Limitless Word

Part of Book III📖 Psalms introduction

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1A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. ✦ 2But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped. ✦ 3For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ✦ 4For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm. ✦ 5They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men. ✦ 6Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment. ✦ 7Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit. ✦ 8They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression. ✦ 9They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth. ✦ 10Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance. ✦ 11They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” ✦ 12Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches. ✦ 13Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence, ✦ 14For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning. ✦ 15If I had said, “I will speak thus”; behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. ✦ 16When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me; ✦ 17Until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end. ✦ 18Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. ✦ 19How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors. ✦ 20As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies. ✦ 21For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart. ✦ 22I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you. ✦ 23Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand. ✦ 24You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. ✦ 25Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you. ✦ 26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. ✦ 27For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you. ✦ 28But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 73 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryPsalms (Tyndale OT Commentaries)Derek Kidner · Paid · evangelical

    Concise, theologically rich, and wonderfully accessible — the best place to start on the Psalms.

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 73YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — Psalms 73David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Psalms 73Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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