Psalms 73
1 A psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those whose minds are pure.
Surely God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart.
2 But I was stumbling, my feet were starting to slide,
But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped.
3 because I was jealous of self-important people—I saw how well the wicked were doing.
For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 They don't ever seem to get sick; they are strong and healthy.
For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm.
5 They don't have problems like other people; they don't get hit by disasters like everybody else.
They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men.
6 They wear their pride like a necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
Therefore pride is as a chain around their neck. Violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge out because they're so fat; their minds are full of selfish vanity.
Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish.
8 They mock people, and speak maliciously; they arrogantly threaten cruelty.
They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression. They speak loftily.
9 They talk irreverently against heaven above, and defame people here on earth.
They have set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.
10 As a result people turn to them and drink in everything they say.
Therefore his people return here, and waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 “God won't find out,” they say. “The Most High doesn't even know what's going on!”
And they say, How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?
12 Look at these wicked people! They don't have a care in the world, and they're always making money!
Behold, these are the wicked, and those who always prosper. They have possessed wealth.
13 It's been pointless to keep my mind pure and my hands clean.
Surely in vain I have cleansed my heart, and washed my hands in innocence,
14 I'm cursed with suffering all day long; every morning I'm punished.
for all the day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning.
15 If I'd talked like this to others, I would have betrayed your people.
If I had said, I will speak thus, behold, I would have dealt treacherously with the generation of thy sons.
16 So I thought about it and tried to understand, but it looked like a lot of hard work to me—
When I thought how I might understand this, it was too painful for me,
17 until I went into God's Temple. Then I understood what happens to the wicked in the end.
until I went into the sanctuary of God, and considered their latter end.
18 For you send them on a slippery path; you throw them down to destruction.
Surely thou set them in slippery places. Thou cast them down to destruction.
19 How quickly they're destroyed! They come to a terrifying end.
How they have become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 Like waking up from a dream, Lord—when you get up you will forget all about them!
As a dream from awakening, O Lord, when thou waken, thou will despise their form.
21 At that time my thoughts were bitter. I felt like I had been stabbed.
For my soul was grieved, and I was pricked in my heart.
22 I was stupid and ignorant. I was like a brute beast to you.
So I was brutish, and ignorant. I was a beast before thee.
23 Yet I'm always with you; you hold me by the hand.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee. Thou have held my right hand.
24 You tell me what to do; and ultimately you will welcome me in glory.
Thou will guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Who is there in heaven for me except you? And I want nothing on earth except you.
Whom have I in heaven? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.
26 My body and my mind may fail, but God is the foundation of my life. He is mine forever!
My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Those people who are far from God will die. You destroy all those unfaithful to you.
For, lo, those who are far from thee shall perish. Thou have destroyed all those who go a whoring from thee.
28 But I love to stay close to God! I have chosen the Lord God to protect me. I will share all that you have done.
But it is good for me to draw near to God. I have made the lord Jehovah my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works.
