For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
For I was envious at the foolish. "The foolish" is the generic title of all the wicked: they are beyond all others fools, and he must be a fool who envies fools. Some read it, "the proud:" and, indeed, these, by their ostentation, invite envy, and many a mind which is out of gear spiritually, becomes infected with that wasting disease.
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
For I was envious at the foolish,.... The atheists, as in Psa 14:1, who deny the creation, as Arama; the wicked, as after explained, as all wicked men are, how wise soever they may be in things natural and civil, yet in religious things, in things of a spiritual nature, they have no understanding; they are proud boasters, glory in themselves, and in their outward...