| Chapter 73 |
1 | A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, [Even] to such as are pure in heart.
|
2 | But as for me, my feet were almost gone; My steps had well nigh slipped.
|
3 | For I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
|
4 | For there are no pangs in their death; But their strength is firm.
|
5 | They are not in trouble as [other] men; Neither are they plagued like [other] men.
|
6 | Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; Violence covereth them as a garment.
|
7 | Their eyes stand out with fatness: They have more than heart could wish.
|
8 | They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression: They speak loftily.
|
9 | They have set their mouth in the heavens, And their tongue walketh through the earth.
|
10 | Therefore his people return hither: And waters of a full [cup] are drained by them.
|
11 | And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?
|
12 | Behold, these are the wicked; And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
|
13 | Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;
|
14 | For all the day long have I been plagued, And chastened every morning.
|
15 | If I had said, I will speak thus; Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
|
16 | When I thought how I might know this, It was too painful for me;
|
17 | Until I went into the sanctuary of God, And considered their latter end.
|
18 | Surely thou settest them in slippery places: Thou castest them down to destruction.
|
19 | How are they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.
|
20 | As a dream when one awaketh, So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
|
21 | For my soul was grieved, And I was pricked in my heart:
|
22 | So brutish was I, and ignorant; I was [as] a beast before thee.
|
23 | Nevertheless I am continually with thee: Thou hast holden my right hand.
|
24 | Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.
|
25 | Whom have I in heaven [but thee]? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.
|
26 | My flesh and my heart faileth; [But] God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
|
27 | For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, [departing] from thee.
|
28 | But it is good for me to draw near unto God: I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge, That I may tell of all thy works.
|