lifestyle attractive, and wanting in on it. No matter the spiritual cost.