Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked...
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and have washed my hands in innocence...
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you... Psalm 73:1-3, 13-14, 21-22
Do you ever give in to self-pity? Be honest! Perhaps you didn’t get the promotion you were qualified for and felt entitled to... Somebody else ended up marrying the person you were convinced was meant for you... Your expensive holiday was wrecked by bad weather or travel problems... Your health broke down...
And it’s: “Why me! It’s not fair! What have I done to deserve this?” All right, we may not utter those words - but haven’t we all felt that way? Poor me!
(By the way, there’s a big difference between self-pity and depression. The person wallowing in self-pity needs a good scolding - preferably administered by him or herself. The depressed person needs understanding, sensitivity - and love.)
Psalm 73 is by a man who teeters on the brink of self-pity, but who manages to pull back from it. I’ve only quoted bits from it, and really (as always with the Bible) it needs to be read as a whole. But I think it can be just what we need when we are tempted by the delicious misery of self-pity. Let’s ask a few questions...
First, what precisely was his problem?
Answer: envy. “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (verse 3). He’s looking (verses 4-12) at what today we might call the “idle rich” or “fat cats”, people who’ve “got it all” and who strut about with their infuriating air of entitlement. “I deserve that as much as them!” he cries. “They’re no better than me!”
Envy, or what Shakespeare called “the green-eyed monster” jealousy, is a disease common to all humanity - “if it were a fever,” says the proverb, “all the world would be ill.” Jesus includes it in that ugly list of “what defiles a person” (Mark 7:20-23); Paul too in Romans 1:29.
Which means, putting it simply, that it must not be indulged or tolerated. Stamp on it! Stamp on it hard!
Second, what did it do to him?
For one thing, it threatened to lead him completely astray: “My feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold” (verse 2). It seems that his envy became all-consuming - to the point that it dominated his whole life, destroying his peace of mind and ruining his focus on the things that really matter. In verse 13 he questions whether it’s a waste of time to live a good life.
Still more, he feels reduced to the level of an animal: “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant: I was a brute beast before you” (verses 21-22). That’s pretty damning, isn’t it?
In short, his envy robbed him of all that makes men and women admirable, attractive and even remotely Christlike. He has become withered, shrunken and self-obsessed, a pathetic shadow of true humanity.
Third, what saved him from disaster?
As so often in the Bible, this psalm has a key turning-point, a hinge on which the whole passage turns. It comes in verses 16 and 17: “When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply, till I entered the sanctuary of God”.
Ah! A moment came when he realised it was high time to bring God into the situation. I don’t know if he means that he literally visited “the sanctuary”, but I’m happy to picture him almost running into the temple and getting down on his knees in order to pour out all the bile and bitterness which have been poisoning him.
And as he does this, suddenly he sees things in a completely new light: he understands the “final destiny” of those people he has been envying (verses 17-19). “Oh, what a stupid, stupid fool I’ve been!” he cries. “All right, they’ve got it all now - but what about how they’re going to end up: unending misery! How could I have been so foolish as to envy them?”
Thank God that everything changes when we invite him to re-focus our eyes!
Fourth, how does he himself end up?
Answer: all right, no better off materially, but who cares? - he is at peace with God, and therefore at peace within himself.
I’ll leave you to read verses 20-28 for yourself. But, summing up, he feels as if he has woken up from a nightmare (verse 20). He has a new and wonderful sense of security: “I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory” (verses 23 and 24).
And then this: “God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever” (verse 26). Wonderful.
Is that something you and I can say? I do hope so!
Yes, Psalm 73 is definitely the go-to psalm when that nasty little snake of self-pity rears its head. Let’s tuck it away in our hearts and minds.
Lord God, there are many times when life just doesn’t seem fair - when, indeed, I might be entitled to complain. Please help me, at such times, to remember that you are my loving Father, and so to remain positive, trusting and cheerful. Amen.
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and have washed my hands in innocence...
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you... Psalm 73:1-3, 13-14, 21-22
Do you ever give in to self-pity? Be honest! Perhaps you didn’t get the promotion you were qualified for and felt entitled to... Somebody else ended up marrying the person you were convinced was meant for you... Your expensive holiday was wrecked by bad weather or travel problems... Your health broke down...
And it’s: “Why me! It’s not fair! What have I done to deserve this?” All right, we may not utter those words - but haven’t we all felt that way? Poor me!
(By the way, there’s a big difference between self-pity and depression. The person wallowing in self-pity needs a good scolding - preferably administered by him or herself. The depressed person needs understanding, sensitivity - and love.)
Psalm 73 is by a man who teeters on the brink of self-pity, but who manages to pull back from it. I’ve only quoted bits from it, and really (as always with the Bible) it needs to be read as a whole. But I think it can be just what we need when we are tempted by the delicious misery of self-pity. Let’s ask a few questions...
First, what precisely was his problem?
Answer: envy. “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (verse 3). He’s looking (verses 4-12) at what today we might call the “idle rich” or “fat cats”, people who’ve “got it all” and who strut about with their infuriating air of entitlement. “I deserve that as much as them!” he cries. “They’re no better than me!”
Envy, or what Shakespeare called “the green-eyed monster” jealousy, is a disease common to all humanity - “if it were a fever,” says the proverb, “all the world would be ill.” Jesus includes it in that ugly list of “what defiles a person” (Mark 7:20-23); Paul too in Romans 1:29.
Which means, putting it simply, that it must not be indulged or tolerated. Stamp on it! Stamp on it hard!
Second, what did it do to him?
For one thing, it threatened to lead him completely astray: “My feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold” (verse 2). It seems that his envy became all-consuming - to the point that it dominated his whole life, destroying his peace of mind and ruining his focus on the things that really matter. In verse 13 he questions whether it’s a waste of time to live a good life.
Still more, he feels reduced to the level of an animal: “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant: I was a brute beast before you” (verses 21-22). That’s pretty damning, isn’t it?
In short, his envy robbed him of all that makes men and women admirable, attractive and even remotely Christlike. He has become withered, shrunken and self-obsessed, a pathetic shadow of true humanity.
Third, what saved him from disaster?
As so often in the Bible, this psalm has a key turning-point, a hinge on which the whole passage turns. It comes in verses 16 and 17: “When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply, till I entered the sanctuary of God”.
Ah! A moment came when he realised it was high time to bring God into the situation. I don’t know if he means that he literally visited “the sanctuary”, but I’m happy to picture him almost running into the temple and getting down on his knees in order to pour out all the bile and bitterness which have been poisoning him.
And as he does this, suddenly he sees things in a completely new light: he understands the “final destiny” of those people he has been envying (verses 17-19). “Oh, what a stupid, stupid fool I’ve been!” he cries. “All right, they’ve got it all now - but what about how they’re going to end up: unending misery! How could I have been so foolish as to envy them?”
Thank God that everything changes when we invite him to re-focus our eyes!
Fourth, how does he himself end up?
Answer: all right, no better off materially, but who cares? - he is at peace with God, and therefore at peace within himself.
I’ll leave you to read verses 20-28 for yourself. But, summing up, he feels as if he has woken up from a nightmare (verse 20). He has a new and wonderful sense of security: “I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory” (verses 23 and 24).
And then this: “God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever” (verse 26). Wonderful.
Is that something you and I can say? I do hope so!
Yes, Psalm 73 is definitely the go-to psalm when that nasty little snake of self-pity rears its head. Let’s tuck it away in our hearts and minds.
Lord God, there are many times when life just doesn’t seem fair - when, indeed, I might be entitled to complain. Please help me, at such times, to remember that you are my loving Father, and so to remain positive, trusting and cheerful. Amen.
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