Asaph, or one of his descendants, whom David assigned to lead the Levitical choirs (1 Chronicles 16:37, 25:1-2, 6), wrote Psalm 73 as well as at least twelve other psalms in the Psalter. Asaph was an important chosen man of faith. Yet, he was little different from the faithful today.
Psalm 73 records a personal crisis of faith on the thematic lines of Psalm 1 (unstated author), 37 (of David), and 49 (of Korah). Every believer has at least once, and probably many more times, envied the arrogant who prosper, though they are wicked evil.
The author surprisingly states half of his conclusion and resolution at the beginning of the psalm and the contrasted second half of his conclusion in verse 27. He does so perhaps to serve as more than a fact that challenges our faith as we struggle with an ever-present snake that often raises its head from the grassy fields of our subconscious. Why does God allow the wicked to prosper, and I, who remain faithful to the Lord God and always serve him, remain struggling to pay every bill, and at times cannot? I even tithe, obeying the promise, and here I am watching the wicked get richer and richer, and my sometimes financial scantiness remains.
Struggling to understand how and why the righteous Lord God of heaven and earth allows these things to continue generation after generation, Asaph analyses the wicked in the first half of the psalm (14 verses), then he contrasts that with the righteous in the second half of the psalm (14 verses). Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus is a thematic match to this psalm (Luke 16:19-31). One lesson Jesus teaches in that parable is, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.” (Luke 16:25)
