Psa 73:16-17 | KingComments | STEP | In light of the prosperity of the wicked, Asaph sees all his efforts to live pleasing to God as futile. God is good to those who are pure in heart, he said at the beginning ( ). Well, he has kept his heart pure ( ), but he hasn’t noticed anything of that goodness. In his despair, he expresses with a powerful “surely” that it made no sense at all to purify his heart because he wanted to live in fellowship with God. It seems much better to do what one’s heart dictates and enjoy life. Washing his hands in innocence doesn't make any sense either (cf. ). After all, there is no benefit with God in not participating in evil practices. Just look at his life. It’s all doom and gloom all day long ( ). It starts in the morning when he wakes up. Every morning there is God’s chastening. He can’t see that as His loving care for him, to keep him close to Himself and to keep him from going astray. He really can’t rejoice that he “encounters various trials” ( ). In he tells of his difficulty in understanding the ways of God. He cannot reconcile his suffering and the prosperity of the wicked. It has sometimes occurred to him to speak like the wicked and pretend God is not there ( ). You can then escape torment and enjoy life, he thought. But this thought was going too far for him. To him, doubt is a gateway to apostasy. That is why he turned directly to God to tell Him that he did not want to be unfaithful to His children. If he started speaking like the wicked, it would be apostasy from the covenant that God had made with His people, His children. “Your children” here is an indication of God’s covenant people (cf. ). In a Western society, the identity of a person is primarily individual. In the Bible, as in an Eastern society, the person is seen in a communal context. There is a strong interaction between a person and the group to which he belongs. The influence of a person on the group is great, which is also true the other way around. He has shied away from becoming a stumbling block to his fellow believers by defecting to the enemy camp. It proves his love for them. We see here a special characteristic of the new life the believer possesses. The new life loves God and it loves the children of God. He who says he loves God, when there is no love for the children of God, is a liar ( ). The problem was still there. He had “pondered to understand this” ( ). He racked his brain about it, but “it was troublesome” in his sight. He failed to figure it out because he looked at the problem in the light of his own intellect. Never has human thinking been able to solve this mystery of the prosperity of the wicked and the misfortunes of the righteous. It is like the under side of an embroidery: if you look at it, you will not see any pattern, because all threads of it run crisscross through each other. Then comes an “until” ( ). Suddenly everything becomes clear to him. That happened when he “came into the sanctuary of God”. There he “perceived their end”. That completely changed his view of the wicked. To determine the value of something or someone’s life, we must pay attention to its end ( ; ). To flee into the sanctuary is not to flee from reality, but into reality. There we see the upper side of the embroidery: we see that the threads are woven in such a way as to reveal a beautiful scene. The only place we learn to see life on earth in proper perspective is from above, in the sanctuary, literally ‘sanctuaries’ (plural) that is, in God’s holy presence. This will be important in the future, when the sanctuary (singular) in Jerusalem is in the hands of the antichrist. The believing remnant can then still experience God’s presence in His sanctuaries, that is wherever they experience God’s presence, for God is not bound to a place. The remnant will meet God in spirit and truth (cf. ). In the sanctuary, the remnant comes to know God’s strength and glory ( ) and is determined by the lovingkindness or covenant faithfulness of the LORD. In the light of the sanctuary we learn to know the will of God and we submit our will to His. There we learn about God’s patience with evil, while it becomes clear that He will judge evil, the wicked, at His time. With certainty, “surely”, it can then be said that He sets the wicked “in slippery places” ( ). They come to their end, not by natural death, but by an act of God. The way they are walking on, and which Asaph has almost begun to walk with them, is slippery. Their feet will slip with the result that they are “cast … down to destruction”. This happens “in a moment” ( ). Suddenly they are no more, “they are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!” Prophetically, this will happen when these wicked followers of the antichrist will be swept away by the disciplinary rod of God, Assyria ( ), causing two-thirds of the people to die ( ). The speed with which they are swept away is similar to what happens to a dream when one awakes ( ). There is still a memory of the dream, but the dream itself is abruptly over after awaking. The prosperity of the life of the wicked is a dream. The reality of the end of life presents itself. We see the same thing when Hezekiah takes refuge in the sanctuary with the threatening letter from the king of Assyria. He spreads this letter out before the LORD. The response is that the Angel of the LORD wipes out Sennacherib’s army in one night ( ). We will also see this when the Lord Jesus brings retribution with flaming fire on the wicked ( ). The wicked of whom Asaph was envious are confronted with the “Lord”, Adonai. He, the sovereign Ruler, has awakened, that is, He considers the time has come to deal with them. Then, to their dismay, they will find that He does not esteem, but despises the image they have made of themselves, which people have been impressed with (cf. ). Their image has been a sham. Asaph comes to himself and repentance because of what he has seen in the sanctuary of the end of the wicked. He acknowledges that his heart was bitter against God when he saw the prosperity of the wicked ( ). About this he humbled himself and came to the honest acknowledgment of how he was. This is only possible if someone has been in the sanctuary. With Isaiah he says, as it were, “woe is me” ( ). God was, in his eyes, unfair that the wicked could go about their business undisturbed, while he did his best to be pleasing to God and was chastened for it. He “was pierced within”, literally he “was pierced in his kidneys”. His kidneys were pierced in him because he found such a life meaningless. The kidneys are the innermost part of the human being (cf. ). In this innermost being, where only God can reach him, he has become numb or insensitive. That is why he confesses this to God. Now that he looks back, he sees how senseless he was then ( ). He says honestly: “I was senseless and ignorant.” And toward God he compares himself to “a beast”. A beast has no sense of God. Only a human being walks erect and can raise his gaze upward. When Nebuchadnezzar did not acknowledge God, he became like a beast ( ). Only when he acknowledged God the Most High did he become a full human being again ( ). So it will be prophetically with the antichrist, the man of sin, who displays himself as being God ( ). He is called “the beast coming up out of the earth”, which is Israel ( ). Asaph lost all self-esteem in the sanctuary, “before You”. He has experienced what Job experienced who has also wrestled with this question and has also accused God of injustice. When Job finally stands before God, he says, deeply convinced of his presumption to judge God in His ways: “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth” ( ; cf. ).

‏ Psalms 73:16-17

In God’s Sanctuary

In light of the prosperity of the wicked, Asaph sees all his efforts to live pleasing to God as futile. God is good to those who are pure in heart, he said at the beginning (Psa 73:1b). Well, he has kept his heart pure (Psa 73:13), but he hasn’t noticed anything of that goodness.

In his despair, he expresses with a powerful “surely” that it made no sense at all to purify his heart because he wanted to live in fellowship with God. It seems much better to do what one’s heart dictates and enjoy life. Washing his hands in innocence doesn't make any sense either (cf. Psa 26:6). After all, there is no benefit with God in not participating in evil practices.

Just look at his life. It’s all doom and gloom all day long (Psa 73:14). It starts in the morning when he wakes up. Every morning there is God’s chastening. He can’t see that as His loving care for him, to keep him close to Himself and to keep him from going astray. He really can’t rejoice that he “encounters various trials” (Jam 1:2). In Psa 73:16 he tells of his difficulty in understanding the ways of God. He cannot reconcile his suffering and the prosperity of the wicked.

It has sometimes occurred to him to speak like the wicked and pretend God is not there (Psa 73:15). You can then escape torment and enjoy life, he thought. But this thought was going too far for him. To him, doubt is a gateway to apostasy. That is why he turned directly to God to tell Him that he did not want to be unfaithful to His children. If he started speaking like the wicked, it would be apostasy from the covenant that God had made with His people, His children.

“Your children” here is an indication of God’s covenant people (cf. Deu 14:1-2). In a Western society, the identity of a person is primarily individual. In the Bible, as in an Eastern society, the person is seen in a communal context. There is a strong interaction between a person and the group to which he belongs. The influence of a person on the group is great, which is also true the other way around.

He has shied away from becoming a stumbling block to his fellow believers by defecting to the enemy camp. It proves his love for them. We see here a special characteristic of the new life the believer possesses. The new life loves God and it loves the children of God. He who says he loves God, when there is no love for the children of God, is a liar (1Jn 4:20).

The problem was still there. He had “pondered to understand this” (Psa 73:16). He racked his brain about it, but “it was troublesome” in his sight. He failed to figure it out because he looked at the problem in the light of his own intellect. Never has human thinking been able to solve this mystery of the prosperity of the wicked and the misfortunes of the righteous. It is like the under side of an embroidery: if you look at it, you will not see any pattern, because all threads of it run crisscross through each other.

Then comes an “until” (Psa 73:17). Suddenly everything becomes clear to him. That happened when he “came into the sanctuary of God”. There he “perceived their end”. That completely changed his view of the wicked. To determine the value of something or someone’s life, we must pay attention to its end (Deu 32:20 ; 28-29; Heb 13:7).

To flee into the sanctuary is not to flee from reality, but into reality. There we see the upper side of the embroidery: we see that the threads are woven in such a way as to reveal a beautiful scene. The only place we learn to see life on earth in proper perspective is from above, in the sanctuary, literally ‘sanctuaries’ (plural) that is, in God’s holy presence.

This will be important in the future, when the sanctuary (singular) in Jerusalem is in the hands of the antichrist. The believing remnant can then still experience God’s presence in His sanctuaries, that is wherever they experience God’s presence, for God is not bound to a place. The remnant will meet God in spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4:23).

In the sanctuary, the remnant comes to know God’s strength and glory (Psa 63:2-3) and is determined by the lovingkindness or covenant faithfulness of the LORD. In the light of the sanctuary we learn to know the will of God and we submit our will to His. There we learn about God’s patience with evil, while it becomes clear that He will judge evil, the wicked, at His time.

With certainty, “surely”, it can then be said that He sets the wicked “in slippery places” (Psa 73:18). They come to their end, not by natural death, but by an act of God. The way they are walking on, and which Asaph has almost begun to walk with them, is slippery. Their feet will slip with the result that they are “cast … down to destruction”.

This happens “in a moment” (Psa 73:19). Suddenly they are no more, “they are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!” Prophetically, this will happen when these wicked followers of the antichrist will be swept away by the disciplinary rod of God, Assyria (Isa 10:5-6), causing two-thirds of the people to die (Zec 13:8).

The speed with which they are swept away is similar to what happens to a dream when one awakes (Psa 73:20). There is still a memory of the dream, but the dream itself is abruptly over after awaking. The prosperity of the life of the wicked is a dream. The reality of the end of life presents itself.

We see the same thing when Hezekiah takes refuge in the sanctuary with the threatening letter from the king of Assyria. He spreads this letter out before the LORD. The response is that the Angel of the LORD wipes out Sennacherib’s army in one night (2Kgs 19:14 ; 35). We will also see this when the Lord Jesus brings retribution with flaming fire on the wicked (2Thes 1:8-9).

The wicked of whom Asaph was envious are confronted with the “Lord”, Adonai. He, the sovereign Ruler, has awakened, that is, He considers the time has come to deal with them. Then, to their dismay, they will find that He does not esteem, but despises the image they have made of themselves, which people have been impressed with (cf. Dan 12:2b). Their image has been a sham.

Asaph comes to himself and repentance because of what he has seen in the sanctuary of the end of the wicked. He acknowledges that his heart was bitter against God when he saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psa 73:21). About this he humbled himself and came to the honest acknowledgment of how he was. This is only possible if someone has been in the sanctuary. With Isaiah he says, as it were, “woe is me” (Isa 6:1-5).

God was, in his eyes, unfair that the wicked could go about their business undisturbed, while he did his best to be pleasing to God and was chastened for it. He “was pierced within”, literally he “was pierced in his kidneys”. His kidneys were pierced in him because he found such a life meaningless. The kidneys are the innermost part of the human being (cf. Job 19:27). In this innermost being, where only God can reach him, he has become numb or insensitive. That is why he confesses this to God.

Now that he looks back, he sees how senseless he was then (Psa 73:22). He says honestly: “I was senseless and ignorant.” And toward God he compares himself to “a beast”. A beast has no sense of God. Only a human being walks erect and can raise his gaze upward. When Nebuchadnezzar did not acknowledge God, he became like a beast (Dan 4:28-33). Only when he acknowledged God the Most High did he become a full human being again (Dan 4:34). So it will be prophetically with the antichrist, the man of sin, who displays himself as being God (2Thes 2:3-4). He is called “the beast coming up out of the earth”, which is Israel (Rev 13:11).

Asaph lost all self-esteem in the sanctuary, “before You”. He has experienced what Job experienced who has also wrestled with this question and has also accused God of injustice. When Job finally stands before God, he says, deeply convinced of his presumption to judge God in His ways: “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth” (Job 40:3-4; cf. Pro 30:2-3).