Psalms — Chapter 73
A psalm of Asaph.God is truly good to Israel,to those whose heart is pure.
As for me, my feet had almost strayed,my steps were nearly led off course,
for I envied the wanton;I saw the wicked at ease.
Death has no pangs for them;their body is healthy.
They have no part in human travail;they are not afflicted like the rest of humankind.
So pride adorns their necks,lawlessness enwraps them as a mantle.
Fat shuts out their eyes;their fancies are extravagant.aFat … extravagant Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
They scoff and plan evil;from their eminence they plan wrongdoing.
They set their mouths against heaven,and their tongues range over the earth.
bMeaning of verse uncertain. So they pound this people again and again,until they are drained of their very last tear.
Then they say, “How could God know?Is there knowledge with the Most High?”
Such are the wicked;ever tranquil, they amass wealth.
It was for nothing that I kept my heart pureand washed my hands in innocence,
seeing that I have been constantly afflicted,that each morning brings new punishments.
Had I decided to say these things,I should have been false to the circle of Your disciples.
So I applied myself to understand this,but it seemed a hopeless task
till I entered God’s sanctuaryand reflected on their fate.
You surround them with flattery;You make them fall through blandishments.
How suddenly are they ruined,wholly swept away by terrors.
When You are aroused You despise their image,as one does a dream after waking, O my Sovereign.
My mind was stripped of its reason,my feelings were numbed.cmy feelings were numbed Lit. “I was pierced through in my kidneys.”
I was a dolt, without knowledge;I was brutish toward You.
Yet I was always with You,You held my right hand;
You guided me by Your counseland led me toward honor.dand led me toward honor Meaning of Heb. uncertain; in contrast to others “And afterward receive me with glory.”
Whom else have I in heaven?And having You, I want no one on earth.
My body and mind fail;but God is the stayestay Lit. “rock.” of my mind, my portion forever.
Those who keep far from You perish;You annihilate all who are untrue to You.
As for me, nearness to God is good;I have made the Sovereign GOD my refuge,that I may recount all Your works.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”
Tao Te Ching 76
“A man is born gentle and weak. At his death he is hard and stiff. The soft and yielding is the disciple of life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
The Path to Wisdom
Dhammapada 20:282
“Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes.”
Analects 2:11
“If you study the past and use it to understand the present, you are worthy of being a teacher.”
Tao Te Ching 33
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”