The Prosperity of the Wicked

(Psalm 73)

Introduction

This is a wisdom psalm wherein Asaph offers a personal testimony about his struggle with the age-old problem of the prosperity of the wicked.

Heading

“A Psalm of Asaph.”

Asaph was one of three chief musicians appointed by David to oversee the choral services of the sanctuary (1 Chron. 16:5). He was selected by the Levites to lead the music when David brought the ark to Jerusalem (1 Chron. 15:16-19). He was also an honored seer (or prophet, 1 Chron. 25:2; 2 Chron. 29:30).

This shows us that even the Lord’s finest leaders are frail and know temptation and even failure all too well.

Outline

1. The Testing of Faith (73:1-15)

   1. The Problem Stated (vv. 1-3)

   2. The Problem Explained (vv. 4-14)

2. The Triumph of Faith (73:16-28)

A. The Turning Point (vv. 16-17)

2. The Perspective of Destiny (vv. 18-20)

3. The Person of Delight (vv. 21-26)

4. Summary (vv. 27-28)

Exposition

I. The Testing of Faith (73:1-15)

Asaph describes his personal struggle with trying to reconcile God’s goodness with the fact that wicked people often prosper.

A. The Problem Stated (vv. 1-3)

¹Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!

Asaph begins the psalm with a firm conviction about God’s goodness. Few things are certain in this world; the goodness of God is one.

In the face of an evil world, Jeremiah clung to God’s righteousness (12:1), Habakkuk to His holiness (1:13), the sons of Korah to His lovingkindness (Ps. 44:26), and now Asaph, to His goodness. Ultimately, the character of God is the only stable foundation, as He is immutable. Faith in His unchanging attributes is an anchor that will hold us in the storms of life.

In one sense, verse one is the conclusion of the matter. In another sense, however, this truth is tied to Asaph’s problem. If God is necessarily good to Israel, why do the wicked prosper over the righteous?

²But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.

³For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Asaph says he almost fell into disaster when he grew envious of the arrogant and wicked men who prospered.

Solomon was likewise disturbed: ^“There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility” (Eccl. 8:14). Solomon saw a great inequity here, where wicked prosper and righteous suffer.

We all see such scenarios around us. It is disappointing, but we must not envy them. God says, “Do not let your heart envy sinners” (Prov. 23:17). When we envy them, we are effectively saying that honoring the Lord is not as satisfying as sin (or the sinner’s prosperity). Envy of sinners also generates a temptation to abandon righteousness.

Someone said, “Nothing is so blinding as envy… This was the nerve the serpent had touched in Eden, to make even Paradise appear an insult.”¹

2. The Problem Explained (vv. 4-15)

Asaph describes how the wicked prosper.

 ⁴They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.

⁵They are free from the burdens common to man,
    They are not plagued by human ills.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;
    The garment of violence covers them.    
⁷Their eye bulges from fatness;
    The imaginations of their heart run riot.    
⁸They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
    They speak from on high.    

Asaph sees the wicked people who are healthy, haughty and hurtful. They are comfortable, callous, cruel, and conceited.

⁹They have set their mouth against the heavens,
    And their tongue parades through the earth.    
¹⁰Therefore the people turn to them,
    And drink their waters of abundance.

The prosperous are popular, even when they’re wicked. People are drawn to wealth. Everyone wants to get a hand in another’s deep pocket. There are a lot of opportunistic people who rush to drink the sweet waters of prosperity.

¹¹They say, "How does God know?
    And is there knowledge with the Most High?"    
¹²Behold, these are the wicked;
    And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. 

Asaph points out that the wicked mock God, and are still “at ease” and wealthy. How can that be when God is just?

¹³Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
    And washed my hands in innocence;    
¹⁴For I have been stricken all day long
    And chastened every morning.    

This is a new, but important, dimension in Asaph’s struggle. If the wicked prosper, then perhaps I have pursued purity and kept free from violence for nothing. I have been righteous and yet, “stricken” and “chastened” constantly.

¹⁵If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
    Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

Asaph admits that if he had not shown discretion but had spoken his thoughts and feelings, he would likely have hurt others. In other words, if he had been transparent with others about his struggle, people might have taken his cynicism and doubt.

Transparency is not always a virtue. Sometimes it is best to not share the issues of your heart.

II. The Triumph of Faith (73:16-28)

1. The Turning Point (vv. 16-17)

¹⁶When I pondered to understand this,
    It was troublesome in my sight    
¹⁷Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
    Then I perceived their end.

Asaph admits that the more he pondered the prosperity of the wicked, the more it troubled him. He was increasingly frustrated, … until… .

“Until” introduces a pivot in the discourse. It speaks of a development that changed things dramatically. “I was increasingly disturbed, until I came into the sanctuary of God. Then things turned around.”

How did entering the sanctuary of God change things? He answers that question: “Then I perceived their end.” He understood their destiny of judgment, which he unpacks in verses 18-20.

What could he have found in the sanctuary that helped him to understand the destiny of the wicked? I believe there are several good answers to this question, each of which reminds us of the value of gathering with the saints to worship, even in our most troubling days.

What might one find in the sanctuary of God?

1. The presence of God

Asaph would certainly enjoy the presence of God in His sanctuary. There his troubled heart would find peace, security, and stability (Ps. 27: 4-5).

2. The people of God

When God wants to encourage a struggling believer, He usually encourages them through another believer. Paul described one such experience when he said, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (2 Cor. 7:6). Asaph might have found his resolution of the problem by crossing paths with another worshipper, who encouraged him and reminded him of the destiny of the unrighteous.

3. The praise of God

God is “enthroned upon the praises” of His people (Ps. 22:3). And sometimes His peace, wisdom, or strength comes to us on the wings of praise. Our worship can teach us great truths (Col. 3:16), or strengthen our hearts like a gust of fresh wind in our sails.

4. The parchments of God (Scripture recorded and read on parchment scrolls).

In the sanctuary Asaph would be exposed to the reading and instruction of God’s Word. Perhaps he happened upon a reading that reminded him of the future judgment of the unrighteous.

Key Point – Asaph made his discovery, which was his turning point, in the sanctuary of God. It could have come through any of these four things: the presence of God, the people of God, the praise of God, or the parchment of God. We do not really know. The Spirit of God can use any of those vehicles to move in our lives.

But what we need to learn from this is the importance of our going to the place where God meets with His people, and receives their praise, especially when we are discouraged. And don’t miss that word, especially. I use that word intentionally, because we are often tempted in times of testing or discouragement, to stay away from church. We rationalize that we are not worthy of being with others, or that we cannot look happy enough, or whatever other reason.

When we struggle with sinful actions or attitudes (like Asaph’s envy and extreme self-pity), we need to go to the sanctuary of God with His people.

2. The Perspective of Destiny (vv. 18-20)

¹⁸Surely You set them in slippery places;
    You cast them down to destruction.   
¹⁹How they are destroyed in a moment!
    They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
²⁰Like a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.

The destiny of the wicked is destruction. When one awakes, his dream is gone. In a similar way, when the Lord is aroused from His intentional delay, the wicked will be cast away. They and their prosperity will vanish like a dream.

Asaph struggled because he saw the wicked prosper in time. He forgot that there is an eternity beyond time.

We must understand that God doesn’t settle His accounts at the end of each day! But He will settle them in eternity.

3. The Person of Delight (vv. 21-26)

²¹When my heart was embittered
    And I was pierced within,   
²²Then I was senseless and ignorant;
    I was like a beast before You.

“Pierced within” is literally in his kidneys, the seat of emotions for the Hebrew. Deep inside he was grieved and embittered. In that state he was irrational, like a brute beast.

²³Nevertheless I am continually with You;
    You have taken hold of my right hand.    
²⁴With Your counsel You guide me,
    And afterward You will receive me into glory.    

In contrast to the foolish brute he was, Asaph is now thriving joyously in the presence and promises of God.

God’s continuous presence is presented in three temporally progressive statements. God has taken hold of His right hand (past); God is guiding him by His counsel (present); and God will receive him into glory (future).

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but You?
    And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.    
²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail,
    But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Asaph has come a long way. No longer envious of the wicked, he is entirely satisfied with having God.

The phrase “besides You” is the same Hebrew phrase as “before You” (v. 22) and “with You” (v. 23). The sense is that Asaph is in His presence. The New English Bible captured the sense well: “And having Thee, I desire nothing else on earth.”

These words do not exclude other relationships, but actually enrich them. When we enjoy Him fully, our other relationships are purer, as we do not need to manipulate them for anything.

God is the magnum bonum of heaven and earth. In fact, Scripture’s description of heaven is wholly God-centered. As a hymn writer stated:

Thou its light, its joy, its crown,

Thou its sun which goes not down.²

Martin Luther expressed it beautifully in a hymn:

“The whole, wide world delights me not,

For heaven and earth, Lord, care I not,

If I may but have Thee.”

As C. S. Lewis said, God in the Psalms is the “all-satisfying Object.” He is the One for Whom our souls pant, “as the deer pants for the water brooks” (Ps. 42:1-2). He is the One for Whom our soul thirsts and our flesh yearns, “in a dry and weary land” (Ps. 63:1).

God is the “all-satisfying Object” and the only ultimately satisfying Object. Nothing else really quenches our thirst. Everything else is counterfeit pleasure. Pascal said it like this: “There once was in man a true happiness of which now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself."³

When we find the satisfaction that is God, we will desire nothing else, for He will ultimately satisfy.

He is the source of complete and unending pleasure: “In Thy presence is fullness of joy; in Thy right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).

Notice the reality and the resolve. The reality is that flesh and heart will fail. That is inevitable, as Paul said, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

Asaph’s resolve is that God will be his spiritual strength and portion. In his later years He will be strong and satisfied, having God.

4. Summary (vv. 27-28)

²⁷For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
    You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.    
²⁸But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
    I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
    That I may tell of all Your works.

This is the resolution of Asaph’s struggle. The wicked will ultimately meet justice and perish from God’s presence.

But Asaph will enjoy the presence, protection and praise of God. That is greater than all the health and wealth others can experience. The good he desires is the experience of God.

Before he needed to keep his mouth close. Now He wants it open, to tell others of God’s wonderful ways.