PrintThings are pretty grim when we have almost reached the point where we are ready to abandon our God and faith in that God - the One in whom we have trusted for many years.
Asaph, the author of Psalm 73, now makes public that he was at that place. But why? Was his experience comparable to that of Job? Had he lost everything? No. So far as we know Asaph had lost nothing - good or bad. What really stirred him up was that the wicked seemed to have gained everything good.
As he compared the outcome of two totally different lifestyles - the righteous and the wicked - he became envious of the wicked. Who of us have not done that? He explains the reasons for his negative outlook.
Material prosperity is noted as a good thing but, in the belief system of Asaph, it ought to be reserved for good people (v.3, 7, 12). In what seems to him to be an inverted view of the world, it's the wicked who prosper - and that's not fair!
Physical health is another example of the injustice that gnaws at Asaph's heart - and ours (v.4, 5). So often it is the righteous who are stricken with chronic or terminal diseases while the wicked coast through life pain-free. That is neither fair or just! Obviously this is a generalisation but it still angers Asaph.
Not only do the wicked prosper in these ways, they do so while they are energized by pride and arrogance (V.6, 8, 9). They relate to others with cruelty and abuse (v.6, 8).
What are the consequences of this tension between what is and what should be?
Well, the answer to this question is found in vs. 10-14. That's my agenda for my next post.
