Psalms 73:8

They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. THEY ARE CORRUPT - Hebrew [ yaamiyquw (H4167)], 'they make to melt,' either themselves by their sin (Mariana) or others by their oppression (Gejer); 'they melt the minds of the godly,' by their cruel and haughty words (Muis). L. de Dieu, whom Hengstenberg follows, takes it, 'They scoff,' from the Chaldaic and Syriac sense [mayeeq]. I prefer, on account of the parallel clause which follows, to take it either as L. de Dieu or as Gejer. Thus, 'they melt' others, corresponds to "oppression" in the parallel clause. AND SPEAK WICKEDLY CONCERNING OPPRESSION: THEY SPEAK LOFTILY - rather, punctuate and translate, 'and speak in malice (so the Hebrew); they speak oppression from on high' (so Hebrew): i:e., from the height to which they in their pride have lif...

8._They become insolent, and wickedly talk of extortion. _Some take the verb ימיקו, _yamicu, _in an active transitive sense, and explain it as meaning, that the wicked soften, that is to say, render others pusillanimous, or frighten and intimidate them. (170) But as the idiom of the language admits also of its being understood in the neuter sense, I have adopted the interpretation which agreed best with the scope of the passage, namely, that the wicked, forgetting themselves to be men, and by their unbounded audacity trampling under foot all shame and honesty, dissemble not their wickedness, but, on the contrary, loudly boast of their extortion. And, indeed, we see that wicked men, after having for some time got every thing to prosper according to their desires, cast off all sham and are at no pains to conceal themselves when about to commit iniquity, but loudly proclai

1-14 The psalmist was strongly tempted to envy the prosperity of the wicked; a common temptation, which has tried the graces of many saints. But he lays down the great principle by which he resolved to abide. It is the goodness of God. This is a truth which cannot be shaken. Good thoughts of God will fortify against Satan's temptations. The faith even of strong believers may be sorely shaken, and ready to fail. There are storms that will try the firmest anchors. Foolish and wicked people have sometimes a great share of outward prosperity. They seem to have the least share of the troubles of this life; and they seem to have the greatest share of its comforts. They live without the fear of God, yet they prosper, and get on in the world. Wicked men often spend their lives without much sickness, and end them without great pain; while many godly persons scarcely know what health is, and die...

Verse Psalms 73:8. _THEY ARE CORRUPT_] ימיקו _yamiku_, they _mock, act_ _dissolutely_. _AND SPEAK WICKEDLY_ CONCERNING _OPPRESSION_] They vindicate excessive acts of government: they push justice to its rigour. They neither show equity, lenity, nor mercy; they are cruel, and they _vindicate_ their proceedings....

THEY ARE CORRUPT - literally, “they mock.” The word rendered “they are corrupt” never has this signification. It is the very word - מוק _mûq_ - from which our word mock is derived, and means the same thing. The idea is that they deride religion, or mock at all that pertains to God, and to the retributions of the future world. AND SPEAK WICKEDLY CONCERNING OPPRESSION ... - literally, “they speak in wickedness; oppression they speak from on high.” That is, they use arrogant language; they speak in a proud manner, as if they were above others; they use harsh and violent language, not regarding the feelings or the rights of others....

EXPOSITION THIS is the first of the "Psalms of Asaph," whereof the present book contains eleven. They are characterized by a preponderating use of the name "Elohim" over that of" Jehovah," by a great calmness and solemnity of tone, and by a pervading melancholy. The present psalm has for its subject the well worn problem of the prosperity of the wicked (Job 21:7; Psalms 37:1; Jeremiah 12:1, etc.). The writer has been troubled with respect to it, and has well nigh fallen away from God in consequence (verse 2); but, after a severe struggle (verses 13-16), his eyes have been enlightened on the subject, and he has found an explanation which is satisfactory to him (verses 17-20). He contrasts his

THEY ARE CORRUPT,.... In themselves, in their principles, and in their practices, being shapen and conceived in sin, and born of the flesh; and are corrupters, or "corrupt" themselves, and their ways, and also others by their corrupt speech, evil communications, and bad examples: or "they consume away"; like smoke, or into it, as Psalms 37:20 or as wax melteth at the fire, Psalms 68:2, where the same word is used as here: or "they cause to consume away" o; "they melt or dissolve others"; they consume them, and waste their estates by their oppression and violence; they make their hearts to melt with their threatening and terrifying words; or they make them dissolute in their lives by keeping them company: AND SPEAK WICKEDLY CONCERNING OPPRESSION; they speak oppression and revolt, threaten wi

You may have noticed that the 73 rd Psalm and the 37 th Psalm are on the same subject; it will help you to recall this fact if you remember that the figures are the same, only reversed. Psalms 73:1. _Truly God is good to Israel,_ Settle that matter in your hearts, whatever doubts may distress or disturb your mind, fix this point as certain: «Truly God is good to Israel,» Psalms 73:1. _Even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped._ He was a good man, one of the leaders in Israel, yet he had to make this confession, «My feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.» Psalms 73:3. For I w

III. THE LEVITICUS SECTION: BOOK THREE: PSALM 73-89 The third division of the book of Psalms corresponds in character to the third book of the Pentateuch, the book of Leviticus. That is the book of the Sanctuary, of Holiness. And this section, which is the shortest, also has the same character. Each Psalm brings the sanctuary of Israel in view, with the same prophetic-dispensational character as in the first two books. The Companion Bible gives the following division of the 17 Psalms: Psalm 73-89, The Sanctuary in Relation to Jehovah. PSALMS OF ASAPH CONCERNING THE SANCTUARY (73-77) Psalms 73 The Problem of the Suffering of the Righteous _ 1. The perplexity (Psalms 73:1)_ 2. Departure from God ...

BOOK III. PSS. LXXIII.- LXXXIX. LXXIII. The Hope of Immortality. Here the Psalter reaches its highest elevation. Job, in Job 19:25 f.*, believes that God will vindicate his innocence even after death, and is confident that he himself, in spite of death, will see God. Job, however, expresses no belief that he will live for ever. He is to see God for a moment; he does not expect that he will abide with God continually. This is just what the Psalmist does expect. This belief flows from the depths of his spiritual experience, and he utters it with intensity of conviction and in calm and measured language. He has seen the prosperity of the godless and has all but lost his faith in God. He will not, however, condemn the generation of God's children, or admit that their piety has been in vain. God teaches him how precarious the prosperity of the wicked is, and leads him to the conviction that...