Psalm 73

||A Psalm of *Asaph.

1  ||Truly God is good to aIsrael,

Even to such as are †of a clean heart.

2  But as for me, my feet were almost bgone;

My steps had well nigh slipped.

3  cFor I was denvious at the efoolish,

When I saw the fprosperity of the wicked.

4  For there are no gbands in their death:

But their strength is †firm.

5  They are not †in trouble as other men;

Neither are they hplagued †like other men.

6  nTherefore pride compasseth them about ias a chain;

Violence covereth them jas a garment.

7  kTheir eyes stand out with fatness:

†They have more than heart could wish.

8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression:

lThey speak mloftily.

9  They set their mouth against the heavens,

And their tongue walketh through the earth.

10  nTherefore his people return hither:

And waters of a full ocup pare wrung out to them.

11  And they say, qHow doth God know?

And is there knowledge in the most High?

12  Behold, these are the ungodly,

rWho prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

13  sVerily I have cleansed my heart in vain,

And twashed my hands in innocency.

14  For all the day long have I been hplagued,

And †chastened ttevery morning.

15  If I say, I will speak uthus;

Behold, I should offend against vthe generation of thy children.

16  When I wthought to know this,

†It was too painful for me;

17  Until I went into xthe sanctuary of God;

Then yunderstood I ztheir end.

18  sSurely thou didst set them in aslippery places:

Thou castedst them down into bdestruction.

19  How are they brought into desolation, cas in a moment!

They are utterly dconsumed with eterrors.

20  fAs a dream when one awaketh;

So, O Lord, gwhen thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

21  Thus my heart was grieved,

And I was pricked in my reins.

22  So hfoolish was I, and †ignorant:

I was as ia beast †before thee.

23  Nevertheless I am continually with thee:

Thou hast holden me by my right hand.

24  jThou shalt guide me with thy counsel,

And afterward jjreceive me to glory.

25  Whom have I in heaven but thee?

And there is none upon earth that I desire kbeside thee.

26  lMy flesh and my heart faileth:

But God is the †strength of my heart, and mmy portion nfor ever.

27  For, lo, othey that are far from thee shall perish:

Thou hast destroyed all them that pgo a whoring from thee.

28  But it is good for me to draw near to God:

I have put my trust in the Lord God,

That I may qdeclare all thy works.