Psalm 73 "How would God know?"

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
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.



a. Psalm 73:4 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text struggles at their death; / their bodies are healthy
b. Psalm 73:7 Syriac (see also Septuagint); Hebrew Their eyes bulge with fat
c. Psalm 73:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

It's a psalm so the commentaries are ripe with long-winded commentary. This is the summary from the enduringword.com site.

The title of this Psalm (A Psalm of Asaph) tells us that it was written by the great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s era (1 Chronicles 15:17-19, 16:5-7, 16:17, 2 Chronicles 25:6 and 29:13). This wonderful psalm may be best understood by the dominate pronouns within. When Asaph is troubled by the fate of the ungodly (73:1-12) the dominate pronoun is they. When he describes his own frustrated thinking leading to the resolution (73:13-17) the dominate pronoun is I. When he finds resolution of the problem (73:18-22) the dominate pronoun is You, in the sense of God. When He proclaims the assurance of his faith and fellowship with God (73:23-28) the dominate pronouns are a mixture of You and I.
Recently I saw a post saying something like "where did God come from?" I could not resist.... I had to reply.... and I said.... "I'll ask Him when Jesus introduces us" or something like that..... and then I thought.... fancy me..... thinking I would get an invitation to meet God in person...... and I added "If I get the opportunity" or something like that.

That bugged me all day.... I was really worried that someone might get a "big headed" impression of me.... after all what is so special about me that God who created everything and everyone.... would listen for a prayer from me. Then I thought of all the "Prayer Groups" that I've been involved in over the years.... does repeating the prayer on multiple lips really make a difference to God? Do I have to get a stadium full of prayers or will just two do? After all the Bible says "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20.

The long and the short of it may just be as personal as a Father and his adopted daughter. When something happens..... go tell Dad. Dad will take care of it!

A long long long time ago.... some boys attached my brother. My dad was home.... and he watched the whole thing. He didn't interfere.... he was there in case things got out of control.... but this was my brother's fight. My brother got knocked down.... nope.... Dad didn't interfere and my brother got right back up and continued the fight. My dad said..... "this was his fight..... and he did a good job of handling the situation..... if I had interfered.... then they wouldn't have any respect for him." Smart.... if you ask me.....

Maybe God is just watching..... letting us earn our own respect..... maybe we need to stand up when things are wrong.... maybe if we get knocked down.... we should just jump back up.... not waiting for God to pull us up..... like a child when they fall down the first time..... we have to get up on our own.... but once we do.... respect. It doesn't matter what God knows.... It matters what God thinks.... respect is big. God knows....

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