Bible Commentaries
Psalms 73

Introduction

AFTER the Psalmist, in Psalms 73:1, has shortly expressed the truth which had been awakened, in an especial manner, in his own heart, and which he desires to awaken in the hearts of the members of the church, “ that God is always good to his own people,” he represents, in Psalms 73:2-11, the facts which had caused him almost to waver in this belief, in a picturesque description of the prosperity of the ungodly, depicts, in Psalms 73:12-16, the conflicts and struggles into which he was thereby brought, and, in Psalms 73:17-20, the victory which he gained, when brought by the grace of God to know that the prosperity of the wicked, and the sufferings of the righteous, are alike transitory, complains of his own foolishness, as the source of his doubts, and praises the grace of God, which had removed these from him, Psalms 73:21-24, and expresses his unqualified assurance of the divine assistance, and of salvation, Psalms 73:25-28.

The main division has twenty verses, two decades. These are followed by two concluding strophes, each of four verses. The whole contains four sevens. The main turning point lies in the middle.

The Psalm is very nearly related to the Psalms 37 and Psalms 49, as far as its contents are concerned. Amyraldus took quite a correct view as to what distinguishes it from these Psalms and forms its individual physiognomy. “In Psalms 37 the prophet merely shows how believers ought to conduct themselves when they perceive the prosperity of the ungodly: he himself did not stumble at it. But here Asaph, though a great and pious man, acknowledges that the providence of God, in this respect, did sometimes appear to him mysterious, and that he felt great difficulty in justifying it. Yea, from the very beginning of the Psalm we see how he merged out of the deep thoughts into which his spirit, agitated and vexed by doubts, had sunk, until, in the end, better views obtained the ascendancy . . . . He has adopted this method in order that believers might contemplate, as in a picture, the conflict to which, at times, they are exposed, and might see what weapons they have to seize against the assaults of the flesh.”

Several recent expositors have endeavoured to force upon the Psalm a national interpretation. But there is no mention whatever made of the heathen throughout the whole of it: it is the wicked only in general that are spoken of. How little good ground there is for interpreting such descriptions as these exclusively of the relation in which Israel stood to the heathen, (the relation here, at all events, is only that of the election, Psalms 73:1), is manifest from Jeremiah 12:1-2, where there occur complaints altogether similar to those of our Psalm, and which were occasioned by the unjustifiable conduct of the people of Anathoth.

There is nothing in this Psalm, more than there is in Psalms 50, against supposing that the Asaph named in the title as the author, was David’s chief musician. For the assertion that משואות , in Psalms 73:18 th, a word of very rare occurrence, but common to our Psalm with the Psalms 74, which was composed after the destruction of the temple, shows that both Psalms were composed at the same era, is met by the ( Psalms 73:17) 17th verse, where the sanctuary of the Lord is represented as still standing, and also by the fact that the ( Psalms 73:13) 13th verse of our Psalm is alluded to in Proverbs 20:9. Besides, it may be maintained that the author of the (Psalms 74) 74th Psalm may have borrowed the word from this one. In favour of the authorship of the Psalm belonging to the time of David, we may urge the originality, freshness and life by which the poem is distinguished.

Verse 1

Ver. 1. God is only good to Israel, to such as are of a pure heart. The אךְ? , according to many expositors, is “yet”, that is, “in spite of every thing which would lead the Psalmist away from this truth, and deprive him of its consolatory power.” But אךְ? has never this, sense; and the usual and fully ascertained sense, (comp. Psalms 73:18), is quite suitable:—” Only good,”—not as foolishness, looking on the outward appearance, supposes, in certain circumstances also evil. It is exceedingly difficult to say this “only” from the heart. He only can do so, who has come into the sanctuary of God. טוב is not a subs., (Stier: the true good and prosperity), but an adj.; it is employed as such in Psalms 73:26, and it is used of God, for example, in Psalms 25:8, Psalms 34:8, Psalms 118:1, Nahum 1:7, Lamentations 3:25. Good:—not evil, as the righteous man may well suppose, when he is plagued continually, tormented every morning, while the wicked swim in prosperity. That God is good, is manifest from his goodness towards his own people:—assuredly טוב has the sense of kind neither here nor any where else. Towards Israel:—both in its collective and individual capacity. Those who are Israelites only in appearance and the heathen from the opposition. The limiting clause, “such as are of a pure heart,” (compare Psalms 73:13, and at Psalms 24:6), shows that by Israel the Psalmist understands only the Election, the true Israelites in whom there is no guile, to the exclusion of the false seed, the souls who, according to the expression of the law, are cut off from their people, even although they are found to be outwardly living in the midst of them, compare on Psalms 24:6. It is only to these true Israelites that the promises of God are given: it is they only therefore who, in the event of these promises remaining unfulfilled, would have any reason to doubt of his goodness. The distinction which the Psalmist makes among the Israelites themselves, at the very beginning of the Psalm, goes directly against those who consider the Psalm as having a national reference. The wicked among the Israelites are by that distinction put exactly on a level with the heathen.

Verses 2-11

Ver. 2. And my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped. Ver. 3. For I envied the haughty, the peace of the wicked I beheld. Ver. 4. For they are not fettered to death, and their strength is firm. Ver. 5. They are not in the sufferings mortals, and they are not plagued with men. Ver. 6. Therefore pride encompasses their neck, the garment of haughtiness covers them. Ver. 7. Their eyes stand out from fat, the thoughts of their hearts flow over. Ver. 8. They scoff, and speak in wickedness, they speak oppression from on high. Ver. 9. They set their mouth in the heaven, and their tongue walks up and down the earth. Ver. 10. Therefore he turns his people hither, and waters in abundance are sipped by them. Ver. 11. And they say: how should God know, and knowledge be in the Most High.

The “I” in the ( Psalms 73:2) 2d verse emphatically occupies the foremost place:

I say this not at all superficially, but from my own experience of the contest and of the victory. The reading in the text נָ?טוּ?י is the stat. absol. of the particip. Pa., not according to some, the stat. constr. נְ?טוּ?י , one inclined in my feet. The Keri נָ?טָ?יו , the 3d Pl. Praet. is to be rejected, as having been adopted as explanatory of the meaning. The נטה is used of feet inclined to fall, as it is at Psalms 62:3, of a wall. Instead of שֻ?פּ?ְ?כָ?ה , the third sing. fem. of Pu. (compare, on the frequent use of the plural with the fem. sing. of the predicate, the Masorites substitute שֻ?פּ?ְ?כוּ? . A similar Keri reading, and one equally useless, occurs on the same word in Deuteronomy 21:7. The footsteps, when one cannot stand firm, are as it were spilt, like water which flows down on all sides: comp. Psalms 22:14. The subsequent part of the Psalm defines the danger to which the Psalmist was exposed, and shows in what the struggle consisted which had almost brought him to the ground. The prosperity of the wicked filled him with doubts as to the divine righteousness, and these shook the whole edifice of his religion to its very foundation. On “I envied,” in Psalms 73:3, compare at Psalms 37:1; and on הוללים , “haughty,” at Psalms 5:5. Pain and vexation are such natural attendants of the sight of the peace of the wicked, that there is no need for expressly mentioning them. The חרצבות , in Psalms 73:4, must, according to Isaiah 58:6, and the Arabic, be translated “fetters”; the sense of “pain” has nothing whatever to support it. The “fetters” denote figuratively the death-bringing circumstances which God suspends over the guilty: compare Job 11:17, “how oft is the candle of the wicked put out, and their destruction cometh upon them, God sends them cords in his anger,” and at Psalms 11:6. The Psalmist is, through the grace of God, assured in Psalms 73:17-20, that this, which he here finds to be wanting, will make its appearance at the end; and thus the conflict is brought to an end; for its peculiar difficulty is not that the wicked are in prosperity, but that this prosperity is, to all appearance, to last for ever, The אול , strength, (compare 2 Kings 24:15), occurs in Job 21:7, “wherefore do the wicked live, continue, and are powerful in strength,” not as several arbitrarily, “in body.” The “great in strength” may very well be designated poetically as fat, well fed.

The “misery of men,” in Psalms 73:5, is the misery to which weak mortals are so abundantly exposed: compare on אנוש , at Psalms 8:4. The אדם , without the article, and in the singular number, denotes the whole human race in its widest extent. The wicked alone appear to form an exception to the mournful rule, “there can and may be nothing else, all men must suffer, nothing that moves and lives on the earth can escape suffering.” Reason has a difficulty; she finds here a singular anomaly; she supposes that the rule ought rather to be applied with increased severity to those who appear to form the exception from it. On this account, Psalms 73:6: on account of this their freedom from punishment. ענק is “to surround like a neck-ornament.” The reason which led the Psalmist to speak of pride as a neck-ornament of the wicked, for the purpose of expressing the thought that they are wholly beset with it, was in all probability the fact that it was their manner of carrying their neck that chiefly exhibited their pride: compare Isaiah 3:16, Job 15:26. The למו , properly “to them,” is explained by the modification of the sense of עטף : compare the כסה with ל in Isaiah 11:9. In the first clause of Psalms 73:7, the Psalmist describes in a graphic manner a well-fed wicked man, whose eyes stand out with fat from his body. The external appearance comes into view only as a reflection and expression of their carnal mind, which so often displays itself by such appearances: compare on Psalms 17:10, where also, the arbitrary senses of חלב , which have been brought forward on this passage, are set aside. As the eyes of the wicked stand out of their bodies, so their thoughts rush out from their hearts: this is a sign of their might and power:—they will not practice the least forbearance, but give instant and full expression to their thoughts in words and in deeds, according to the expression, “that of which their heart is full, &c.” The naked עבר does, not signify “to transgress,” but “to overflow,” like a river, for example, which cannot be confined within its banks, Isaiah 8:8. In the ( Psalms 73:8) 8th verse ממרים cannot be taken adverbially, in the sense of “proudly”: it must be translated “out of the height,” “from above.” This is manifest from what follows: and, moreover, its usual sense is, “from heaven’s height.” The thought appears to be resumed in the following verse, chiefly from the parallelism of heaven and earth. “They speak oppression”: that is, words which tend to oppression: see Isaiah 59:13. The בשמים and בארץ signifies, as it always does, when the two words come together, “in heaven and on the earth:” and, therefore, “against heaven,” and “to the heaven,” are to be rejected. The sense of the first clause is very well expressed by Luther: What they say must be said from heaven.” חלךְ? signifies only “to go,” “to go up and down,” and the stronger senses are to be considered as arbitrarily adopted. The going simply denotes their activity. Their wicked and domineering tongue is always employed. In Psalms 73:10, the text-reading is the fut. of Hiph, ישיב : the reading in the margin, ישוב , owes its origin entirely to want of insight. The subject is the wicked: and it is to this that the suffix in “ his people” refers. The idea that it refers to God is inadmissible, as God had not been spoken of. “The wicked turns his people thither” thus signifies, “by his freedom from punishment, and his prosperity, he prevails upon others to leave the right path, and to adopt his sentiments.” The people of the wicked stands in opposition to the generation of the children of God in Psalms 73:15. Among this people there are many who appeared at one time to belong to the Lord’s people, but whose conduct has made it manifest, that their external piety was, at bottom, nothing else than hypocrisy. The true members of the church of God may stumble, but they do not fall. God stretches out his hand to them when they are ready to sink, and they lay hold of it by faith. In the second clause ימצו is the Niph. of מצה , “to sip.” The מלא , “full,” occupies the place of a noun: water in abundance. The rich prosperity which the apostates enjoy, as the reward of their apostacy, appears under the figure of a rich draught presented to the thirsty; they sip prosperity in full measure. Others refer the words to the eagerness with which they have adopted their dangerous principles, which they drink in, as it were, in full streams, (compare Job 15:16); but the figurative use of water for prosperity is the common one, and, on the other hand, the expression does not clearly bring out the other sense. These apostates, through the prosperity of their predecessors in wickedness, and their own, according to Psalms 73:11, are soon brought to deny the providence of God altogether: compare Psalms 10:11, Job 22:13-14.

Verses 12-16

In Psalms 73:12-16, the Psalmist depicts the struggles and conflicts into which he had been brought, from observing, that to all appearance righteousness had been wholly deprived of its reward, and wickedness of its punishment. Ver. 12. Behold these are the wicked, and the eternally secure increase their wealth. Ver. 13. Only in vain I have purified my heart, and washed my hands in innocence. Ver. 14. For I have been plagued continually, and my chastisement is every morning. Ver. 15. If I say, “I will announce this,” behold I would act treacherously towards the generation of thy sons. Ver. 16. And I meditated, that I might know this: it was a pain in my eyes.

According to the common view, Psalms 73:12-14 are to be considered as a continuation of the speech of the apostates. But the Psalmist had spoken of these in the plural, and he must continue to do so, otherwise it would not be possible to distinguish his own observations from theirs. The description, moreover, of the ungodly as the children of the wicked, and their openly ungodly speech in Psalms 73:11, do not suit with Psalms 73:13 and Psalms 73:14, according to which it is a sincerely pious man that speaks here. The expression, “these are the wicked”, in Psalms 73:12, is also against this interpretation. The apostates have already become wicked themselves, and are not likely to apply this name to their predecessors in wickedness. Finally, the person who speaks here, is, according to Psalms 73:14, still in a state of suffering; but the apostates are, according to Psalms 73:10, in prosperity. We must, therefore, conclude that the Psalmist, in Psalms 73:12-14, describes the impression made upon him, the representative of real and living piety, by the contradiction between sight and faith, between the reality and the idea. These (the men to whom such descriptions apply) are the wicked:—the same men whom I behold swimming in affluence, are the very wicked men, who, according to the word of God, must be brought to shame and misery. And those secure of eternity, i.e. those who now already are secure for a whole eternity,—עולם is to be explained as the language of sense: the prosperity of the wicked, which is objectively bounded by a definite period of time, appears to impatience as if it were a whole eternity of impunity— increase their wealth, or reach forward to still greater riches: compare on חיל in Deuteronomy 8:17, Psalms 60:12, Psalms 49:6, Psalms 49:10. On Psalms 73:13, Calvin: “Assuredly, I have striven in vain to have a pure hand and a pure heart, whereas continual conflicts await me, and are ready like watch-men to lay hold upon me, as soon as morning dawns.” The necessary limitation to “I have purified and washed,” is given in Proverbs 20:9, “who can say, I have purified my heart, I am free from my sin,” namely, otherwise than in the sense in which the Psalmist says it, whose words are not to be misunderstood,—in that of a sincere struggle after righteousness. The first clause points to “such as are of a pure heart” in Psalms 73:1. On the second clause compare Psalms 26:6.

On Psalms 73:14, compare Job 7:18, “And thou visitest him every morning, and triest him every moment.” “I have been plagued” stands in opposition to “they are not plagued,” which is said of the wicked in Psalms 73:5. The תוכחת , censure, is used, as it is in Psalms 39:11, of such censure as is conveyed in the shape of a sermo realis: the connection and the parallelism will not allow us to think of any thing else. It is, therefore, very weighty reasons that have perplexed the Psalmist. But another voice rises from within, warning him with great earnestness not to come forth as a preacher of ungodliness, Psalms 73:15. “If I say: I will announce thus, &c.” is equivalent to, “should I make these doubts public.” ספר is “to recount,” “to make known,” “to preach.” What had gone before was merely a soliloquy. Those who fear God, never let their inward doubts become known abroad. They do not repair with them to the streets, where the ignorant people would make them the occasion of open ungodliness; but they take them to the sanctuary of God; and give expression to their doubts, like the Psalmist, when they can, at the same time, make known their victory. The arbitrary translation of ספר by “think,” is also rejected by the second clause: Mere thinking would not produce such consequences. The כמו , which is merely the separate form of כ , is nothing else than the mark of comparison; and the expositions in which it is taken in any other way are to be summarily rejected. There is an ellipsis: thus, namely, what had just been spoken of, my doubts as to the divine justice, my opinion, that it is to no purpose to lead a blameless life. The omission of what is said after אמר , when it can be obviously supplied from the context, is quite analogous to this: compare on Psalms 4:4, Vol. i. page 65. On בגד , to act faithlessly, used of every violation of duty towards our neighbour, generally with ב , here poetically with the accus. in the sense of, “to treat faithlessly,” compare at Psalms 25:3. The faithlessness consists not in the mere abandoning—this could scarcely be denoted in this way—but in misleading: compare what Eliphaz objected to Job, of whose words, Psalms 73:12-14, contain the essence, Job 15:4, “thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.” “The generation of the children of God”=“the righteous generation,” of Psalms 14:5, and = “Israel” of Psalms 73:1 st. The sonship of God always implies, in the Old Testament, the most endearing love, such as that of a father to his son: compare on Psalms 2:7; Vol. i. page 31:—whoever misleads the beloved of God, or robs them of their most valuable possessions, commits a serious offence. Stier is wrong, when he asserts that this allusion is a singular one for the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 14:1-2, corresponds exactly. What is there said of Israel, is applicable, like every thing else of a similar nature, only to the kernel of the people: and it is manifest from Psalms 73:1, that the generation of the sons of God here, are Israel—the others are, indeed, of Israel, but they are not Israel.

The Psalmist, according to Psalms 73:16 th, seeks to understand this,—the contradiction between idea and reality, in the experience of the wicked and the righteous; but it is necessary for him to know, that human speculation, and research, can in this matter accomplish nothing: the thing remains after all a sorrow in his eyes, which torments and pains him, more than even the sorrow itself which had called forth the question; for its greatest grievance lies in this, that it has perplexed him in reference to his God. Several expositors have: “it was troublesome, difficult to conceive of,” and refer to Ecclesiastes 8:17. But עמל signifies always in the Psalms, where it occurs very frequently, sorrow, trouble. The Keri הוא is intended probably to apply to the wicked.

Verses 17-20

In Psalms 73:17-20, the victory in this severe conflict is obtained through the grace of God.

Ver. 17. Till I come to the sanctuaries of God, now will I mark their end. Ver. 18. Only on slippery places settest thou them, thou lettest them fall to ruins. Ver. 19. How are they so suddenly annihilated, they perish and come to an end with terror. Ver. 20. Like a dream through awaking, thus despisest thou, O Lord, in the city, their image.

In Psalms 73:17, several explain, “till I pressed into the divine secrets.” But this explanation is altogether an arbitrary one. The word מקדש signifies always the sanctuary, and is the constant one for the tabernacle and the temple: compare, in reference to the plural, Psalms 68:35. There is no occasion whatever for departing from the fully ascertained and literal sense, if we only look upon the sanctuary with the eyes of the pious Israelites of the Old Testament dispensation. The substance of the temple to them was the presence of God, and just on this account, according to their view, any man could externally repair to the temple without being truly in it, and, in like manner, a man could be truly in it, even when outwardly at a distance from it: compare at Psalms 63:2, and the passages quoted there. The Psalmist thus goes here with the feet of his heart into the sanctuary, draws near to God, and gets from this clear fountain, that insight which natural reason could not give him. בוא אל which is used of coming to God, as for example, Ezekiel 44:27, makes it manifest that מקדש is used here, as it always is, in a local sense. In Ezekiel’s vision, that spiritual aspect of the sanctuary, which runs through the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets, assumes, as it were, flesh and blood. The expression, “I will think upon their end,” (several falsely, “I thought”), is connected with the first clause, as cause with effect. The end is here, in the first instance, temporal: compare Psalms 55:23, according to which, the wicked are carried off in the midst of their days. This appears clearly from the mention of “ruins” in Psalms 73:18, from the clause “in the city” Psalms 73:20, and also from the numerous parallel passages in the Psalms: compare at Psalms 37, Psalms 49. It is maintained, in opposition to this, that it is against all experience that the wicked do not prosper till their end. But experience only shows that the rule has exceptions:—exceptions confirm the rule. Lactantius, on the death of Persecutors, Leo’s History of the French Revolution, the Life of the poet Bürger, no less than that of the Emperor Napoleon, furnish remarkable proofs in its favour. The exceptions are designed to perplex those who do not go into the sanctuary of God. The recompense also, on this side, should, according to the design of God, remain always an object of faith. Here also God conceals himself, in order that he may be found by those who seek him. That this is so seldom done even by the well disposed, that even they are so much inclined to look upon the righteousness of God as inoperative in this life, is a melancholy proof of the degeneracy of the church, and of the lamentable prevalence of infidelity. In the time of the church’s vigour, the eyes are open for the tremendous judgments of God, and the sight of these forms the roots of the living hope of a future judgment. The necessary consequence of modern ideas is, that those sacred narratives, in which the avenging hand of God is introduced, as every where visible, have had given to them a mythic interpretation. Finally, there is in all probability a reference to Deuteronomy 32:29, “if they were wise they would understand this, they would consider their end,” יבינו לאחרותם :—the language there also refers to a temporal recompense, a judgment realized in the actual history.

In the first clause of the ( Psalms 73:18) 18th verse, the object is to be taken from the verb:—”thou settest to them”, i.e. “thou pointest out to them their position, their place.” Slippery places, are places where one may easily slide and fall: compare Psalms 35:6. The אךְ? is “ only there.” The sense of “ruins” is ascertained for משואות , in the only other passage where it occurs, Psalms 74:3.

In Psalms 73:19 th, ספר is not to be derived from ספה , but from סוף , “to cease” “to end.” The מן is the particle of cause: compare Job 18:11, “ Terrors alarm him on every side, and pursue him wherever he goes.” Sodom and Gomorrha, Pharaoh and the king of the Assyrians, who, in the midst of their prosperity, were overwhelmed in sudden destruction, furnish examples illustrative of the Psalmist’s position.

In Psalms 73:20 th, the verb in the first clause is to be supplied out of the second: as a dream is despised upon awaking, or through awaking, the מן , as in Psalms 73:19. The waking puts the dream in its true light, as a mere fancy:—thus through the judgment of God, the prosperity of the wicked is seen to be but as a shadow, a fleeting spectre, a hollow mask. The צלם , “the image,” is opposed here, as at Psalms 39:6, to the reality. The contempt is manifested in contemptuous conduct. In the city;—where they were annihilated and exposed to the derision of men: compare Job 34:26, “on account of their wickedness, he smites them in the open sight of others.” The other translations of בעיר , are to be rejected. Several give, “in wrath”;—but עיר has never this sense: in Hosea 11:9, בעיר is “in the city”:—”I enter not into the city,” compare Genesis 23:10, says God, corresponding to what goes before, “I am not a man.” Others suppose it to stand instead of בְ?הָ?עִ?יר , when thou awakest, or awakenest them. But the ה of the Infin. Hiph; is very seldom omitted after ב , and was most unlikely to have been omitted here, as the most obvious sense of בעיר , is undoubtedly “in the city.” The suffix would not have been wanting. De Wette himself is obliged to admit that the figure gets from the “awakening” a somewhat obscure turn. The “awaking” would not suit. Finally, Job 20:8, is parallel: “he flies away as a dream and is not found, and is driven away as a vision of the night.” The verse awanting in the half decade is supplied by Psalms 73:1 st, which now for the first time, after the clouds of doubting have been dispelled, shines forth in its full light.

Verses 21-24

In Psalms 73:21-24, we have the great foolishness of the Psalmist, and the grace of God, which did not reject him on account of it, but delivered him from it.

Ver. 21. For my heart was embittered, and I was pierced in my reins. Ver. 22. And I was dumb and knew not, I was a beast before thee. Ver. 23. Yet I remained continually by thee, thou didst lay hold of my right hand. Ver. 24. Thou guidest me by thy counsel and bringest me to honour.

The כי in Psalms 73:21, does not connect verse with verse, but paragraph with paragraph. The grounding, lies in the more detailed contrast. “Although,” will not suit, and כי cannot be translated “when.” חמץ is to sour, to be sharp, Hiph. to sour oneself, to exasperate oneself, to fret. The second clause, “and I was pierced in my reins,” is: I was preparing for myself a piercing pain. The רער , in Psalms 73:22, signifies brutish dumbness: compare Psalms 49:11, Proverbs 30:2. The object of the knowledge, is the matter in hand. The plural בהמות , is explained by what was said in the Beitr. p. 257, &c. of the use of the plural, even for an individual being, or an individual thing, when the idea appears as perfectly complete, so that there is a plurality really as well as apparently present. חכמות , as used in the Proverbs, is analogous,— wisdom, κατ . εξ ; but Behemoth, in Job 40:15, as an appellation of the hippopotamus, is exactly the same. We have, therefore, the Psalmist using the strongest possible language in condemnation of his own foolishness:—he acknowledges himself as chargeable with whatever there is of brutish dumbness, or of irrational conduct. That אמךְ? is to be interpreted, “beside thee”, or “in thy fellowship”, is manifest from the אמךְ? of the following verse, which refers to it. The Psalmist had poured out his complaints before God, had given free course to his murmuring doubts, had conducted himself irrationally in his presence.

The expression, “and I was continually by thee,” is, according to the connection, and the parallelism, not to be considered as an expression of self praise on the part of the Psalmist,

I was faithful to thee,—but as spoken in praise of the divine compassion and faithfulness. The “by thee,” refers back to the “by thee” of the preceding verse:—he who conducted himself like a beast, is away from decent company. But God had condescended to keep the Psalmist by him, and to deliver him from his painful perplexities, instead of punishing him on account of them. The right hands lay hold upon any thing—ימין , here the right side, hence the st. constr.—keep up one who is sinking, and prevent him from altogether falling down.

In Psalms 73:24 th, we have the confidence which the Psalmist obtained, after being delivered by the gracious assistance of God, from his irrational doubts and despair. He knows now that God, like a faithful shepherd, leads and guides him by his counsel and loving care, and that he will bring him from reproach to honour, and from suffering to joy, so that “the wise inherit glory, and shame is the promotion of fools,” shall be fulfilled in his experience. The second clause, literally, “after honour thou takest me”, implies, “thou takest me and bringest me in its train, or to honour.” The translation, “and afterwards thou takest me with honour, or in honour,” is to be rejected, because כבד is never used adverbially, and לכח signifies neither to take to, or to take on, (compare at Psalms 49:15), and stands too bare without the whence, and the whither, and in אחר כבוד , Zechariah 2:12, אחר , is a preposition, and finally, because “after that”, is not suitable. It is not after the guidance, but through the guidance of God, that the Psalmist is brought to honour. Against the exposition which adopts the idea of eternal glory—”thou takest me finally to glory”—it may be urged, that אחר , has not the sense of “finally,” and that כבוד , cannot simply denote the heavenly glory, of which there is not one single word throughout the whole Psalm. Finally, as to the translation, “after honour”, that is, “after thou hast brought me to honour,” (compare Zechariah 2:12, where “after honour”, stands for, “after ye have been brought to honour”), “thou wilt take me away,” either merely “from the earth,” to “thyself,” we would observe that according to it, תקחני is too bare.

Verses 25-28

The Psalmist concludes, in Psalms 73:25-28, with an expression of triumphant confidence in God, and in his salvation. Ver. 25. Who is there to me in heaven, and besides thee I desire none upon the earth. Ver. 26. My flesh and my heart waste away, God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever. Ver. 27. For, behold, those who are far from thee perish, thou destroyest all those who whore against thee. Ver. 28. But I,—nearness to God is good for me, I place my confidence upon the Lord Jehovah, that I may proclaim all thy works.

In Psalms 73:25 the second clause is to be supplemented out of the first: who is there to me whom I desire, namely, as a helper and saviour. The soul which has wandered from its God searches all heaven and earth for helpers and saviours. But when it has again found him, and been delivered from its doubts, he is sufficient for it, and it renounces all other saviours: comp. Psalms 16:2. The opposition is not between God and other good things, (the Berleb. Bible considers our passage as a locus class., for the pure love of the mystics), but between God and all other saviours. In Psalms 73:26 the כלה is to be taken hypothetically:—though it were come to the last extremity with me, to death; but, by the grace of God, it will not come to this. The heart is named as the seat of vitality; and God the rock of the heart, as its true supporter: compare Psalms 18:2. In reference to “my portion,” that is, “my helper and saviour,” compare Psalms 16:5. The verse is to be considered as a compend of Job 19:25-27: compare especially the ( Job 19:26) 26th verse, “and after my skin, this body is destroyed, and without my flesh I shall see God.” Even Job does not think that it will come to this with him, as indeed it cannot; but though it were to come to this, yet even in this case, confiding in the power and love of God, he is sure of his deliverance. It is clear as day that this passage contains the germ of the doctrine of the resurrection. The “for” in Psalms 73:27 th refers to the whole contents of Psalms 73:27 and Psalms 73:28. The righteous recompense of God is the ground of the confidence previously expressed. “Thy far ones”=those who keep themselves far from thee. “To whore” is used in the Pentateuch of other kinds of declension besides the worship of idols, Leviticus 20:6, Numbers 14:33; and that it is not to be confined to this here, is manifest from the preceding description of the wicked, in which great prominence is given to their moral depravity.

That the “nearness of God,” in Psalms 73:28, is equivalent to “that I keep myself to God,” (compare Zephaniah 3:2, James 4:8), is manifest from the parallelism—to “the nearness of God” there corresponds “trust placed in him,”—and from the opposition: “thy far ones.” The טוב good=salvation-bringing, in opposition to “they perish,” in the preceding verse, stands as neutr. The clause corresponding, in the second part of the verse, is, “to make known (because I have got occasion to make known) all thy works”; whoever keeps near God, receives salvation, and whoever places his trust in him, gets occasion to praise him.