They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
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
They are corrupt. They rot above ground; their heart and life are depraved. And speak wickedly concerning oppression. The reek of the sepulchre rises through their mouths; the nature of the soul is revealed in the speech. They choose oppression as their subject, and they not only defend it, but advocate it, glory in it, and would fain make it the general rule among all nations. "Who are the poor?
He had been brooding on the wicked's prosperity until the fire burned in him; then he checked himself: Yet God is good. That word settled him. We must anchor ourselves to truths that cannot be shaken, His goodness, His justice, His holiness, and believe that all His ways, though we cannot now trace them, stand firm upon these rocks.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 73:1-14