Chapter Seventy-Two

The psalm belongs to Asaph, a contemporary of David. In the circumstances of the life of this king, especially in the history of Absalom, his rapid rise and fall, the writer could find material both for the basic thought of the content of the psalm and for some of its specific positions (Ps 72:3).

The Lord is good to the pure in heart. I doubted this truth at the sight of the prosperity of the wicked, by which they become arrogant and bold (1–9). Following them is the people, who comes to the denial of the Providence of God on earth (10–13). I also experienced wavering—why should I care for my purity? But me from preaching these waverings was held back by the consciousness of responsibility before the people (14–15). When I began to think deeply and entered the sanctuary, I understood how quickly such wicked people fall (16–20). My waverings were an expression of my ignorance; now I know that only in God and approach to Him is true life and reward, and those who turn away from Him—will perish (21–28).

Psalm 72:1. How good God is to Israel, to those pure in heart! This is an introduction to all the content of the psalm, containing the conclusion to which the author came through his doubts and waverings.

Psalm 72:6. Pride, like a necklace, has clothed them, and violence, like a garment, covers them; The pride of the wicked and their haughty attitude toward other people are the result of their external prosperity.

Psalm 72:7. Their eyes bulge from fatness, their thoughts wander in their hearts; “Their thoughts wander in their hearts”—they freely give themselves over to their desires, not caring to check their purity and harmony with the indications of God’s will.

Psalm 72:9. They lift their mouths to the heavens, and their tongue walks about on the earth. “They lift their mouths to the heavens”—they arrogantly look down on God’s Commandments, considering themselves entitled to evaluate and criticize them, that is, they test God’s will by their judgment, thereby elevating themselves to the place of supreme lawgiver.

Psalm 72:10. Therefore his people turn there and drink water from a full cup, Psalm 72:11. And say: “How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? The impunity of the wicked and their external predominance provoke imitation among the people. The latter also begin to “drink from a full cup,” give themselves irresistibly to their evil desires, while coming to doubt: “How does God know?” and “Is there knowledge in the Most High?” that is, whether man is under Divine influence and whether there is justice on earth?

Psalm 72:13. [And I said:] Is it in vain that I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence, Psalm 72:14. And have afflicted myself all day long and been rebuked every morning? Psalm 72:15. But if I had said, “I will speak thus,”—then I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. “To keep my heart pure,” “to wash my hands in innocence,” “to afflict myself... and be rebuked”—means to watch carefully not only one’s actions, but also the purity of one’s thoughts. Such care for spiritual cleanliness requires constant and strong restraint of one’s sinful impulses, which causes pain. The facts of the prosperity of the wicked, living according to their desires and not caring about their moral purity, however, posed to the writer the question—is there meaning in his self-restraint? Doubts tormented him, but he considered himself not entitled to proclaim these doubts and plant them in others; if one himself lacks firmness in convictions, then it is a direct duty not to sow wavering in others. An action of the latter kind makes him “guilty before the generation of Your children,” that is, before the Hebrews, whom the Lord loves and cares for as a father for his children. To plant his doubts in them would mean to turn the children away from the Father, to deprive them of His beneficial and loving care, to deprive others of blessing to which oneself does not have the right.

Psalm 72:16. And I thought, how to understand this, but it was difficult in my eyes, Psalm 72:17. Until I entered the sanctuary of God and understood their end. The author’s doubts were resolved “in the sanctuary.” Probably here is meant prayer, with which he turned before the altar to the Lord and when he received from Him in revelation the resolution of his doubts.

Psalm 72:18. Indeed! You have set them on slippery ground, and You cast them down to destruction. Psalm 72:19. How suddenly they are brought to desolation, consumed, they perish from terrors! Psalm 72:20. Like a dream after waking, so You, Lord, when You awake, will destroy their phantoms. The writer in his observations on reality was one-sided; he judged only on the basis of the facts of the prosperity of the wicked, and did not pay attention to how quickly and unexpectedly they perish, how often their dreams of happiness are deceived.

Psalm 72:25. Who have I in heaven? And on earth I desire nothing but You. “Who have I in heaven?” What can heaven give me if I will not be there with God? “And on earth I desire nothing but You”—except You I want nothing else on earth. The meaning of the whole expression—except God the writer wishes to have no other attachments, since except Him nothing can give him satisfaction.

Psalm 72:26. Though my flesh and my heart fail, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 72:27. For behold, those who turn away from You will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to You. Psalm 72:28. But it is good for me to be near God! I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may declare all Your works [in the gates of the daughter of Zion]. Since those living apart from God perish, true blessing is to draw near to Him. Then man receives “portion... forever” (26), that is, an eternal, inalienable reward, which remains after his death, or—eternal life.