Psalms 73

Psalm 73 ESV

1The Psalmist sheweth that his faith had almost failed him on seeing the prosperity of the wicked; 15but that, unwilling to give up the cause of goodness, he had at length discovered their fearful end: 23his trust in God's present support and future favour: 27he concludeth it best to adhere to God.
A Psalm of 1Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to 1Israel, to those who are 2pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.
3 1For I was 2envious of the arrogant when I saw the 3prosperity 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 1stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is 1their necklace; violence covers them as 2a garment.
7 Their 1eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and 1speak 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 1no fault in them.a
11 And they say, 1“How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they 1increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I 1kept my heart clean and 2washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been 1stricken and 2rebuked 3every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed 1the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me 1a wearisome task,
17 until I went into 1the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their 2end.
18 Truly you set them in 1slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed 1in a moment, swept away utterly by 2terrors!
20 Like 1a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when 2you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was 1brutish and ignorant; I was like 2a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you 1hold my right hand.
24 You 1guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will 2receive me to glory.
25 1Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 1My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is 2the strengtha of my heart and my 3portion 4forever.
27 For behold, those who are 1far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is 2unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to 1be near God; I have made the Lord God my 2refuge, that I may 3tell of all your works.
Psalms 73

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