God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
PSALM 73 [†] Truly God is good to c Israel,
to those who are d pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3[^] e For I was f envious of the arrogant
when I saw the g 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 h stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is i their necklace;
violence covers them as j a garment.
7 Their k eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and l speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find m no fault in them. [1]
11 And they say, n “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they o increase in riches.
13[†] All in vain have I p kept my heart clean
and q washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been h stricken
and r rebuked s every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed t the generation of your children.
16[†] But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me u a wearisome task,
17[^] until I went into v the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their w end.
18[†] Truly you set them in x slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed y in a moment,
swept away utterly by z terrors!
20 Like a a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when b you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21[†] When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was c brutish and ignorant;
I was like d a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you e hold my right hand.
24[†] You f guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will g receive me to glory.
25[†] h Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 i My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is j the strength [2] of my heart and my k portion l forever.
27 For behold, those who are m far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is n unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to o be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my p refuge,
that I may q tell of all your works.