| 1. | 1 God's surely good to Israel, to every one whose heart is pure. 2 but as for me, I nearly fell; my footsteps were no longer sure. 3 For I was envious of the proud and wicked ones with wealth endowed. | ||||||||||||||
| 2. | 4 For till their death no pangs they know; their strength is firm from day to day; 5 they have no part in others' woe, nor plagued as mortal men are they. 6 They make their necklace arrogance, and clothe themselves with violence. | ||||||||||||||
| 3. | 7 Their eyes are bulging from excess; their hearts o'er flow with dreams they seek. 8 They scoff; they threaten to oppress; disdainful words they proudly speak. 9 Their mouth the heights of heaven raids; their tongue around the world parades. | ||||||||||||||
| 4. | 10 His people therefore this way turn and drink their streams that overflow. 11 "For how," they say, "can God discern?" And does the Most High really know?" 12 Behold, ungodly men are these, who gain in wealth and live at ease.
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4/03/11
Psalm 73
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“When my heart was sour, when I felt sore, I was a dull, stupid creature, no better than a brute before Thee.”
On Being a Sourpuss - R. J. Rushdoony
I do not normally use recent translations of the Bible, which are often paraphrases rather than translations, but once in a while I find a fresh insight in one of them. An example of this is Moffatt’s rendering of Psalm 73:21–22 (above).
What Asaph tells us in the psalm is that when he was in distress because of what was happening, he almost slipped from God’s way; he nearly lost his footing. Asaph was so overwhelmed with his grief and unhappiness that his heart, mind, and being became sour. In modern English, Asaph says, I became a sourpuss and a sorehead.
This was a way of leaving God, of being far from God, but Asaph came to realize that “they that are far from thee shall perish” (Ps. 73:27).
Asaph does not say that he had done wrong. Instead, he tells us that his sourness or bitterness came from seeing the wrongs done by others, to him and to many other people, as well as to the Lord. All this embittered him until he came to realize that his sourness had not changed the ungodly. It had instead changed him and harmed his relationship to the Lord. For a time, then, Asaph’s godliness had been undercut by his sourness.
Years ago, I heard an old pastor say, “There is no such thing as a sour saint.” He made this statement when someone tried to excuse a prominent member whose sourpuss ways were troubling the church.
Are you a sourpuss in your relationship to your family, your coworkers, your fellow Christians, and the Lord? Remember, no matter what the cause, being a sourpuss changes nothing—except your relationship to God and to man.
Taken from A Word In Season Vol. 7. pp.106-107.
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