For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.
They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.
Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.
Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.
They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.
Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,
For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.
If I had said, “I will speak thus”; behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me,
until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.
Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 3. For I envied the foolish Here he declares…
3. For I envied the foolish Here he declares the nature of the temptation with which he was assailed. It consisted in this, that when he saw the present prosperous state of the wicked, and from it judged them to be happy, he had envied their condition. We are certainly under a grievous and a dangerous temptation, when we not only, in our own minds, quarrel with God for not setting matters in due order, but also when we give ourselves loose reins, boldly to commit iniquity, because it seems to us that we may commit it, and yet escape with impunity. The sneering jest of Dionysius the younger, a tyrant of Sicily, when, after having robbed the temple of Syracuse, he had a prosperous voyage with the plunder, is well known. “See you not,” says he to those who were with him, “how the gods favor the sacrilegious?” In the same way, the prosperity of the wicked is taken as an encouragement to commit sin; for we are ready to imagine, that, since God grants them so much of the good things of this life, they are the objects of his approbation and favor. We see how their prosperous condition wounded David to the heart, leading him almost to think that there was nothing better for him than to join himself to their company, and to follow their course of life. By applying to the ungodly the appellation of foolish, he does not simply mean that the sins which they commit are committed through ignorance or inadvertence, but he sets their folly in opposition to the fear of God, which is the principal constituent of true wisdom. The ungodly are, no doubt, crafty; but, being destitute of the fundamental principle of all right judgment, which consists in this, that we must regulate and frame our lives according to the will of God, they are foolish; and this is the effect of their own blindness.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 19 The wicked in this life live at pleasure and…
The wicked in this life live at pleasure and are not drawn to death like prisoners: that is, by sickness which is death’s messenger.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–19 Psa 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish,…
Psa 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, [when] I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Ver. 3. For I was envious at the foolish] Heb. at the braggadocios, the vain glorious, the mad boasters; factabundis, I emulated, and stomached their prosperity, compared with mine own far worse condition. Godly men, though cured of their spiritual frensy, yet play oft many mad tricks; one while fretting at the prosperity of their adversaries, and another while murmuring at their own afflictions, or plotting courses how to conform themselves to the world, &c.
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When I saw the prosperity of the wicked] This hath ever been a pearl in the eyes, not of the heathens only, but of better men. See Jer 12:1-2 Hab 1:3 Psa 37:1-2. Yet Seneca writes a treatise of it, and shows the reasons, if at least he believed himself therein. Erasmus passes this censure of him; read him as a Pagan, and he writes Christian like; read him as a Christian, and he writeth Pagan like.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3–19 I grudged and murmured at it, and had a…
I grudged and murmured at it, and had a secret desire to partake of their delicates.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v15 We have seen what a strong temptation the psalmist…
We have seen what a strong temptation the psalmist was in to envy prospering profaneness; now here we are told how he kept his footing and got the victory.
I. He kept up a respect for God's people, and with that he restrained himself from speaking what he had thought amiss, Psa 73:15. He got the victory by degrees, and this was the first point he gained; he was ready to say, Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and thought he had reason to say it, but he kept his mouth with this consideration, "If I say, I will speak thus, behold, I should myself revolt and apostatize from, and so give the greatest offence imaginable to, the generation of thy children." Observe here, 1. Though he thought amiss, he took care not to utter that evil thought which he had conceived. Note, It is bad to think ill, but it is worse to speak it, for that is giving the evil thought an imprimatur - a sanction; it is allowing it, giving consent to it, and publishing it for the infection of others. But it is a good sign that we repent of the evil imagination of the heart if we suppress it, and the error remains with ourselves. If therefore thou hast been so foolish as to think evil, be so wise as to lay thy hand upon thy mouth, and let it go no further, Pro 30:32. If I say, I will speak thus. Observe, Though his corrupt heart made this inference from the prosperity of the wicked, yet he did not mention it to those whether it were fit to be mentioned or no. Note, We must think twice before we speak once, both because some things may be thought which yet may not be spoken and because the second thoughts may correct the mistakes of the first. 2. The reason why he would not speak it was for fear of giving offence to those whom God owned for his children. Note, (1.) There are a people in the world that are the generation of God's children, a set of men that hear and love God as their Father. (2.) We must be very careful not to say or do any thing which may justly offend any of these little ones (Mat 18:6), especially which may offend the generation of them, may sadden their hearts, or weaken their hands, or shake their interest. (3.) There is nothing that can give more general offence to the generation of God's children than to say that we have cleansed our heart in vain or that it is vain to serve God; for there is nothing more contrary to their universal sentiment and experience nor any thing that grieves them more than to hear God thus reflected on. (4.) Those that wish themselves in the condition of the wicked do in effect quit the tents of God's children.
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II. He foresaw the ruin of wicked people. By this he baffled the temptation, as by the former he gave some check to it. Because he durst not speak what he had thought, for fear of giving offence, he began to consider whether he had any good reason for that thought (Psa 73:16): "I endeavoured to understand the meaning of this unaccountable dispensation of Providence; but it was too painful for me. I could not conquer it by the strength of my own reasoning." It is a problem, not to be solved by the mere light of nature, for, if there were not another life after this, we could not fully reconcile the prosperity of the wicked with the justice of God. But (Psa 73:17) he went into the sanctuary of God; he applied to his devotions, meditated upon the attributes of God, and the things revealed, which belong to us and to our children; he consulted the scriptures, and the lips of the priests who attended the sanctuary; he prayed to God to make this matter plain to him and to help him over this difficulty; and, at length, he understood the wretched end of wicked people, which he plainly foresaw to be such that even in the height of their prosperity they were rather to be pitied than envied, for they were but ripening for ruin. Note, There are many great things, and things needful to be known, which will not be known otherwise than by going into the sanctuary of God, by the word and prayer. The sanctuary must therefore be the resort of a tempted soul. Note, further, We must judge of persons and things as they appear by the light of divine revelation, and then we shall judge righteous judgment; particularly we must judge by the end. All is well that ends well, everlastingly well; but nothing well that ends ill, everlastingly ill. The righteous man's afflictions end in peace, and therefore he is happy; the wicked man's enjoyments end in destruction, and therefore he is miserable.
1. The prosperity of the wicked is short and uncertain. The high places in which Providence sets them are slippery places (Psa 73:18), where they cannot long keep footing; but, when they offer to climb higher, that very attempt will be the occasion of their sliding and falling. Their prosperity has no firm ground; it is not built upon God's favour or his promise; and they have not the satisfaction of feeling that it rests on firm ground.
2. Their destruction is sure, and sudden, and very great. This cannot be meant of any temporal destruction; for they were supposed to spend all their days in wealth and their death itself had no bands in it: In a moment they go down to the grace, so that even that could scarcely be called their destruction; it must therefore be meant of eternal destruction on the other side death - hell and destruction. They flourish for a time, but are undone for ever. (1.) Their ruin is sure and inevitable. He speaks of it as a thing done - They are cast down; for their destruction is as certain as if it were already accomplished. He speaks of it as God's doing, and therefore it cannot be resisted: Thou castest them down. It is destruction from the Almighty (Joe 1:15), from the glory of his power, Th2 1:9. Who can support those whom God will cast down, on whom God will lay burdens? (2.) It is swift and sudden; their damnation slumbers not; for how are they brought into desolation as in a moment! Psa 73:19. It is easily effected, and will be a great surprise to themselves and all about them. (3.) It is severe and very dreadful. It is a total and final ruin: They are utterly consumed with terrors, It is the misery of the damned that the terrors of the Almighty, whom they have made their enemy, fasten upon their guilty consciences, which can neither shelter themselves from them nor strengthen themselves under them; and therefore not their being, but their bliss, must needs be utterly consumed by them; not the least degree of comfort or hope remains to them; the higher they were lifted up in their prosperity the sorer will their fall be when they are cast down into destructions (for the word is plural) and suddenly brought into desolation.
3. Their prosperity is therefore not to be envied at all, but despised rather, quod erat demonstrandum - which was the point to be established, Psa 73:20. As a dream when one awaketh, so, O Lord! when thou awakest, or when they awake (as some read it), thou shalt despise their image, their shadow, and make it to vanish. In the day of the great judgment (so the Chaldee paraphrase reads it), when they are awaked out of their graves, thou shalt, in wrath, despise their image; for they shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt. See here, (1.) What their prosperity now is; it is but an image, a vain show, a fashion of the world that passes away; it is not real, but imaginary, and it is only a corrupt imagination that makes it a happiness; it is not substance, but a mere shadow; it is not what it seems to be, nor will it prove what we promise ourselves from it; it is as a dream, which may please us a little, while we are asleep, yet even then it disturbs our repose; but, how pleasing soever it is, it is all but a cheat, all false; when we awake we find it so. A hungry man dreams that he eats, but he awakes and his soul is empty, Isa 29:8. A man is never the more rich or honourable for dreaming he is so. Who therefore will envy a man the pleasure of a dream? (2.) What will be the issue of it; God will awake to judgment, to plead his own and his people's injured cause; they shall be made to awake out of the sleep of their carnal security, and then God shall despise their image; he shall make it appear to all the world how despicable it is; so that the righteous shall laugh at them, Psa 52:6, Psa 52:7. How did God despise that rich man's image when he said, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee! Luk 12:19, Luk 12:20. We ought to be of God's mind, for his judgment is according to truth, and not to admire and envy that which he despises and will despise; for, sooner or later, he will bring all the world to be of his mind.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–19 For I was envious at the foolish,.... The atheists,…
For I was envious at the foolish,.... The atheists, as in Psa 14:1, who deny the creation, as Arama; the wicked, as after explained, as all wicked men are, how wise soever they may be in things natural and civil, yet in religious things, in things of a spiritual nature, they have no understanding; they are proud boasters, glory in themselves, and in their outward attainments, as the word (d) here used signifies; the external happiness of these, their riches, health, and ease, were envied by the psalmist; see Psa 37:1,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, or "the peace of the wicked" (e); with an evil eye. This was the occasion of his slip and fall, this was the temptation he was left unto for a while.
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(d) "in arrogantes", Gejerus; "stolide gloriosos", Michaelis; "at vain glorious fools", Ainsworth. (e) "pacem", Pagninus, Musculus, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19 No bands - They are not dragged to death,…
No bands - They are not dragged to death, by the sentence of the magistrate, which they deserve.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Verse 3. I was envious at the foolish] I…
Verse 3. I was envious at the foolish] I saw persons who worshipped not the true God, and others who were abandoned to all vices, in possession of every temporal comfort, while the godly were in straits, difficulties, and affliction. I began then to doubt whether there was a wise providence; and my mind became irritated. It seems to have been a maxim among the ancient heathens, Θεου ονειδος τους κακους ευδαιμονειν, "The prosperity of the wicked is a reproach to the gods." But they had no just conception of a state of future rewards and punishments. Besides, man could not bear prosperity. If men had uninterrupted comforts here, perhaps not one soul would ever seek a preparation for heaven. Human trials and afflictions, the general warfare of human life, are the highest proof of a providence as benevolent as it is wise. Were the state of human affairs different from what it is, hell would be more thickly peopled; and there would be fewer inhabitants in glory. There is reason to doubt whether there would be any religion upon earth had we nothing but temporal prosperity. Indeed, all the following verses are proofs of it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Psa 73:4. For there are no bands in their…
Psa 73:4. For there are no bands in their death — They are not violently dragged to an untimely death, either by the hand and sentence of the magistrate, which yet they deserve, or by any sudden and unexpected stroke of Divine Providence, like the fruit forced from the tree before it is ripe, but are left to hang on, till, through old age, they gently drop off themselves. Hebrew, אין חרצבות, een chartzuboth, There are no pangs, anguish, or agonies, in their death; they are not afflicted with sore and painful diseases, nor brought to the grave by grievous torments of body or mind; but after a long life, in firm and vigorous health, they enjoy a sweet and quiet death, and depart easily out of the world: “while others of a contrary character are worn with chronical, or racked with acute disorders, which bring them with sorrow and torment to the grave.” — Horne. But their strength is firm — Hebrew, בריא אולם, baria ulam, their strength is fat, that is, sound and good; the best of any thing being called fat, in Scripture, as Gen 41:2; Dan 1:15. They continue strong and healthful all their days, till at last they expire quietly, as a lamp goes out when the oil is spent.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–19 For I was envious at the foolish - The…
For I was envious at the foolish - The word “foolish” here refers to sinners. It may either refer to them as foolish, or as proud, insolent, vain - for so the word is elsewhere used. See Psa 14:1.
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked - More literally, “the peace of the wicked.” The reference is not so much to their prosperity in general as to their peace; their conscious safety; their freedom from trouble; and especially their calmness, and their freedom from suffering, in death. From all this he was led for the moment to doubt whether there was any advantage in religion; whether God was just; and whether he befriended the righteous anymore than he did the wicked.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–19 3. Envious at the foolish—I saw their prosperity, and…
3. Envious at the foolish—I saw their prosperity, and thought they were more favoured than I, and I was dissatisfied. See Psa_37:1; Pro_23:17; Mal_3:14-15
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 3. I was envious] Cp. Psa_37:1; and the repeated…
3. I was envious] Cp. Psa_37:1; and the repeated warnings of the Book of Pro_3:31; Pro_23:17; Pro_24:1; Pro_24:19.
the foolish] Rather as R.V., the arrogant, a word denoting boastful blustering presumption. Cp. Psa_5:5; Psa_75:4.
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the prosperity] Lit. the peace. Cp. Job_21:9, “their houses are in peace without fear.”
3–9. The cause: the unbroken prosperity of the godless. Cp. Job’s indignant complaint, Psa_21:7 ff.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19 (3) Foolish.—Better, arrogant.
(3) Foolish.—Better, arrogant.
When I saw.—Perhaps the conjunction is wrongly supplied, and the word “saw” here is synonymous with “envied” in the first clause. (Comp. Latin invideo.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–19 For I was envious at the foolish, when I…
For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (comp. Psa_37:1) To envy the wicked because they prosper is to make more account of the good things of this life than of God"s favour to prefer physical good to moral. It is also to doubt that God governs the universe by the strict rule of justice. The word translated "foolish" means rather, "vain arrogant boasters." Such the wicked commonly become when they prosper. (comp. Psa_5:5)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv3–19 Ver. 3. For I was envious at the foolish.…
Ver. 3. For I was envious at the foolish. "The foolish" is the generic title of all the wicked: they are beyond all others fools, and he must be a fool who envies fools. Some read it, "the proud:" and, indeed, these, by their ostentation, invite envy, and many a mind which is out of gear spiritually, becomes infected with that wasting disease. It is a pitiful thing that an heir of heaven should have to confess "I was envious, "but worse still that he should have to put it, "I was envious at the foolish." Yet this acknowledgment is, we fear, due from most of us.
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. His eye was fixed too much on one thing; he saw their present, and forgot their future, saw their outward display, and overlooked their soul's discomfort. Who envies the bullock his fat when he recollects the shambles? Yet some poor afflicted saint has been sorely tempted to grudge the ungodly sinner his temporary plenty. All things considered, Dives had more cause to envy Lazarus than Lazarus to be envious of Dives.
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Ver. 3. I was envious at the foolish, etc. If we consider with ourselves how unlikely a thing it is to grow big with riches, and withal to enter through the eye of a needle, how unusual a thing it is to be emparadised in this life and yet enthroned in that to come, it will afford us matter of comfort if we are piously improsperous as well as of terror if we are prosperously impious. We should be taught by the precept of the prophet David not to fret ourselves because of evildoers, nor to be envious against the workers of iniquity; for "The prosperity of fools shall but destroy them, "saith Solomon, and "the candle of the wicked shall be put out." Pr 24:1-2, 19-20. Prosperity it seems is a dangerous weapon, and none but the innocent should dare to use it. The psalmist himself, before he thought upon this, began to envy the prosperity of wicked men. William Crouch, in "The Enormous Sin of Covetousness detected." 1708.
Ver. 3. I was envious at the foolish. Who would envy a malefactor's going up a high ladder, and being mounted above the rest of the people, when it is only for a little, and in order to his being turned over and hanged? That is just the case of wicked men who are mounted up high in prosperity; for it is so only that they may be cast down deeper into destruction. It would be a brutish thing to envy an ox his high and sweet pasture, when he is only thereby fitted for the day of slaughter. Who would have envied the beasts of old the garlands and ribbons with which the heathen adorned them when they went to be sacrificed? These external ornaments of health, wealth, pleasure, and preferments, wherewith wicked men are endowed, cannot make their state happy, nor change their natures for the better. Whatever appearance these things make in the eyes of the world, they are but like a noisome dunghill covered with scarlet, as vile and loathsome in God's sight as ever. How quickly is the beauty of earthly things blasted. "The triumphing of the wicked is short." Job 20:5. They live in pleasures on the earth for awhile, but God "sets them in slippery places, "from whence they soon slide into perpetual pain and anguish. They have a short time of mirth, but they shall have an eternity of mourning. John Willison.
Ver. 3. For I was envious at the foolish. The sneering jest of Dionysius the younger, a tyrant of Sicily, when, after having robbed the temple of Syracuse, he had a prosperous voyage with the plunder, is well known. "See you not, "says he to those who were with him, "how the gods favour the sacrilegious?" In the same way the prosperity of the wicked is taken as an encouragement to commit sin; for we are ready to imagine that, since God grants them so much of the good things of this life, they are the objects of his approbation and favour. We see how their prosperous condition wounded David to the heart, leading him almost to think that there was nothing better for him than to join himself to their company, and to follow their course of life. John Calvin.
Ver. 3. Envious. If you are touched with envy at seeing the peace of the wicked, shut your eyes, do not look at it, for envious eyes think anything vast on which they gaze. Actius Sincerus, a man of rare wit and great reputation, when in the presence of king Frederic, witnessed a discussion among physicians on what would most effectually sharpen the eyesight? The fumes of fennel, said some; the use of a glass, said others; some one thing, some another; but I, said he, replied, Envy. The doctors were astonished, and much amusement afforded to the audience at their expense. Then I continued: Does not Envy make all things seem larger and fuller? And what could be more to your purpose than that the very faculty of seeing should itself be made greater and stronger. Thomas Le Blanc.
Ver. 3. The prosperity of the wicked. Socrates, being asked what would be vexatious to good men, replied, "The prosperity of the bad." Thomas Le Blanc.
Ver. 3. Diogenes, the cynic, seeing Harpalus, a vicious fellow, still thriving in the world, he was bold to say that wicked Harpalus's living long in prosperity was an argument that God had cast off his care of the world, that he cared not which end went forward. But he was a heathen. Yet, for all that, the lights of the sanctuary have burnt dim; stars of no small magnitude have twinkled; men of eminent parts, famous in their generation for religion and piety, have staggered in their judgment to see the flourishing estate of the wicked. It made Job to complain, and Jeremiah to expostulate with God; and David was even ready to sink in seeing the prosperity of ungodly men: to see the one in wealth, the other in want; the one honourable, the other despised; the one upon a throne, the other on a dunghill. John Donne.
None.
Psalms 73:4*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16 I was envious at the foolish, when I saw…
Psa_73:3
I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
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A popular fallacy exposed
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 Gods 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
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.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v13 The Believer’s Trust at the Realization of the Truth
The Believer’s Trust at the Realization of the Truth
v. 13. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, in view of the offense given by the prosperity of the ungodly, and washed my hands in innocency, making diligent efforts to live a holy life before the Lord.
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v. 14. For all the day long have I been plagued, buffeted with troubles on every hand, and chastened every morning, some new visitation of the Lord striking him with every new day. The psalmist, however, guards against such blasphemous utterances; he does not want to become guilty of speeches against the Lord.
v. 15. If I say, I will speak thus, his thoughts being on the point of being uttered, behold, I should offend against the generation of Thy children, giving offense to the Lord’s people by an act of perfidy against Jehovah, that is, he found himself in the position of Paul, Romans 7, when he speaks of the quarrel in his members.
v. 16. When I thought to know this, to get a satisfactory explanation of the riddle presented in the situation, it was too painful for me, his pondering remained a toil, did not offer him a satisfactory solution,
v. 17. until I went into the Sanctuary of God, to the Tabernacle, or Temple, where the Word of the Lord was kept, which reveals also the mysteries of God’s government of the world, so far as God wants the believers to know them; then understood I their end, then he found out what would be the final disposition of the ungodly, what fate God had in store for them.
v. 18. Surely Thou didst set them in slippery places, they who believed themselves so safe and secure against misfortune were in reality in danger of slipping every moment; Thou castedst them down into destruction, bringing sudden ruin upon them.
v. 19. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors, wasted away, reduced to nothing, by the horror of the fate which overtook them.
v. 20. As a dream when one awaketh, from the moment when a person arouses himself from his sleep, so, O Lord, when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image. A dream may seem real enough while it lasts. but upon awaking a person shakes it off with its effects, as lacking in material substance. Thus the ungodly, with all their show of prosperity, are nothing but a dream-picture in the eyes of God; there is no place for them in the eternal city of God, their fate is decided.
v. 21. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins, that is, if his heart should become embittered, if it should hurt him inside, in his inward parts, in his feelings;
v. 22. so foolish was I and ignorant; I was as a beast before Thee, he would have been foolish and like an irrational animal before God if he had yielded to dissatisfaction and bitterness. But he shakes off the attack and states what his true comfort consists in.
v. 23. Nevertheless I am continually with Thee, in spite of all the offense given by the unbelievers and their apparent good fortune; Thou hast holden me by my right hand, keeping the believer from falling, holding him secure with His almighty power.
v. 24. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel for God shows each of His children on which paths they should go forward, and afterward receive me to glory, when he has reached the goal, his soul’s salvation, receiving the reward of mercy. Therefore every believer is constrained to call out with Asaph:
v. 25. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? God is his highest Good; in Him there is complete satisfaction. And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee, he no longer finds true pleasure in this world and all its goods.
v. 26. My flesh and my heart faileth, they faint, pine, dwindle away under the attacks of misery and tribulation; but God is the Strength of: my heart, the dependable Rock of his faith, and my Portion forever, the inheritance which will give the believer eternal satisfaction and enjoyment. The psalmist therefore, in conclusion, offers a summary of his meditations.
v. 27. For, lo, they that are far from Thee shall perish, they who have left God, have become estranged to Him by means of their pride and arrogance, will become victims of eternal destruction; Thou hast destroyed all them that go a-whoring from Thee, in spiritual adultery, in idolatry, by their disobedience and faithlessness.
v. 28. But it is good for me, it is his greatest pleasure and happiness, to draw near to God, to be united with Him in the fellowship of faith; I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all Thy works, that he may have reason to praise the works of God for his own salvation. In heaven we shall have the full revelation of the fact that it was the mercy and kindness of God which directed Him in His entire relation toward us, even during periods which seemed dark to us, which we could not explain at the time, and that the end and goal was the salvation of our souls and the glory of heaven.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18 General Information:
General Information:
Asaph begins to describe how he sometimes wants to complain to God about those who are "arrogant" and "wicked" (Psalms 73:3).
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the burdens of other men
The words "burdens" is a metonym for the struggles of daily life (need for food, shelter, clothing, and health). (See: Metonymy)
they are not afflicted like other men
"they do not suffer the way other people do"
translationWords
die
free
burden
afflicted
like
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6, 9, 13, 15, 17 73:4-12 The psalmist presents a caricature of the bliss…
73:4-12 The psalmist presents a caricature of the bliss of the wicked (cp. Ps 1).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.