A Psalm of Asaph.
{Or, Only good is God}Surely God is good to Israel,
Even to such as are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone;
My steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the {Or, fools}arrogant,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For there are no pangs in their death;
But their strength is firm.
They are not {Hebrew: in the trouble of men.}in trouble as other men;
Neither are they plagued like other men.
Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;
Violence covereth them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness:
{Or, The imagination of their heart overflow}They have more than heart could wish.
They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression:
They speak {Or, from on high}loftily.
They have set their mouth {Or, against}in the heavens,
And their tongue walketh through the earth.
Therefore {Another reading is, he will bring back his people.}his people return hither:
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
And they say, How doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?
Behold, these are the wicked;
And, being alway at ease, they increase in riches.
Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,
And washed my hands in innocency;
For all the day long have I been plagued,
And {Hebrew: my chastisement was.}chastened every morning.
If I had said, I will speak thus;
Behold, I had dealt treacherously with the generation of thy children.
When I thought how I might know this,
It was {Hebrew: labor in mine eyes.}too painful for me;
Until I went into the sanctuary of God,
And considered their latter end.
Surely thou settest them in slippery places:
Thou castest them down to {Hebrew: ruins.}destruction.
How are they become a desolation in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
As a dream when one awaketh,
So, O Lord, {Or, in the city}when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image.
For my soul was {Hebrew: was in a ferment.}grieved,
And I was pricked in my {Hebrew: reins.}heart:
So brutish {Or, am}was I, and ignorant;
I was as a beast {Hebrew: with thee.}before thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with thee:
Thou hast holden my right hand.
Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,
And afterward receive me {Or, with}to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire {Or, with thee}besides thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth;
But God is the {Hebrew: rock.}strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish:
Thou hast destroyed all them that play the harlot, departing from thee.
But it is good for me to draw near unto God:
I have made the Lord Jehovah my refuge,
That I may tell of all thy works.
Querverweise zu Psalm 73,2 Ps 73,2
But as for me, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness will I come into thy house:In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
For thou hast delivered my soul from death,Mine eyes from tears,And my feet from falling.
My steps have held fast to thy paths,My feet have not slipped.
As for me, {Or, let me}I shall behold thy face in righteousness; {Or, let me}I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.
He will keep the feet of his {Or, godly ones Another reading is, holy one.}holy ones;But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;For by strength shall no man prevail.
For I said, Lest they rejoice over me:When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth:I afflicted my soul with fasting;And my prayer {Or, shall return}returned into mine own bosom.
but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity {Greek: in. Many ancient authorities read to.}under the law of sin which is in my members.
When I said, My foot slippeth;Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, held me up.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.
Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of {Or, this body of death}the body of this death?
In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;It is ready for them whose foot slippeth.
Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
And David said to Solomon {According to another reading, My son, as for me &c.}his son, As for me, it was in my heart to build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God.
As for me, is my complaint {Or, of}to man?And why should I not be impatient?