When Suffering Turns to Sin (Psalm 73)
A Psalm of Asaph.
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that 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 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.—Psalm 73 (ESV)
As I already noted in this series, the psalter is full of lament. In fact, we’ve already focused two other posts on lament: Psalm 5 and Psalms 42-43. Today, we’re going to look at yet another.
While the other two focused on external circumstances, I chose this one because this one moves deeper—into the heart. It may have started out as a difficult circumstance due to external causes but dares to moves inward. We don’t want to just endure suffering but also honestly deal with the sinful responses we can have to it.
If you’ve been reading this blog, you will know that in order for us to see change, we need to aim for the heart. This psalm is important as it shows us how that happens, even when bad things happen to us.
Let’s take a look!
Studying Psalm 73
Read the psalm (included in its entirety above) several times. As you do, take note of several things:
Observations
What are the details of this psalm—what book, author, etc.?
Can you identify the 5 basic elements of a lament: address, complaint, request, affirmation of trust, vow to worship?
What aspects of God are highlighted in this psalm?
Can you piece together Asaph’s testimony? Summarize the beginning, middle, and end. How does his emotions and tone change with it?
Describe the people he envies. What are they like?
Are there any repeated words or ideas in the psalm?
What are some images that you see?
What do you observe about the psalmist and his relationship with his God?
Take a look at the pronouns. Are there any changes you notice? Where?
Where is the turning point of the psalm? What is connected to it?
Interpretation
Understanding the text
If you’ve come this far, what are some of the recurring themes from past psalms that you see? How do these help you to understand this one?
Understanding its place in Scripture
The structure of the book of Psalms can be seen as a lament, with Book 1 serving to orient us to God the King, the Word as life; the Lord as our Shepherd. Books 2 and 3 full of complaints and requests, and Books 4 and 5 rising in affirmation of trust and worship.
This psalm was divinely placed in Book 3, the lowest point in the psalter, with Psalm 88 being the absolute lowest. These psalms are commonly referred to as “exile” psalms—correlating with the lowest part in Israel’s history. Based on what you remember about this period of history, what might be some of the hardships they are dealing with in Babylon during their exile? How might this psalm be descriptive for them?
How might this psalm point to or reflect Christ? When might he have prayed this psalm himself? How might this psalm reflect His experience through life here on earth?
A little commentary
“stumbled…slipped” (v. 2): image of walking and pathways is very characteristic of Bible’s wisdom literature (e.g. Proverbs, as well as the Apostle Paul’s writing). Walking is a picture of the way we live our lives. How did Asaph “walk”?
“fat…fatness” (v. 4b, 7): being fat in those days was a sign of blessing and wealth, unlike our modern understanding.
“his people” (v. 10): Could be God’s covenant people who have turned to the dark side or evildoers who do not fear the Lord (v. 11)
“heart” (v. 13a): represents internal disposition; “washed my hands” (v. 13b): represents external actions
“sanctuary of God” (v. 17): in the Old Testament, this refers to His temple, symbolizing the Lord’s presence, His dwelling place as well as the corporate fellowship of saints.
“heart” (v. 22): literally, his kidneys—the seat of feeling and emotions in the ancient world
“brutish…beast” (v. 22): like a bull in a china shop—graceless, fierce and wild, living by instinct, plowing over everything in its way and leaving destruction in its wake. The Hebrew word for “beast” describes the natural man, someone untouched by God’s grace. What natural human instincts does he display? How does this help you understand the impact of envy?
“heaven…earth” (v. 25): a merism, which names two ends of the spectrum but includes everything in between. What does this say about his relationship with God?
“portion” (v. 26a): alludes to the portioning out of the lands to each of the tribes of Israel as their inheritance from the Lord. To the Israelite, this land is their livelihood, the way they provide for their children and families. Every tribe, except the tribe of Levi (and Asaph is a Levite!), received a portion of land. God tells them that He Himself will be their portion and inheritance (Num 18:20). How is this an affirmation of faith for Asaph?
“God” (v. 28a): Elohim; “Lord GOD” (v. 28b): Yahweh. Again, they are equated—the transcendent God is the covenant God. He reigns and rules in heaven yet he is near to those under assault here on earth. He is not off at a distance but close—a true comfort and blessing.
Application
What truth can you recall about God? What foundational convictions can you build your prayers on? What truth about God can you hold on to in the midst of your difficulty? “Truly…”
How can your external suffering morph into sin in your heart (v. 21).
Reflection: How to Deal with Envy
It is hard to be righteous. But it is easy to be self-righteous. This psalm is a wonderful example of a lament that not only deals with real suffering and difficulty but also honestly addresses the sin that it can create in our own hearts.
Asaph’s Honest Assessment: Admitting His Sin
Part of understanding the lament psalms is trying to put together the story that led to the lament. In this psalm, Asaph starts with his conclusion and then tells us that his envy (v. 3) of the wicked (described in detail in vv. 4-12) led him to feel envy (v. 2). All his life, he had served the Lord, but it seemed like it was pointless (v. 13).
Ever felt that way?
But one thing that Asaph does in this psalm is to admit his own sin. Right off the bat, he honestly admits: I am envious of the wicked. This envy was what led him to almost stumble and nearly slip (v. 2).
This is different than the other lament psalms we had studied because Asaph is willing to consider the possibility that he may be a part of his own problem. The misery he feels could be of his own making.
Though it’s hard to confess your sin, it is also ironically where we find hope. As long as the problems are all external, we end up just being the victim. We have limited power to change our circumstances and even less power to change other people—at least, without falling into sinful means.
However, if we are willing to recognize that while we may not be guilty of the sin, we may be guilty of a godless response. And that is what Asaph does. He admits that he has forgotten the truth that God is good to those who pure in heart in Israel.
Envy is an insidious sin. While it is normal to make comparisons, it doesn’t take much to start wanting what others have. We judge them, wondering why they have what we want—which, as Tim Keller points out, implies that we do. The sin of envy is closely linked to the sin of pride.
But what makes envy truly sinful is its vertical root towards God. Envy grumbles against God and judges Him. In verse 13, Asaph states, “All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” He weighs his faithfulness to God’s seeming unfaithfulness to bless him—and judges God for falling short.
This is what makes envy so insidious—we fail to see our offense to God. But once Asaph sees his own pride, he can start doing something. He can bring himself into the presence of God for cleansing. And that is where things start changing.
Asaph’s Step of Faith: Entering God’s Presence
Clearly, Asaph’s mind was tied up in knots (v 16). Trying to figure out why the wicked prosper was leading him nowhere. Until…
As with every lament psalm, there is a turn, an “aha” moment. In other laments we’ve looked at, it’s usually a movement towards God and entering into His presence—which is often symbolized as His sanctuary (v. 17). It is there that things become clear. Here, the pronouns shift to “you” as Asaph talks these things out with God (v. 18).
When we come into God’s presence with our laments, we should feel free to ask God to change our situation. That is entirely valid, and God is willing to hear them.
However, sometimes what we really need is not a change in our circumstances but a change in our hearts and our perspective. We need a change in our orientation, where our eyes are looking. And when we are looking at God, He shines a new light on things.
This is what God does for Asaph. While the evil seem to get away with what they are doing and even confidently boast that God doesn’t see them (v.11), God shows Asaph the truth. He helps make sense of what he sees (v. 17) and shows him what is “truly” going to happen:
The path of the wicked lead to ruin, and they will fall (v. 18).
The dreams of the wicked are actually nightmares (v. 19).
The wicked who look so confident now will not stand (v. 20).
This is true for us today. Those who seek to live faithfully here cannot merely walk by sight. We must walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7).
As believers we have entered in a new reality that requires us to live by faith. And we’re going to find that what we see doesn’t always match up to what we are experiencing. When that happens, it’s okay to ask questions.
But what the psalms teach us is that in order to see beyond our physical sight, we need to bring these questions, these laments, to God. Only He can help us to see beyond our situation with His perspective.
So let us take a cue from Asaph and bring our perplexing questions into the presence of the Lord with a teachable and humble heart. This is where He begins the work of change—not in our circumstances, but in us.
Asaph’s Confident Declaration: God is My Portion!
This turn in Asaph’s heart is what moves him to his triumphant conclusion. Ray Ortlund points out that he begins to move from “poor me” (vv. 13-15) to “stupid me!” (vv. 18-22). Instead of listing out why everyone else has it so good (vv. 4-12), Asaph begins to see how God has been so good to him:
He is blessed by His presence, like a parent securely holding a child by the hand (v. 23)
He guides him with his counsel on the pathway to glory (v. 24)
His inheritance is not of this world but God Himself (vv. 25-26)
In the beginning of this psalm, he is jealous of all that the evil have, but after meeting with God and seeing his own heart, he marvels at all he has in God. There is nothing he can possess in heaven or on earth that can compare with having God as his companion.
By the time we get to the end of the psalm, we come full circle. He began with a declaration of faith in verse 1 and ends with a declaration of faith in verse 28, a commitment to tell others what he has learned. And he does—in Psalm 73.
We don’t know how Asaph’s story ends, but does it even matter? Even if the wicked prosper, Asaph knows he will emerge the winner. This is what real faith looks like—not serene peacefulness, but the ability to face the harsh realities of life and walk righteously with integrity before God.
This is possible through Christ, who paved the way and experienced far worse than Asaph did. He was falsely accused, under the hands of evildoers. Psalm 73 is his story too.
Jesus told his disciples that they will have trouble in this world but ultimately, they will triumph because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Asaph shows us how we can pray towards that end when we find ourselves in painful situations as we confront our own sin and turn to God in faith and trust.
Counseling the Word
Remember that in the presence of other believers, God can remind them of the truth they desperately need to hear. It is important to let them lament when they are at the bottom of the pit. Don’t rush them.
But neither should we stop there. Our greatest service is not merely to reason with them, but to bring them into the presence of God, where things snap in place and their perspective changes—and our own sin is revealed. This psalm offers a wonderful pathway to follow as you work through the five movements of the lament structure.
This may include guiding them to see how their grief and discouragement can lead to sin, but even that can be a good thing as it gives them a pathway to change. Throughout, always keep your eyes pointed to God who sees all, knows all, and will restore all.
Praying the Word
Praise: Like Asaph, start with a firm declaration of God’s goodness (v. 1). Praise Him that He is our portion, all that is sufficient for us. Praise Him for his transcendence—he is over you, but also His nearness, especially as you struggle with your faith.
Thanksgiving: Thank Him for His presence, guidance, and hope (vv. 23-24). Thank Him that we have peace with Him, acceptance, security and the promise of glory. Value these gifts over the worldly benefits that others seem to have. Thank Him for the good inheritance we have awaiting us in Christ.
Confession: Confess the pride of envy, your struggle with discontentment, how you believe you deserve the good things that others have received. Along with envy, consider the sins of self-righteousness, ingratitude, and self-pity that often accompany this sin. Don’t sugar coat it, but own it in your life personally and specifically. Confess those things you have taken refuge in, other than Christ.
Petitions: Ask God to help you to turn in faith towards Him in our troubles. Admit your lack of understanding of what is going on, ask Him to help you grow in confidence of his goodness. Ask Him to help you learn contentment (Phil. 4:10-13; 1 Tim. 6:6-8; Heb. 13:5) with our inheritance in Christ—a far greater blessing than anything this world has to offer.
Pray for perseverance and joy, help to keep turning your eyes to God, not fixing our things on this world. Pray that He would use the hardships you face as his call to reorient your focus to Him.
Like Asaph, pray that God would help you testify to others that He may be glorified and that they might turn to Him. Pray that our stories will deeply change us so that future generations to come may be blessed.
Intercession: Pray that those who are suffering unjustly might have the faith of Asaph—and pray the above petitions for them too.
