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Have you ever had a “close call” situation, a time when you came close to danger or harm, but at the last moment, you escaped?
Sharing a “close call” story can be exciting, but it can also serve as a warning.
Psalm 73 is a wisdom psalm, one that distinguishes the blessings of following God and the consequences of rejecting Him.
The psalm writer tells of his “close call” story reminding us of the temptation to see things in the limited light of our perspective.
Only by God’s illuminating wisdom and grace does the writer finally recognize the blessing of seeing things as they truly are.
Hebrew Poetry
Hebrew poetry typically uses short phrases that together form larger concepts.
Sometimes these phrases are joined together by comparing opposite things, and other times the phrases complement each other by giving more detail or restating the idea differently.
We recognize this characteristic as parallelism.
This form of writing dates back to the ancient eastern culture, with early examples as far as 2300 BC.
Because we are reading an English translation instead of the original Hebrew, we may not catch all the nuance of languages, such as rhyme and wordplay, but we still can receive the plain meaning of the writing.
To help the English reader, editors and translators often leave markers to help us.
For example, you will notice the indentation that helps separate the short phrases and lines.
They also add extra spaces to help show suggested stanzas (paragraph-like sections).
In our study of Psalm 73,
I will use a division of four parts:
Declaring God’s Goodness and “Close Call”
Reasons for Doubting God’s Goodness
Lessons from God
Conclusion
A Close Call
The psalm begins by emphatically declaring that God is good.
God is good to Israel and the pure in heart.
Being “pure in heart” implies both obedience to God and commitment to God alone.
But we should recognize that the covenant people of Israel have not always been pure in heart.
The Old Testament reminds us of great moments of commitment and terrible moments of complete rejection.
Even in those circumstances, God remains good.
He is faithful.
When His people wander from their faith, He lovingly calls them back through consequence and discipline with the end goal of restoring the broken relationship.
But the writer has in mind a comparison of God’s hand toward those who remain pure in heart.
After declaring God is good, he tells us of his feet that almost stumbled.
His close call was that he almost became convinced that God was not good, nor was it wise to remain pure in heart.
Why?
Because the evil people seemed to have a life better than he did.
Reasons for Doubt
The writer is near a moment of slipping in his commitment to God.
When he compares the life of those who follow or reject God, he is tempted to conclude that those who reject God have it better.
The writer hints at two things that they have: a lack of problems and an abundance of power.
The psalm writer explains that the wicked have fewer problems than the average person.
Because of their unusual freedom from problems, they have become prideful and powerful people.
They become self-centered and violent because they can walk over anyone who gets in their way.
They are so full of themselves and their success that they “ooze” a certain aura of power and influence wherever they go.
Ultimately, this has two effects.
First, it causes the wicked to be increasingly antagonistic to God and His ways.
Secondly, it stirs up within God’s people a temptation to find the path of wickedness attractive.
And for those who have yet to make up their mind, they might as well conclude that God’s path has no value.
Those who follow God logically ask the questions, "Shouldn’t things be different?
Shouldn’t God do something about this reversal of expectation?"
Some may even doubt that one’s sin can even catch up to them if God seems to be disconnected from our reality.
The writer comes close to concluding that all this “following God stuff” is worthless and in vain.
But the psalmist writes that he “almost slipped.”
Lesson from God
The psalm is about coming close to making the wrong conclusions based on what one currently sees and feels.
The writer confesses to the difficulty of making sense of the situation, for things seemed to be the opposite of how they should be.
The key to the revelation is when the writer goes to the sanctuary of God.
The sanctuary could refer to the location of the tabernacle or temple, but the emphasis is on the presence of God that makes that place holy and a place of revelation.
God revealed His truth to open the eyes of a confused heart.
Let’s look at what he learned in God’s presence.
Rejecting and rebelling against God will prove:
to be ruinous and disastrous in a moment’s time
to be no match against God’s sovereignty
Final Conclusion
The writer concludes the psalm by confessing his ignorance.
He compares his ignorance to an animal.
And he renews his commitment to following God, even when things seem temporarily out of sync with God’s sovereignty.
Instead of doubt, the writer comes to his senses and reflects upon God’s continual guidance and counsel.
God’s path indeed leads to glory because we ultimately are following God.
And in comparison to all the things we could ever desire, God is greater.
He can meet all our needs.
The writer compares his weakness and extols the unending strength of God.
He then restates that there is blessing in remaining with God.
He does not want to wander anymore in thoughts or actions.
He wants to settle down and take refuge in God.
He has found his place and seeks to tell others of the One True God.
Truth in a World of Lies
The battle for truth has been challenged since the beginning of humanity.
Satan successfully deceived Adam and Eve to sin by dissecting truth by questioning God's statements.
“Did God actually say?”
And the answer is YES.
God forewarned Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate of the forbidden tree.
Genesis 2:16-17
What God says will happen and surely come to pass.
However, God’s timing is the issue we often assume makes God’s truth null and void.
So why don’t those who reject God get a swifter judgment?
Why does He seem to delay the consequences?
The Bible gives us some insight into why it seems that God takes so long to deal with those who reject Him and lets them appear to prosper. 2 Peter 3:7-10
Just as God was patient toward your stubborn heart, so too is He giving time to others so that they may come to repentance.
God’s truth will come to pass, even if takes a little longer than we like.
Pray that those who prosper in their rejection of God would come to know the truth.
Jesus is Truth
When Jesus stood before Pilate before His crucifixion, Pilate had to figure out who was telling the truth.
Was it the priests and religious leaders who accused Jesus?
Pilate attempted to cut through the different voices and asked Jesus directly, “are you the King of the Jews?”.
Pilate could potentially see through all the lies and motives of Jesus’ accusers.
Pilate asked Jesus to affirm or deny his claim.
John 18:36-38
Pilate spoke the words that many are asking today.
What is truth when so many voice are making truth claims?
What is the truth when some voice are suppressing its proclamation?
What is truth when it doesn’t seem to align with what one experiences at the moment?
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