Psalms 73

God really is good to Israel, to the people whose hearts are clean.

1Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

Note"Israel" is the whole people descended from Jacob, whom God renamed Israel (the nation as a single community. The Hebrew consonants of this line can also be divided a second way, giving "Surely God is good to the upright," and translators have gone both ways; the rest of the line, about clean hearts, narrows the claim either way. "Heart" in Hebrew means the inner person) thinking and willing as much as feeling, so a clean heart is honest intent, not warm emotion.

2But as for me, my feet almost went out from under me; my steps very nearly slipped.

2But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

3I was jealous of proud fools when I saw how well wicked people were doing.

3For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

NoteThe word behind "the foolish" is not about low intelligence. In Hebrew this family of words means boastful, reckless, arrogant, someone who lives as though nothing will ever catch up with them.

4They seem to have no struggle when they die, and their bodies stay strong and well fed.

4For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

NoteThis is one of the hardest lines in the psalm. The Hebrew word rendered "bands" means pangs or bonds, so the sense is either "they suffer no death-agonies" or "they have no pains." The words can also be split differently to read "they have no pangs; their body is sound and fat." Fatness here is a picture of wealth and ease, not a comment on looks.

5They are not weighed down by the troubles other people carry; they are not struck with the pain that others suffer.

5They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

6So pride hangs around their necks like a chain, and violence covers them like the clothes they wear.

6Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

NoteNecklaces and fine clothing were how status was displayed in public. Pride worn as a chain and violence worn as a robe means these things are not hidden faults but the outfit they put on to be seen in.

7Their eyes bulge out of their fat faces. They have more than a person's heart could even wish for.

7Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

Note"Fatness" throughout the Hebrew Bible signals prosperity and rich food, the visible result of never going without. Some ancient copies of this verse read "their iniquity comes out from fatness" instead of "their eyes bulge from fatness", one Hebrew letter separates the two.

8They are rotten inside. They sneer and talk about grinding other people down, and everything they say is arrogant.

8They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.

9They aim their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut all over the earth.

9They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

NoteHeaven and earth together are a way of saying everything there is. Their mouths take on what is above and their tongues take over what is below: nothing is off limits to their talk.

10So his people turn back to this place, and water from a full cup is drained dry for them.

10Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is damaged or obscure, and no one is certain what it originally said. Ancient and modern translations differ sharply, some have God's people turning back to the wicked and swallowing whatever they say, others have people draining a full cup of water. The rendering keeps the King James wording rather than choosing a solution.

11And they say, "How would God know? Does the Most High know anything at all?"

11And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

Note"The Most High" (Hebrew Elyon) is an old title for God, stressing that he is above all other powers. The taunt is sharper because of it: they name him by his highest title and then ask whether he notices anything.

12Look at them. These are the ungodly people, and they do well in this world; they keep getting richer.

12Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

NoteThe Hebrew phrase can mean "always at ease, untroubled" as easily as "prospering in the world"; both senses are in play, these people are comfortable and they stay comfortable.

13So it was all for nothing that I kept my heart clean and washed my hands to show I had done no wrong.

13Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

NoteWashing the hands was a public ritual, not hygiene. A person under suspicion washed his hands in front of witnesses to declare, visibly, that he had no part in a crime. So the line means: I kept myself demonstrably clean, and it bought me nothing.

14Because all day long I have been in pain, and every morning brings more punishment.

14For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

15If I had said, "I am going to talk that way," I would have betrayed this whole family of your children.

15If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

Note"Generation" here does not mean an age group. It means the company or community of people loyal to God, his contemporaries in faith. Saying out loud what he had been thinking would have been a betrayal of them.

16When I tried to work all this out, it was too heavy and painful for me to think about,

16When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;

17until I went into God's sanctuary, the holy place where he is worshiped. Then I understood how those people end up.

17Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

NoteThe sanctuary is the temple in Jerusalem, the building where God was understood to be present and where sacrifices and worship took place. Going in meant entering its courts, the one place where the whole story could be seen from God's side rather than from the street.

18You really do set them on slippery ground. You throw them down into ruin.

18Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

19How suddenly they are wiped out! Terrors sweep them away completely.

19How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.

20They are like a dream that fades when a person wakes up. Lord, when you rouse yourself, you will look at them with scorn, the way you would at a shape seen in a dream.

20As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

NoteThe Hebrew word for "image" here is the ordinary word for a statue or likeness, but used of the shape a person sees in a dream. Their solid, enviable lives turn out to have the substance of something that vanishes on waking.

21So my heart turned bitter, and I felt it like a stab deep inside me.

21Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.

Note"Reins" is old English for the kidneys. Hebrew locates the deepest feelings and the conscience in the kidneys the way English locates them in the heart or the gut, so this is being cut to the core, not a medical complaint.

22I was that senseless and that ignorant. In front of you I was like a dumb animal.

22So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

NoteThe Hebrew word is a large brute animal, used with a plural form for emphasis, something that eats and reacts but cannot reason about what it sees.

23Even so, I am always with you. You have taken hold of my right hand.

23Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.

NoteTaking a person by the right hand was the gesture of someone stronger steadying or leading someone weaker, a king raising a subject, a guide bringing a person safely through.

24You will guide me with your advice, and afterward you will receive me into glory.

24Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

NoteThe Hebrew is genuinely open here. The verb translated "receive" is the ordinary word for "take," the same verb used when Enoch and Elijah were taken away by God, so some read this as being taken to God at the end of life. Others read "glory" as honor within this life, and "afterward" as simply "later on." The wording does not settle it.

25Who do I have in heaven but you? And on earth there is no one I want besides you.

25Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

26My body and my heart may give out, but God is the strength of my heart, and he is what belongs to me, forever.

26My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

NoteA "portion" was the share of land a family was allotted in Israel, what you lived off and passed to your children. The priestly tribe of Levi received no land and was told that God himself was their portion. Saying God is my portion claims that inheritance: he is the estate, and it does not fail.

27Look: the people who stay far from you will die. You destroy everyone who leaves you and is unfaithful to you.

27For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

Note"Go a whoring" translates a Hebrew idiom that treats the bond between God and his people as a marriage; unfaithfulness to it, especially by worshiping other gods, is spoken of as adultery. It is a standard biblical figure of speech, not an accusation about sexual conduct.

28But for me, it is good to come close to God. I have made the Lord GOD the one I trust, so that I can tell about everything you have done.

28But 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.

NotePrinted as "LORD" or "GOD" in small capitals, this stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew letters usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud. "Lord GOD" here renders the pair of titles Adonai YHWH, roughly "my Master, YHWH." The Hebrew behind "put my trust" is literally "made a refuge," the image of taking shelter somewhere safe.