Psalm 73 wrestles with an old question: why do the wicked prosper while the good suffer? “But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped… seeing the prosperity of sinners.” The answer comes in God’s sanctuary, ending in one of the most beautiful confessions of love in Scripture: “For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?… thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 72. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 73 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!
But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped.
Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners.
For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in their stripes.
They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be scourged like other men.
Therefore pride hath held them fast: they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness.
Their iniquity hath come forth, as it were from fatness: they have passed into the affection of the heart.
They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high.
They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue hath passed through the earth.
Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be found in them.
And they said: How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
Behold these are sinners; and yet abounding in the world they have obtained riches.
And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent.
And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement hath been in the mornings.
If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the generation of thy children.
I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight:
Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends.
But indeed for deceits thou hast put it to them: when they were lifted up thou hast cast them down.
How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.
As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing.
For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been changed:
And I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.
I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee.
Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou hast conducted me, and with thy glory thou hast received me.
For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?
For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.
For behold they that go far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that are disloyal to thee.
But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
Psalm 73 or Psalm 72?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 72 is Psalm 73 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Quam bonus Israel Deus his qui recto sunt corde. See how many psalms are there?
What the psalm means
- Honest doubt: the psalmist nearly lost his faith seeing the success of the proud.
- Envy and bitterness: comparing ourselves with others poisons the heart.
- The sanctuary changes everything: the struggle lasts “Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends.”
- God holds my hand: “thou hast held me by my right hand… thou hast conducted me.”
- God alone is enough: “besides thee what do I desire upon earth?… it is good for me to adhere to my God.”
How the Church uses Psalm 73
- In the Liturgy of the Hours, at the Office of Readings.
- When tempted to envy or discouragement, as a prayer that brings perspective. See Psalm 37, which treats the same question.
A prayer with Psalm 73
Written for this page:
Lord, when I envy those who prosper without you, keep my feet from slipping.
Bring me into your sanctuary to see as you see.
Hold me by my right hand and guide me with your counsel.
Whom have I in heaven but you? You are the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
What is Psalm 73 about?
A believer’s struggle with the prosperity of the wicked, resolved in prayer by the realization that God himself is our greatest good.
Where is “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”?
Psalm 73:26 (72:26 in the Douay-Rheims).
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 72 (73), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.