A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM LXXIII.
_The prophet, prevailing in a temptation, sheweth the occasion thereof, the prosperity of the wicked.—The wound given thereby, diffidence.—The victory over it, knowledge of God’s purpose, in destroying of the wicked, and sustaining the righteous._ A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God _is_ good to Israel, _even_ to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, _when_ I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For _there are_ no bands in their death; but their strength _is_ firm. They _are_ not in trouble _as other_ men; neither are they plagued like _other_ men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them _as_ a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly _concerning_ oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens; and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither; and waters of a full _cup_ are wrung out to them: And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these _are_ the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase _in_ riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend _against_ the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it _was_ too painful for me, Until I went into the sanctuary of God; _then_ understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they _brought_ into desolation, as in a moment? they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when _one_ awaketh; _so_, O LORD, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish _was_ I and ignorant; I was _as_ a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I _am_ continually with thee; thou hast holden _me_ by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me _to_ glory. Whom have I heaven _but thee_? and _there is_ none upon earth _that_ I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: _but_ God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish; thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But _it is_ good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
This is a Psalm that instructs us against that great offence and stumbling-block concerning which all the prophets have complained; namely, that the wicked flourish in the world, enjoy prosperity, and increase in abundance, while the godly suffer cold and hunger, and are afflicted, and spit upon, and despised, and condemned; and that God seems to be against and to neglect the latter, and to regard, support and give success to the former. And this outside appearance of the false church has, moreover, a great influence with, and excites the admiration of, the world around. Whatever these hypocrites do or say, they boast with great confidence, is pious, holy and divine: on the other hand, they consider the lives of the godly to be ungodly, and their doctrine erroneous. This offence has existed, and has exercised and vexed the godly from the very beginning of the church. “So foolish was I,” saith Asaph, (v. 22.) that is, I was accounted ungodly, a heretic, and a despiser of God. But these temptations, saith he, remain until I cast away all my own cogitations about this offence, and go into the sanctuary: that is, until I hear or read the word, and find what God saith concerning the ungodly; and until I look into the histories and behold the judgments of God, which have been since the foundation of the world. There I find what God threatens in his First Commandment: and how he has fulfilled this judgment and executed it, even from Cain; by which all the ungodly are overthrown and overwhelmed on a sudden: for they build upon slippery places and upon the sand, but the godly build upon a rock.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.