Psalm 73

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The Nearness of God Is My Good

A Psalm of Asaph.

Surely God is good to Israel,

To those who are pure in heart!

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

My steps had almost slipped.

For I was envious of the boastful,

I saw the peace of the wicked.

For there are no pains in their death,

And their body is fat.

They are not in trouble as other men,

And they are not stricken along with the rest of mankind.

Therefore lofty pride is their necklace;

The garment of violence covers them.

Their eye bulges from fatness;

The delusions of their heart overflow.

They scoff and wickedly speak of oppression;

They speak from on high.

They have set their mouth against the heavens,

And their tongue goes through the earth.

Therefore his people return here, to his place,

And waters of fullness are drunk by them.

They say, “How does God know?

And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked;

And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure

And washed my hands in innocence;

For I have been stricken all day long

And reproved every morning.

If I had said, “I will recount thus,”

Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

When I gave thought to know this,

It was trouble in my sight

Until I came into the sanctuary of God;

Then I understood their end.

Surely You set them in slippery places;

You cause them to fall to destruction.

How they become desolate in a moment!

They are completely swept away by terrors!

Like a dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.

When my heart was embittered

And I was pierced within,

Then I was senseless and ignorant;

I was like an animal before You.

Nevertheless I am continually with You;

You have taken hold of my right hand.

With Your counsel You will lead me,

And afterward take me in glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

My flesh and my heart fail,

But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.

For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;

You have destroyed everyone who is unfaithful to You.

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have set Lord Yahweh as my refuge,

That I may recount all Your works.

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