Welcome to Torah Today Ministries and our continuing series Tehillim Talks, our studies in the Psalms. And in this episode we begin book three of Psalms with Psalm 73. Now in review remember that the book of Psalms is divided into five books called the Genesis book, the Exodus book, the Leviticus book and of course the numbers book and Deuteronomy book. The Genesis book is comprised of Psalms number 1-41. And then the Exodus book, Psalms 42-72. And now as we come to Psalm 73, which begins the Leviticus book, it’s only appropriate that these opening psalms in this part of the book of Psalms should be composed by a Levite. And sure enough, Assaf (אָסָף), who is the composer of this psalm and the next 10 psalms, Psalm 73-83, is a Levite. So when you begin the psalm you will see a psalm of Asaf or better pronounced Assaf.
Now if Assaf sounds a little bit like Yosef (יוֹסֵף), Joseph, it’s because they share the same root. The word Joseph or Assaf means to gather or to add together. And we’ll see later that Assaf had a son he named Yosef, again echoes his very own name.
Now, some interesting background material about Assaf can be found in 1 and 2 Chronicles, especially in 1 Chronicles chapters 15 and 16. And there we learn that not only was Assaf a Levite and a close friend of King David, but he as a Levite, he was a priest. Not all Levites were priests, but all priests were Levites. He was also a prophet. We discover that in 1 Chronicles 25:2. And it says of the sons of Assaf. And these are his sons. Zakur, Yosef, Nathania, Nasharella, sons of Assaf, under the direction of Assaf, who prophesied under the direction of the king. So Assaf is a Levitical priest. He’s also a musician. And we learn about that all through 1 Chronicles 15-16.
But he was also a prophet. We also discover that he was a seer. I’m not quite sure what the difference is between a prophet and a seer. But a seer appears to be one who can see into the spiritual realm in a way that is unique. We have many prophets in the scriptures but not so many seers.
But it tells us that in 2 Chronicles 29:30 and Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to Adonai (יהוה) with the words of David and of Assaf the Seer.
Now in King Hezekiah’s time, Assaf and David had already passed away. But Hezekiah commanded that David’s and Assaf’s psalms be used to sing and to praise.
And of course it’s obvious that Assaf is also a poet, a psalmist. Now he wrote these 11 psalms from 73-83. But we’ve already encountered his first psalm and that’s back in Psalm 50. So we have 12 psalms composed by Assaf in the book of Psalms. But again here as we begin the Leviticus book of Psalms, the first 11 psalms written by a Levite, a priest, a prophet, a seer, a singer, a musician whose name was Assaf.
Now, this psalm has really become—I know I always say this is my new favorite psalm, but for at least this week, this is my new favorite psalm. Psalm 73 begins on a kind of a dark note because Assaf wrestled with something probably all of us have and that is why is it that the righteous seem to suffer and the wicked seem to prosper?
But then he comes with this beautiful turning point and it is the key to this entire psalm. And I formatted this verse, this turning point we’re going to come to in a moment because I want it to stand out in your mind. And I want you to always remember how you can change your perspective when you look out at the world and it feels like the whole world’s just kind of crashing down on you. Yet the rich and the wicked and those who don’t know God and are living according to their own ways, they seem to be prospering. They don’t seem to be suffering at all. So, let’s get right into our psalm.
Now, you’ll notice I put here a one in brackets. That’s because we find in the psalm three times on the word and I translate it surely. Some translate it truly or certainly but the Hebrew word is ach (אַךְ). I know in German when someone is frustrated they’ll go “ah” and in Hebrew the same thing but the word ach means surely or certainly. We find this three times and this word is used by Assaf to introduce the three sections of this psalm. So I’ve numbered them here for our convenience. And he says:
“Ah, surely God is good to Israel to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled and my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pains until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind.” (Psalm 73:1-5)
Now you’ll see that I have “but as for me” I put that in bold red in Hebrew that is one word va’ani (וַאֲנִי). Literally it means “and I” and “I myself.” But va’ani is putting himself in contrast to others. And this is used four times in the psalm. And I have put these in bold red because they help to highlight important sections of this psalm.
So surely God is good to Israel to those who are pure in heart. But as we’re going to see in a moment, Assaf said, “I have been pure in heart in vain.” So let’s get to it.
Therefore, pride is their necklace—these arrogant people who seem to just float through life ignoring God, ignoring his word, just doing things their own way and they don’t seem to have any trouble.
“Therefore, pride is their necklace. Violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness. Their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice. Loftily they threaten oppression. They put their mouths against the heavens and their tongue struts through the earth.” (Psalm 73:6-9)
What an amazing phrase. They put their mouth against heaven. They speak against heaven and their tongues just strut through the earth.
“Therefore, his people, God’s people, turn back to them and lap up their words and they say, ‘How could God know? Is there knowledge with the most high?’” (Psalm 73:10-11)
In other words, God is so high and lofty. Does he even notice what’s going on down here?
“Behold, such are the wicked, always at ease. They increase in wealth.” (Psalm 73:12)
And then he comes to the middle part of the psalm. And the second time he says:
“Ah, ah, in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” (Psalm 73:13)
In other words, what’s the use? I try to do things right. I devote my time and my energies to serving God and to following his word. I have to resist temptation and I have to devote so much energy to things that the world thinks are just unimportant. And I just feel like I keep my heart clean in vain. I wash my hands in innocence. This is all waste.
“For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.” (Psalm 73:14)
Had I said, “I’m going to tell it as it is.” Now, get what he’s saying here. He’s tempted just to say, to verbalize, “What’s the use? I’m just going to tell it as it is. It just doesn’t pay to live a devoted life, a holy life.”
But he didn’t say that. He was tempted, but he didn’t say it because he said:
“Had I said, I will tell it as it is. Behold, I would have betrayed a generation of your children.” (Psalm 73:15)
Assaf is saying, I’m one who’s really devoted my life to God, to living a godly life. There are people who look up to me. After all, Assaf is a priest. People look to him to teach God’s word. They look to him to be a model of righteous living and holy living. And I’m so tempted, he says, just to tell it like it is, like I give up. But if I had, I would have betrayed—I would have betrayed a generation of your children.
“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a weary task.” (Psalm 73:16)
Now the word there for “thought how to understand” is the same word as “know” that we saw up earlier. As I tried to figure out in my brain how to know this, how to make sense of this, how to make things fit in my mind, it was a weary task.
Now, you notice I have the word “betrayed” there in bold because this word in Hebrew is the word bagad (בָּגַד). And we’ve seen it before. I believe it was back in Psalm 59. Don’t quote me on that, but I think that’s right. And Psalm 59 uses the word bagad which can be pronounced two ways. Bagad (בָּגַד) which means to act in a traitorous way, a deceitful way. Or it could be pronounced beged (בֶּגֶד) which means a garment—like I’m wearing a beged, a garment. And they’re spelled exactly the same way.
But when you think about it, when you deceive people, when you act treacherously, you’re putting on a different garment. We’re told in Corinthians that Satan goes about as an angel of light. He can put on his garment of light and appear like an angel of light, but we know that he’s one who is actually the prince of darkness.
And so he says, “If I had just told it the way I was seeing in my mind at the time, I would have betrayed an entire generation. I would have put on the wrong garment. I would have traded in my garment as a priest of the holy one and I would put on a garment of deceit.”
Now I want to recall again that the name Assaf (אָסָף) is from the same root as the name Yosef (יוֹסֵף). And it just so happens that last week and this week’s Torah portions are about Joseph.
And think how Joseph was betrayed by his brothers. Done nothing wrong but he was sold into slavery because of their jealousy. And he goes to Egypt and then while he’s a slave in the house of Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce him. But Joseph does what’s right and as a result he gets framed for trying to attack her and then he winds up not a slave in Potiphar’s house, but he winds up in prison. He’s gone from bad to worse. Don’t you know that these thoughts that we are reading about here by Assaf had to echo the same kinds of thoughts and reasoning that Joseph was struggling with in his own heart.
How do you turn this around? How do we change our thoughts when they start going down this channel? What do we do?
The next verse and this is the verse where everything changes.
Says, “It seemed like a weary task.”
“Until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned their end.” (Psalm 73:17)
Who’s the “they”? The rich, those who flaunt God’s commandments, those who turn their backs on him and seem to live the easy life.
How did he change his mind? He went into the sanctuary of God.
What does that mean?
Well, Joseph did not have access to the sanctuary of God. In fact, there was no tabernacle yet when Joseph lived. But the sanctuary of God is going to a place of prayer, of quiet, of withdrawing from this world and just spending time in God’s presence because there you can begin to see things from God’s perspective.
And I imagine that when Joseph took time to be quiet and review his life and think, “Lord, why am I here in Egypt? Why have I just been betrayed and sent into prison?” He had to go back and think, what did God speak to me? God spoke to me two very specific and spectacular dreams. And he had to hold on to those knowing that those were messages from God and God would fulfill them. He didn’t know how, but he held on to what he knew to be true.
He also had to hold on to what he knew to be true regarding living in a righteous way. That living life in a righteous way in the face of all the peer pressure and the temptations, he knew that it would pay off in the end. He knew that if he betrayed God, he’d betray all those who are looking up to him. He knew that he would—he would not be Joseph anymore and he wouldn’t really have a story in the Bible, would he? I don’t—if Joseph had failed to be Joseph and to stand for truth and to be faithful, would we even have a story of Joseph in the scriptures?
So until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I discerned their end. And then this begins section three.
“Ah, surely you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors.” (Psalm 73:18-19)
He’s saying, “Now that I’ve really paused and looked at things from God’s point of view, I realize that the rich and the wicked who seem to be just living without any consequences in their lives, I realize they’re in a slippery place.”
You know, those who are rich and wicked—and I’m not against the rich, but so many times we see wicked people who are wealthy and rich and life seems to be easy. I don’t think we realize how much terror there is in their lives. For one thing, they realize life is so empty and pointless. This is why the suicide rate skyrockets among the very wealthy. They’re also in terror of losing what they have. They’re in terror that there might be a judgment and they know they have turned their backs and rebelled against God’s laws and his standards. I think we just don’t appreciate how much terror there is in the heart of the wealthy wicked person.
“Like a dream when one awakes, oh Lord, when you arouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.” (Psalm 73:20)
That word “despise” means kind of like to dismiss them as a ghost. In other words, they never invested their life in eternal things. They only invested their life in surface things that don’t matter. So when they die, what did their lives count for? They’re like a phantom, like a ghost, like a puff of smoke, and they’re gone.
Then we come to this fascinating part, verses 21 to 24. It’s all fascinating, but this particularly stood out to me.
Now, most translations will have something like this: “when my heart was soured”—it doesn’t say soured. What do most translations use? I can’t recall right now, but embittered or something like that. When my heart was soured when I was pricked in my thoughts.
Now, the word “soured” there is the word chamets (חָמֵץ). It’s the word for leaven. You know, at Passover, we get all the chametz out of our house—the leaven. If you ever tasted yeast, it’s very bitter. And that word chamets can also mean sour or bitter, but literally it means leavened. I love this image.
“When my heart was leavened…” (Psalm 73:21a)
When I allowed the leavening of the world to get into my heart and affect the way I thought, then there was a lot of confusion. So, we see the heart here.
But then it goes on says:
“…when I was pricked in my thoughts.” (Psalm 73:21b)
Now the word there for “thoughts” in Hebrew is the word kilyot (כִּלְיוֹת) which means kidneys. And we often find in the scriptures the word heart and kidneys used together. What does this mean?
Since it makes no sense in English to talk about being “pricked in my kidneys.” It just doesn’t make sense. But in Hebraic thought it makes perfect sense. The heart was thought to be the seat of the emotions and of the thoughts and understanding. But the kidneys were thought to be the seat of the conscience. The conscience.
Now you have one heart that has four chambers. Has a left side and a right side. But you have two kidneys that are separate. A left one and a right one. And the kidneys are where we kind of—just as they filter the blood and the nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ), the soul, is in the blood and the kidneys filter the blood. You can think of spiritual kidneys that kind of filter the soul and the kidneys decide what stays and what is waste that must be excreted from the body.
And so with that in mind:
“When my heart was soured. It was leavened when I was pricked in my kidneys, in that part of me that just didn’t understand.” (Psalm 73:21)
And then he says, “But as for me”—va’ani (וַאֲנִי)—says it twice in a row here, just close together.
“Va’ani, but as for me, I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast before you.” (Psalm 73:22)
What does that mean? Well, think of an animal. It’s only concerned with two things. Its appetites and its ease. Its comfort. It’s all it concerns itself with. Its urges, its appetites and its comfort.
And so he says, “I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast toward you. There was part of me that was only concerned with my own comfort, only concerned with satisfying my own appetites.” But then he says the va’ani again, as if there’s another me. He’s like he’s talking about his left kidney, his physical side. But as for me, I was just want to be like an animal. Want to be left alone. I wanted my desires fulfilled. I want to have easy life. Then he says, but as for me, and now he’s talking about the spiritual side:
“I am continually with you. You hold my right hand.” (Psalm 73:23)
Remember that in Hebraic thought, left and right always represent the physical and the spiritual, not bad and good—just physical and spiritual. And we hold these two things in tension. And as we walk in the Torah, we can elevate the physical to the holy. And we can blend heaven and earth. We can bring God’s holy commandments, his holy word, and live them out in a physical life.
So when he says, “But as for me,” I think of the left side of the soul. And then he says, “But as for me” a second time, he’s thinking of the right side. So on the one hand, I was like an animal. I just wanted my urges, my appetites satisfied. I wanted to be at ease. But Lord, you’re holding on to me and I want to hold on to you. So you see this war between the physical and the spiritual. So but as for me, verse 23:
“I am continually with you. I am always with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me to glory.” (Psalm 73:23-24)
The wicked wealthy, they get their pleasures right now. But the righteous, the holy, they’re looking forward to an eternal joy in the future.
And then we come to the conclusion of this amazing psalm. Verse 25.
“Whom have I in heaven but you? There is nothing on earth that I desire beside you.” (Psalm 73:25)
You know, he went to the sanctuary and he got his head right. And he realized there’s nothing I want on this earth. If I had the whole world, I would just be one of the wealthy, wicked. I’d be in a slippery place filled with terror. I don’t want it. I want to be with you. My desire is for you.
“My flesh and my heart may fail. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.” (Psalm 73:26-27)
Va’ani—but as for me:
“God’s nearness is my good. I have made the Lord Adonai (אֲדֹנָי יהוה) my refuge that I may tell of all your works.” (Psalm 73:28)
What kind of message do you have? If you’re living a wicked life, regardless of how much wealth you have, what is your message to the world? You have nothing to say. But if you’re living a life close to God, you have a powerful message for the world. You have something people need to hear and most of them want to hear it.
Don’t betray those who are looking to you to be an example to them, but wrestle out these things and go into the sanctuary of God. Get your head straight. Look at things from his perspective. And then you can come out again once again bright and clean and proclaim his message. And like Joseph, in due time, God lifts you up. He gives you a place from which you can speak his truth and his word to those who need to hear it.
So I don’t think it’s coincidence that we just so happen to be in the Torah cycle where the story of Joseph and now we’re coming to this psalm that begins these 11 psalms of Assaf. So as we look forward let’s see if we—and I have read ahead but I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to see more parallels with Joseph’s life since Assaf and Yosef are like namesakes—but so let’s explore this together. I look forward to getting through these psalms of Assaf.
One thing I do want you to watch is this. These 11 psalms form what appear to be a menorah (מְנוֹרָה) pattern. And you know what the menorah—the center stalk is the shamash (שַׁמָּשׁ). It’s the one that’s the longest and it kind of supports all the rest. And you’ll find that the middle of these 11 psalms is over twice as long as any of the other 10. So, I think there’s something going on there. We’ll explore it together.
So, until next time, I wish you shalom (שָׁלוֹם) and God bless.
A Psalm of Asaph
1-5 [1] Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5 They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
אך (ach) = “surely” / “certainly”
ואני (va’ani) = “and I”
6-12 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. 7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. 8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. 9 They put their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. 10 Therefore His people turn back to them, and lap up their words. 11 And they say, “How could God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” 12 Behold! Such are the wicked. Always at ease, they increase in wealth.
13-17 [2] Surely in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. 15 Had I said, “I will tell it as it is,” behold, I would have betrayed a generation of Your children. 16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task …
17 – until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned their end.
18-20 [3] Surely you set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when You rouse Yourself, You despise them as phantoms.
21-24 When my heart was soured (lit. “leavened”), when I was pricked in my thoughts (lit. “kidneys”), 22 but as for me I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast toward You. 23 But as for me, I am continually with You. You hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will receive me to glory.
25-28 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from You shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to You. 28 But as for me, God’s nearness is my good. I have made the Lord Adonai my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.
REFERENCES:
Superscript
1Chronicles 15:16-17 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah.
1Chronicles 16:1-7 And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Adonai 3 and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. 4 Then [David] appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of Adonai, to invoke, to thank, and to praise Adonai, the God of Israel. 5 Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres. Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. 7 Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to Adonai by Asaph and his brothers.
1Chronicles 16:37 So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of Adonai to minister regularly before the ark as each day required.
1Chonicles 25:2 Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph, under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.
2Chonicles 29:30 And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to Adonai with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.
Verse 15
Proverbs 21:18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor (בדג, bogeid) for the upright.