... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
A Psalm of Asaph.
Truly God [is] good to Israel, to such as are of a clean heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well near slipped: for I was
envious at the foolish, [when] I saw
the prosperity of the wicked.[2]
[There
are] no pangs in their death. Their
strength [is] firm. They [are]
not in trouble [as other] men. Nor are they plagued like [other] men. Therefore pride circles about them as a
chain. Violence covers them [as] a garment. Their eyes bulge out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly [of] oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore his people return here. Waters of a full [cup] are wrung out to them. They
say, “How does God know? Is there
knowledge in the most High?” Behold,
these [are] the wicked, who prosper
in the world. They increase [in] riches.
Certainly I have cleansed my heart [in] vain, and washed my hands in innocence:
for all the day have I been plagued, and punished every morning. If I say, “I will speak thus.” Behold, I should offend the generation of Your
children. When I thought to grasp this,
it [was] too painful for me: until I
went to the sanctuary of God. [Then] I understood their end.[3]
Surely You set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. How are they [brought] to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors, as a
dream when [one] awakes. Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their
image.
Thus my heart was grieved. I was pricked in my reins. So foolish [was] I, and ignorant. I was [as] a beast before You. Nevertheless I [am] continually with You. You
have held [me] by my right hand. You shall guide me with Your advice, and
afterward receive me [in] Glory.
Whom have I in heaven [but You]? [There is] no one on earth I desire
beside You. My flesh and my heart fails.
God [is]
the strength of my heart, and my portion forever: for, lo, those who are far
from You shall perish. You have
destroyed all those who go a whoring from You.
But [it is] good for me to
draw near to God. I have put my trust in
the Lord God, so that I may declare all Your works.[4]
[1] The
Psalms of Asaph are filled with lamentation, so much so that we believe their
subject matter to be the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC at the hands of the
Babylonians. Indeed, we believe that Psalms
Book III is devoted to the subject of the Babylonian Captivity from its causes
to its termination. As with Jeremiah, Asaph
could be a first hand eyewitness (or eyewitnesses) of these historic events; but
we cannot overlook the possibility that they could be prophetic in nature,
written in the time of David. Before we
set aside this latter idea as being too fanciful, we hasten to point out that
The Church has had a firmly established conviction about the Second Coming of
Jesus for roughly two thousand years, so such prophetic clarity is not at all
impossible or even unlikely. Whether historically
or prophetically, the content of Psalms Book III is almost certainly about the
Babylonian Captivity. Psalm 73 is an apt
description of the Israelite arrogance obtaining immediately before the
conquest of 586, and serves as an appropriate introduction to the subject
matter.
Asaph begins with the declaration, painfully learned, that
purity of heart matters in spite of the cruelty of the circumstances.
Asaph laments the dominant, overwhelming success of the
wicked. He notes how tempting it is to
envy them. Such envy is violently self-destructive:
for his “feet … gone, steps … slipped.”
This describes being on the brink of death; which, ironically is exactly
where prosperous Jerusalem is, on the brink of death.
Asaph describes in glowing detail the behavior of the corrupt
wicked. “Their tongue walks,” a curious
and vividly descriptive figure of speech, indicating that the prosperous control
the poor by clever oratory. However, a
cup is “wrung out” for them. They erroneously
think, to their error and shame, that the Crucifixion of Christ spells their
victory; instead it spells their defeat.
God does know. God will
judge. Even so today even our churches seem
dominated by the wicked proud. Shameless
politicians lead in public prayer and boast of their conservative spirituality. The poor are trampled underfoot.
Asaph mourns the seeming futility of his own worship. He even experiences political correctness:
for he couldn’t open his mouth without offending someone. It was only in God’s house where he was able
to visualize the bigger picture.
Asaph speaks of the downfall of Jerusalem with words that are
catastrophic, sudden, swift, and thorough.
Nothing is left (utterly consumed). It is like his worst, terrifying nightmare.
Asaph is as pained as if he had been struck
in the kidneys, not because of the prosperous wicked, but because he failed to
see the hand of God in all things, even in the wickedness of the wicked. His vexation is turned to joy when he
realizes that eternity holds all the answers.
Jerusalem is not the true City of God, it is a mere picture; yet even if
the picture is grievously defaced, the reality stands secure.
Asaph concludes with a beautiful little hymn,
a Psalm within a Psalm, a fleeting glimpse of hope in a sea of disaster. Even so today, we find our hope in God alone,
in spite of the fact that our world seems to be crumbling about us. The poor and downtrodden will overcome at
last.
[2] The
wicked do prosper in this world. 1% of
Americans control 40% of the wealth; while millions are without clothing, food,
or shelter. That statistic cannot be
merely accidental. There are days when
the believers and lovers of God can’t get anything right; and envy of the
wicked is an easy pit into which we fall.
Asaph’s advice is to go to church more, to pray more, to see the picture
through God’s eyes. It is not God Who
needs to awake; it is we who are having this nightmare. This is serious: as serious as a heart attack
or a punch in the kidneys. I’m told that
a heart attack is like having an elephant sitting on the chest. A punch in the kidneys buckles the knees, so
that you fall to the ground with uncontrolled tears streaming from the eyes. We need to be constantly reminded that God is
with us, even in death. We need to draw
near to God, because He is never far away, and because He is supremely good.
[3] With
the impending destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple at the hands of the
Babylonians in 586, Asaph’s heart is shredded over the situation. His own efforts to maintain faithful in
worship seem futile. All around him,
Jewish youth are returning to pagan behavior and idolatry. So much so, that Asaph cannot even speak of
Yahweh worship without offending Jewish people: many have “unfriended” him, or
simply ignore him. Asaph is in pain
trying to get his head around this kind of anger, hatred and malice. He gets some comfort in worship. Yet, still there must be pain: for how can he
consider the deaths of other Jews without feeling grief? How can he know that wrath is coming, and not
be in turmoil?
[4] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in
Psalms, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.
These meditations are not controlled by
Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND. They are designed and intended for your free
participation. They were freely
received, and are freely given. No other
permission is required for their use.
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