The Songs We Sing

KEY VERSE: “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.” —Psalm 73:28

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Psalm 73:1-3,13,14,16-18,21-26

THE SEVENTY-THIRD PSALM begins the third group of psalms known as the Sanctuary or Levitical collection. They have been attributed to Asaph who lived during the reign of Hezekiah, Israel’s king, in the period 745-716 B.C. The Scriptures indicate that he was a secretary, or court recorder, to the king (II Kings 18:18,37), and was a contemporary of Isaiah.

This psalm gives us an account of the conflict he endured along with a temptation to envy the prosperity of a wicked people. The psalmist resented the careless actions and attitude of those evil people around him, who prospered in spite of their lack of devotion and appreciation for the blessings received from God. He begins by saying, “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”—Ps. 73:1-3

Although Asaph clearly recognized that God had blessed his people Israel, especially those who had the proper heart condition, he was, nevertheless, nearly overcome by his despair. He then pointed out that the wicked seemed to flourish. They appeared to be healthy with no apparent suffering or pain.

The wealthy proudly flaunted their riches without acknowledging the fact that great wealth oftentimes has been acquired dishonestly. Furthermore, their relationship with God was sadly lacking as they openly defied him.

Continuing his lamentation, the psalmist revealed the difficulty of his experiences. He said: “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.”—vss. 13,14

The experiences of the wicked rich people had challenged his faith because they were in glaring contrast to a righteous life. Renewing his faith that God is good to the upright in heart, he could not understand why he was being punished unjustly. The psalmist tells us in verses 16-18, that when he entered the sanctuary he received understanding. It was revealed to him that the ungodly wealthy found themselves in slippery places, and that they would be cast down to suffer utter ruin because of their unfaithfulness and disobedience. The sanctuary was a holy compartment in Israel’s Tabernacle, which represented total consecration of Christians during this Gospel Age.

The judgments which were pronounced upon Israel’s wicked wealthy people foreshadowed those judgments which will be poured out upon false religious worship of wealth in Christendom at the end of the age, and which experience has been aptly identified with Babylon because of its much confusion.

It will suffer total destruction because of disobedience and corruption which has marked it throughout the Gospel Age. The closing message of the psalm points, in an antitypical way, to the spiritual class that has been in process of selection by God during the present Gospel Age.—Eph. 4:1-4

The promise is that God will surely direct the affairs of his people, and will assist them to a share in the heavenly calling. “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”—Ps. 73:24

This blessed assurance belongs to those who have been called to be joint-heirs with Christ—those who trustingly declare: “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”—vs. 26

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