The Prophet, prevailing in a temptation, sheweth the occasion thereof, the prosperity of the wicked, the wound given thereby, diffidence; the victory over it, knowledge of god's purpose, in destroying of the wicked, and sustaining the righteous.
A Psalm of Asaph.
Title. ףּלאס מזמור mizmor leasaph.— The Psalmist here considers that great question, Why wicked men are permitted to prosper, and good men to be miserable and afflicted; and, to put the case home, he describes these wicked men as profligate to the last degree; highly impious towards God, and injurious to men; and yet suffered to live in ease and affluence, and at last to enjoy a death without any great pain. There are no bands in their death, Psalms 73:4. They have no pains when they die, says Le Clerc. This had almost tempted him, he says, to doubt the providence of God; but then he was soon cured of the temptation, when he reflected on the miracles that God had wrought for his people, which left no room to question a providence. See on Psalms 73:15. Still he was under some perplexity while he looked no further than the visible appearances of things; till he entered the sanctuary of God; then understood he the end of these men: their future wretched state in another world. See on Psalms 73:17. In consequence of which he expresses his firm hope and trust in God: Assured of a future state of rewards and punishments, his heart was so perfectly and entirely at rest, that he seems, to wonder how he could be so weak as to fall into doubts and perplexities about this matter. See Psalms 73:21-22, and Peters on Job.