PSALM 73

Plea for Relief from Oppressors

Psalm 73:1 Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.

Psalm 73:2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped.

Psalm 73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalm 73:4 For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek.

Psalm 73:5 They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men.

Psalm 73:6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.

Psalm 73:7 Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies.

Psalm 73:8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.

Psalm 73:9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.

Psalm 73:10 Therefore the people turn and praise them;  and find no fault in them.

Psalm 73:11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

Psalm 73:12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

Psalm 73:13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

Psalm 73:14 For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning.

Psalm 73:15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have been untrue to the generation of your children.

Psalm 73:16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

Psalm 73:17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.

Psalm 73:18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.

Psalm 73:19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

Psalm 73:20 They are  like a dream when one awakes, on awaking you despise their phantoms.

Psalm 73:21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

Psalm 73:22 I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward you.

Psalm 73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.

Psalm 73:24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you.

Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength  of my heart and my portion for ever.

Psalm 73:27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to those who are false to you.

Psalm 73:28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.