Psalm Reflections - Week 3

Psalm 73

Job declares:

"We accept good things from God, ought we not accept evil?" (Jb 2:10).

This raises a serious question and one that challenges our concept of how God relates to us. Does God deal out good things to those who are faithful and punishment to those who abandon him so that by mere observance of externals, one can draw conclusions about the uprightness of a person? Such a simple idea is very much part of the world view of the people who wrote much of the Old Testament. God rewards the good and punishes the evil. We would agree that acting apart from God can have consequences and we would also agree that God will hold us all accountable BUT, since our ancient ancestors did not hold to any belief in a meaningful afterlife, God's justice had to be done in this life. This leads to the concept that if one is good, then prosperity and blessing would come to them in their present life and if one were evil, then their life would be filled with troubles. The limitation of this point of view is precisely the issue addressed by the Book of Job, challenging the boundaries of such a simplistic concept. I think this idea is with us still! How often do we hear someone say that God is punishing us with whatever disaster because of whatever sin? Here is where a literal reading of the Bible can get us into a lot of trouble and cause us to miss a very important point in biblical theology if not the entire message of the Bible.

Psalm 73 chosen for our prayer this week, reflects on this idea. The psalmist shares his own struggle with the dilemma he observed in the seeming success of the wicked, of those who have no regard for God. A similar question that the Book of Job raises is put before us here only reversed: Job is innocent yet he suffers and the psalmist personally notes that the wicked everywhere are prospering. The shortcomings of this basic theory of retribution are observable in the psalm and in Job. The psalmist notes how successful the wicked are, how free of cares, unburdened. They are prosperous and successful, enjoying a good reputation and having influence among the people. (vs 3-12) In that world, life was just not supposed to work out this way! If Job is suffering, (as his friends ceaselessly try to convince him) then he must have done something wrong even though from the very beginning God has declared Job innocent. If the wicked are prospering, as in Ps 73, then this challenges all that the Psalmist understands about how God is supposed to "punish" the wicked and "reward" the good.

At first the psalmist admits to a personal, interior struggle. He is prone to envy the success of those who disregard the faith tradition and do not live within it: "I came close to stumbling, my feet almost slipped" (vs 2) Why bother to maintain a right relationship with God or to remain faithful? He asks: "How useless to keep my heart pure and wash my hands in innocence" (vs 13). What is it that keeps him from going over and joining the ranks of the wicked that seem to be prosperous? Interestingly, at first, it is concern for the example that would be given to the community, the coming generation.

Note the shifts in the focus of attention in this psalm: first the psalmist is attentive to the success of the wicked, then he moves on to consider the state of his own relationship with God and finally his focus is on God. As Konrad Shaefer says in his commentary on this psalm, at first the attention is on "They" then in "I" and then on "You" (God).

Something within us expects that God who is all good and all powerful ought to do "the right thing" and that includes keeping us blissfully happy, free of troubles, especially if we are attentive to doing the right thing. The psalmist confronts this and is able to move beyond it because he situates himself into the question. "I strove to fathom this problem, too hard for my mind to understand, until I entered the holy place of God…" (vs 16-17). Did the psalmist go to the sanctuary and there experience some deeply graced encounter with God that shed light on the mysterious ways of God? Such a scene is even more powerfully described in Job when Job demands his hearing with God. God then proceeds to "question" Job (Or Job ponders the enormity of God) and in the process Job, as also the Psalmist, realize that, as a human person, it is not possible to grasp the ways of God. This is the answer to the mystery of Job and Ps 73! It is a no-answer! It seems that the question gets lost in an awareness of the mystery of God whose ways are Godly ways and we have but fragile human understanding.

The psalmist, Job and we are brought to some understanding that God is not a product of our own making, that God sometimes brings good out of evil and shapes us in ways that elude us. At issue here is the importance of faith that is required in the divine-human relationship, the bond that is between human beings and God. This is the conscious realization that has come to the psalmist. External rewards and success or prosperity are no measure stick for goodness nor are they any indicator of one who is in right relationship with God. To have understanding and trust in the mysterious ways of God, to possess a lively faith, this is what brings peace to both Job and the Psalmist.

The psalmist has come to the awareness that God has taken hold of his right hand (vs 23). Such an insight can only come from God! Who is able to declare "God is all that I have in heaven or on earth" (vs 25)? God alone has exchanged the earlier perception of reality and given understanding of what should be considered true prosperity and wealth and success according to an alternative order of things. There is a new reality that gives a lasting peace and harmony to life. It has shifted the emphasis from seeing to believing. External rewards have been replaced by the possession of something abiding and lasting. In this way each of us grows in understanding and is fashioned into the image of God. It takes a life-time!

"To be near God is my happiness

I have made the Lord God my refuge"

I will proclaim your works at the gates of daughter Zion" (vs 28)

He proclaims what God has done and so shares in the redeeming work of God by handing this on to others!