Thoughts for the Day

Plea for Relief from Oppressors. A Psalm of Asaph.

Truly God is good to the upright,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pain;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
Their eyes swell out with fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues range over the earth.

Therefore the people turn and praise them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, ‘How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?’
Such are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I have been plagued,
and am punished every morning.

If I had said, ‘I will talk on in this way’,
I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.
Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes;
on awaking you despise their phantoms.

When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like a brute beast towards you.
Nevertheless I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterwards you will receive me with honour.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
you put an end to those who are false to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
to tell of all your works.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Twenty-eight verses of a psalm are rather excessive for these 'Thoughts', but just look at the images used. Surely we have all felt like this at sometime or other? Psalm 73 starts the beginning of the third book of psalms. It was written by Asaph, the founder of one of the Temple choirs,and the majority in the third book (numbers 73-89) were written by him.

The key to this psalm is the phrase "pure in heart" in the first verse, which is less about being perfect as a human being and more about our attitude to God and to others. When we carp and moan about all that seems wrong with our life but do nothing to change things; or when we are critical of the way others act or behave, then our feet stumble on the path that God has set for us. When we are envious of others, of their life-style or of their prosperity, then there is no safe foothold on that path and we have nearly slipped.

The first change from self-centeredness, and from self-interest and self-pity, occurs when Asaph recalls that this is not how he should think as a child of God. Behind this lies the thought that we should leave others to God's judgement, and concentrate on getting ourselves right with Him. For it is when Asaph turns to God in worship that he remembers what is important, that God holds his right hand, and that He guides him through life.

↠ It can be easy to slip or step away from God's path when we let the world get in the way. Can we turn back to God, confess this, and ask for help?

Heavenly Father,
all too often we can let self-interest,
or jealousy of others
get in the way of our relationship with You.
We can judge others without
understanding their true situation,
and we can fail to see our own faults.
Forgive our failings and help us to
concentrate on establishing a
right relationship with You -
the One who walks beside us
and holds our hand.
Amen.