For my soul was grieved, And I was pricked in my heart:
The holy poet here reviews his inward struggle and awards himself censure for his folly. His pain had been intense; he says, Thus my heart was grieved. It was a deep seated sorrow, and one which penetrated his inmost being. Alexander reads it, "My heart is soured." His spirit had become embittered; he had judged in a harsh, crabbed, surly manner.
The psalmist battles carnal reason itself, contending against what the eye sees: the wicked gorged in wealth and pleasure while mocking God, and the righteous crushed under troubles. He nearly cast off all care for religion at this sight. But he reproves his own rashness in judging from the present state alone, and learns that when God's providence runs its course as He has determined in secret counsel, the righteous will not be cheated of their reward, nor the wicked escape the judge.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 73:1-28
Thus my heart was grieved,.... Not with his own sins, nor with the sins of the wicked, but at their prosperity; for this is an account of himself, while under the temptation, and before he went into the sanctuary of the Lord; or when he was "leavened" (r), with the old leaven of wickedness, and envy, and indignation; he was in a ferment, so Plautus...