But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Psalm 73 wrestles with the apparent success of evil men. Its last verse is the writer's settled conclusion — what he found, in the end, to be good.
A Conclusion That Matches the Opening
The psalm's final line is not a new thought but the personal answer to its first line. One writer traces the shape of the whole song from its bookends:
Hamilton SmithThe writer opens this beautiful Psalm with a simple but blessed statement concerning God, and closes with a happy conclusion concerning himself. "Truly God is good" is the statement of the first verse; "it is good for me to draw near to God" is the conclusion of the last verse. Accept the statement and we must agree with the conclusion.
What Distance Had Cost Him
Earlier in the psalm the writer complains that God plagues him all day and disciplines him every morning. One writer asks what that complaint proves about where the man stands.
Frederick W. Grant"Nature shrinks," as we often say — meaning the nature of the "old man," not the nature of the "new." Its bitter complaint may be: "All day long I have been plagued, and disciplined every morning." But what does that prove, except that we are outside the "sanctuary"? Only there can we understand what all this means. There we learn to see our nearness to God as the very thing that makes all this painstaking care and love necessary, and that secures it to us.
The Motive for Drawing Near Changes
He came in with a question. He left with something better than an answer.
F. B. HoleThe Psalm ends on this note, that it is good to draw near to God. Asaph started to draw near because he wanted an explanation of his difficulties. He ended by drawing near because of the excellence of the knowledge of God Himself.
That shift shows itself in what no longer disturbs him:
F. B. HoleWith God for our strength and portion we are no longer "envious at the foolish," nor troubled because we see "the prosperity of the wicked." It is possible, we believe, to be so rejoicing in God as our portion that we are no longer troubled at the apparent success of evil men, even though we do not know the solution of the problem created by their success.
The Name He Trusts
The verse names God twice over — "the Lord GOD." Where ESV says "I have made the Lord GOD my refuge," older translations read "I have put my trust." One writer weighs what that name adds:
J. N. DarbyIt is good for me to draw near to God. There we learn truth; there we find comfort. He has put his trust in the Lord Jehovah — One sovereign in power, lasting and faithful in promise. Anyone who does that will certainly go on to declare all His wonderful works. He will be in the place to see them and experience them. He will have the heart to notice them and understand them, and the joy of testifying to the faithfulness of the One his heart has trusted. In verse 20 we have only sovereign power; in the last verse, covenant faithfulness also.
Nearness Produces a Voice
The psalm's two statements about what is good lead to something the man now does:
Hamilton SmithTruly God is good to His people (verse 1); and it is good to draw near to God (verse 28); and the one who draws near to God becomes a witness to others. "I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your works."
The same point is put in terms of what he no longer needs to do — measure himself against other people:
L. M. GrantIn contrast, Asaph finds it good to draw near to God. In God's presence he does not need to compare his circumstances with those of others. Rather, putting his trust in the Lord, he finds true pleasure in declaring all God's works to others (v. 28).
Good Now, and Good for Israel Later
Commentators read this last verse on two levels at once: as a present word for any believer, and as something Israel as a nation will one day say.
A. PridhamThe last verse applies to the believer now, but it will also have a striking fulfilment in the day when Israel has returned to the One they so deeply rebelled against. Then they will find that nearness to God is good. The Christian already knows this, since his heart responds to the Spirit's witness: it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods (Heb. 13:9). Israel will know the same truth when the veil is taken off their heart. Then they will know the One whose precious blood alone brings the rebellious outcasts near to the God of peace, with perfect and eternal acceptance.
Summary
- Good. The psalm's first word about God is that He is good. Its last word is about the writer himself: it is good to draw near. Accept the first and the second follows.
- Outside. Outside the sanctuary, daily trouble sounds like a complaint. Inside, the same discipline reads as painstaking care and love.
- Inside. He went in wanting an explanation. He came out wanting God. A heart that has God as its portion stops envying the prosperity of the wicked, even when the puzzle stays unsolved.
- Trusted. The name he trusts adds covenant faithfulness to sovereign power. God is not only strong; He keeps His promises.
- Declared. The man who draws near sees God's works and understands them. Then he tells others what God has done.