Psa 73:1 | Clarke | STEP | The psalmist speaks of God's goodness to his people, ; shows how much he was stumbled at the prosperity of the wicked, and describes their state, ; details the process of the temptation, and the pain he suffered in consequence, ; shows how he was delivered, and the dismal reverse of the state of the once prosperous ungodly man, by which his own false views were corrected, ; his great confidence in God, and the good consequences of it, . This is the commencement of the Third Book of the Psalter; and the Psalm before us has for title, A Psalm of Asaph; or, as the margin has it, A Psalm for Asaph. The title in the Hebrew is מזמור לאסף mizmor leasaph; "A Psalm of Asaph:" and it is likely that this Asaph was the composer of it; that he lived under the Babylonish captivity; and that he published this Psalm to console the Israelites under bondage, who were greatly tried to find themselves in such outward distress and misery, while a people much more wicked and corrupt than they, were in great prosperity, and held them in bondage. Verse 1 Truly God is good to Israel - Captives as they were, they still had many blessings from God; and they had promises of deliverance, which must be fulfilled in due time. Such as are of a clean heart - Those who have a clean heart must have inward happiness: and, because they resemble God, they can never be forsaken by him.

Psalms 73:1

Introduction

The psalmist speaks of God's goodness to his people, Psa 73:1; shows how much he was stumbled at the prosperity of the wicked, and describes their state, Psa 73:2-12; details the process of the temptation, and the pain he suffered in consequence, Psa 73:13-16; shows how he was delivered, and the dismal reverse of the state of the once prosperous ungodly man, by which his own false views were corrected, Psa 73:17-22; his great confidence in God, and the good consequences of it, Psa 73:23-28.

This is the commencement of the Third Book of the Psalter; and the Psalm before us has for title, A Psalm of Asaph; or, as the margin has it, A Psalm for Asaph. The title in the Hebrew is מזמור לאסף mizmor leasaph; "A Psalm of Asaph:" and it is likely that this Asaph was the composer of it; that he lived under the Babylonish captivity; and that he published this Psalm to console the Israelites under bondage, who were greatly tried to find themselves in such outward distress and misery, while a people much more wicked and corrupt than they, were in great prosperity, and held them in bondage.

Verse 1

Truly God is good to Israel - Captives as they were, they still had many blessings from God; and they had promises of deliverance, which must be fulfilled in due time.

Such as are of a clean heart - Those who have a clean heart must have inward happiness: and, because they resemble God, they can never be forsaken by him.