Psalm 73 - envy

The following are my notes from a recording with Courtney Reissig on 27 January 2025

Psalm 73

Psalms 1 and 2 are psalms of orientation. They tell the end from the beginning so we can make it through the messy middle of life.  Now we have a psalm of disorientation.  A lot of us live in disorientation in our relationships, in the world we live in, in the community, family and in our soul in dealing with sin, depression or a variety of other things.  These psalms give us the language for our prayers as we walk through life.  Psalm 73 is familiar to us because of verses 25 and 26.  It comes in the middle of a psalm that deals with envy, not just over what our friend has but what the wicked have and how they prosper. This psalm deals with these issues and us when we are languishing in our sorrows.  What do you do when the wicked prosper?  When someone who is sinful against the Lord and gets away with it?  It is easy to see our own envy when we put it against a friend who is more righteous that us, has more possessions than us, when their marriage is wonderful or when we are single and they are married.  When we see someone who engages in sin and does not live a life that is fair and they are prospering. That is when it is hard to trust the Lord, to see him as God and caring for us. The internet allows us to see things happening right now.  We can see it in our neighbours house but not just locally, all over the world.  The internet reminds us that the evil prosper and the righteous are falling apart.  What do you do when the wicked prosper?

Psalm 73

 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

A psalm of disorientation.  The psalmist feels that the wicked are prospering and he is not.  It is a psalm of wisdom meaning it has something to teach us.  The psalmist wants us to learn from his struggles.  This psalm is written for us to learn from it, to help us to know how to fight the envy of the wicked.  He has a long struggle with God’s justice.  This reminder leaves him bitter and frustrated. God revealed to me – the evil will prosper, the righteous will suffer, and the path of escape.

 

1.  What does the psalmist see? – verses 1 to 11

What is happening in the psalm? He is seeing something.  His experiences lead to disorientation.  He sees what is right in front of him.  Not the end from the beginning.  He sees the prosperity of the wicked and he is envious.  In his view they are well fed – verse 4.  Verses 6 and 7 they are flagrant in their sin.  Verses 9 to 11 they speak in sin, lie to God. Verse 12 they are always at ease, increased in richness, use and abuse people, no regard for God. They boast in it. The wicked have it made.  We can see that in our own context. No Christians have it made. We see this paradox and struggle. It is not just unique for the psalmist. Job was the most righteous man that ever lived. He suffered unspeakable – losing his family, health, business. Jesus himself never once sinned. He suffered all the way to death. The bible is full of people who suffer while the wicked prosper. Psalm 73 is just one of those people who sees the wicked prosper, injustice, wickedness, left wondering. It seems God is being good to unrighteous.

 

All of this seeing leads to his response. We can relate to this. We live in a broken world. It looks like evil is winning. The psalm is a caution and encouragement to us. We are not alone. We are not the first people to struggle. The psalmist sees the prosperity of the wicked. He sees no consequence. His seeing leads to his feeling. He sees and then he feels. There is a progression. Verses 12 to 16 unpacks those feelings. The language of God’s people as they walk through the Christian life. It is hard to talk of our feelings sometimes. We are afraid to talk about our feelings. God didn’t create us to be unfeeling. Psalm 73 feels the reality of what his eyes see. Verse 12 his efforts and feelings are in vain. The word “behold” means “look”. Verse 13 it is all in vain. I have kept my heart clean. Knows he feels envy and injustice. Verse 12 integration. Verse 14 to 16 feels despair. Walk in obedience to God. Feels futile. Intensity of struggle. Look at the wicked. Look at how well it is going for them in light of all I have done. It is vain. Contrast in verse 1. All must try to tell him. I know this is true. It has to be true because of what I see, what my heart feels. They are telling him a different story.  The wicked are not stricken and rebuked all day long but the Psalmist is and he doesn’t deserve it. This is where we can real caution. The Psalmist is allowing the prosperity of the wicked to determine what he believes about God.

 

2. What the psalmist does

Verse 17 I have tried to understand all this and all I feel is despair, undone, look at the hinge to try to make sense of this on my own but wearied until I went into the sanctuary of God, to be in his presence. Left to himself in verse 16 he couldn’t make sense of it all. When he goes into the sanctuary of God then I discerned their heart. The Psalmist sees, feels and does. He was about to slip – verse 2. Fall off the precipice into unbelievable caution to us. The envy is not inappropriate. Response to injustice of this world. We can feel righteous anger. It is not a laughing matter. It can lead to slipping and turning from God. Psalmist is tempted to believe what is happening right in front of him but he knew not to go into God’s house to discern their end.

 

Notice the word “truly” and again in verse 18 “truly it must be true.” This is the end from the beginning. The nations raging against God’s people. The Psalmist is reminding himself that there is an end. You win. In verses 18 and 19 the psalmist is going into sanctuary of God. He is reminded about how serious envy is. There is no answer to the prosperity of the wicked apart from looking to God. Only then he gets a perspective. Can see the seriousness of his envy.

 

He sees in verse 21 what envy was doing to him. Verses 21 and verse 22 he was like an animal towards God. Ignorant, violent, uncontrolled anger in God’s presence. He sees the end of the wicked and the condition of his own heart. What does the psalmist do with his feeling of despair? He goes into God’s presence and sees the end from the beginning. Only then he can begin to be restored back to God. He is seeing him in verses 23 and 24. God’s mercy towards him. Despite all he has felt and seen – “I am continually.” God has not left him, allows him to walk this journey then make a conscious decision to be in God’s presence too.  To see things correctly. We see God’s mercy poured out on him. This is the grace and mercy he receives even as he was a beast before God. Now the natural response is to live in despair, envy, continually thinking of how frustrated we are. The answer is to cast ourselves on his mercy and grace. The Psalmist does not pick himself up when he is overcome with envy and despair. God sustains him up, holds, picks him up. It is like Mark 9 when the father cries out “help me in my unbelief.” The Psalmist is being helped with his unbelief. Verse 16 he didn’t know the answer when he went to God. He only went in his despair. Only then that he was able to get help.

 

The question before us – when we face envy and see the prosperity of the wicked, injustice of the world is our default to continue replaying it in our minds? Or is it to go into God’s presence, read his word, wait on him to show his action? A conscious decision was made by the psalmist, only then the Lord provided for him. In verses 25 to 28 we finally see the resolution - he praised and thanked God. He worships God. He had to see his peril in his envy of the wicked and turning from God. The wicked will not stand in judgement. He had to be in God’s presence to see that. The reality of our lives is that we will not always see the end of the wicked. We have to hold on to the promise. There is judgment to come. We sometimes have to hold on to know things we want to know, feeling things we don’t want to feel.  The nearness of the Lord is for our own good. The farther we are away from him the easier it is to forget. God is on the throne. That gives perspective. See what the Psalmist sees. Do what the psalmist does. Hear what psalmist hears. He is saved and sustained and kept by God. Nothing else can keep him. There is nothing else in heaven beside God and nothing else on earth that we should desire. It does not mean we have wants but there is a fine line between good desires and seeing those fulfilled. The bible is full of stories where we see the prosperity of the wicked, feel the anguish of soul. We have a Saviour who suffered the greatest injustice of all. Suffered, died, cast out by friends, family, religious leaders of his day. He suffered. He saw them prosper. He felt deep grief and anguish but he suffered. He was alone. Here though we are never alone. He suffered so that this end is our end. The wicked will not prosper forever. Evil has been defeated. Christ is the strength of our heart. He is our sustaining grace every single day. The treasure the psalmist is pointing to is the Saviour who endured all of this so we will not have to. The Psalmist was tempted to put gifts above the giver and doubt his goodness. Only when he was near God did he have any perspective on the prosperity of the wicked. He saw God’s purpose and saw his time of doubt. When we get near to God we are able to see rightly. This is what sustained Christ in the Garden. He knew the end from the beginning. He had constant unbroken communion with the father. The same is true for us – we are always in his presence. The spirit indwells us. We can always see the end from the beginning. We can always be sustained. What do you do when the wicked prosper? Where do you turn? Do you turn to him? Do you doubt God, that he will ever make a way? Do you turn to the sanctuary, dwell in his presence or stand in way of the enemy on the edge of slipping? The entire arc of scripture - God’s people has long game in dealing with injustice but he always wins. That is what we can trust and be thankful for. What the wicked have will not last for ever. What we have can never be taken from us. Life is disorientating. Things hurt in this life. Sometimes for our duration we are here. Nothing in heaven we should desire but him. There is nothing in earth we should desire. When we see the wicked prosper do we go to the sanctuary of God and trust the Psalmist’s Saviour?