Psalm 73—We Laughed as Loud and as Wild as We Would

"We knew the pleasure of hardship that is not the pleasure of pain."

Rendition of Psalm 73

Truly, God is good to his people,
To the one whose heart is clean and empty and true.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
My steps had nearly slipped
When I looked at fools with envy,
And saw the peace and happiness
That the wicked build for themselves.

Their lives are unfettered by pain,
Their bodies are fat and sleek.
They don’t toil as others do.
They do not carry the touch of pain
Everywhere they go like I do.
They wear their glory as an ornament
But violence wraps around them like a garment.
Their eyes cast about for the choicest things,
And they fill their hearts with the follies they find.
They laugh and lace their words with misery.
Their mouths assault the heavens
While their tongues stride through the earth, boasting.
Therefore, when the watching world looks
It finds no fault with them.
They say, “What does God know?
The Almighty has nothing on us.”
Look! These wretches are always at ease.
Their strength only gathers around them.
In vain I have kept my heart clean!
For nothing have I washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I am stricken. When morning comes
I stand exposed, a living rebuke.
If I were to speak of this I would betray your people,
So I lay my hand across my mouth and wait.

When I considered the meaning of all of this,
It was a burden to me,
Until I came into the sanctuary of God
And saw the end toward which their riches run.

You set them in a slippery place
And they slide to ruin.
In a moment they are laid to waste.
All the fear they fled sweeps them away
And like a dream upon waking, they are gone.
Lord, you disdain the ruin they made of your image.
When my heart filled with gall
And my heart grew sharp toward you,
I was a fool. I didn’t understand.
I was like a beast before you.

Despite it all, I am still with you.
You hold me by the hand.
Your counsel leads me.
You walk me toward your glory.
Whom have I in the heavens but you?
And on earth, what is my delight but you?
My flesh and my heart might fail,
But God remains the rock where I take shelter.
He is my portion and my lot forever.

Those who remove themselves from you will perish.
Those who wed themselves to another god will disappear.
But my goodness is found near God.
I have made him my refuge
And he has shown me marvels.

Notes on the Psalm

Psalm 73 is about the fear that comes when you forget that, as Teddy Roosevelt said, “comparison is the thief of joy.”

The psalmist sees how “sleek and fat” the wicked are and envies them. He saw that they seem not to be touched by pain as others are, how they take the best things for themselves, and wrap themselves in their own glory like a garment. And then he looks at his own life and the way he is afflicted daily and wonders, “What is all this for?”

However, the psalm is also about how to deal with that fear and envy.

The psalmist says that his “feet had almost stumbled” when he compared his own situation to those of others, but then he finds clarity when he goes “into the sanctuary of God.” Suddenly, he feels foolish. He gains access to an eternal perspective that casts the temporal things that gave him so much pain in a different light. He saw that though they seem to thrive, God had set them “in a slippery place and they slide to ruin.”

One of the meanings of the psalm is that no matter what outward appearances may be, the true estate of the people of God is one of security, peace, and strength. Whereas, the rich and wicked vanish “like a dream upon waking,” God remains always a rock where the righteous can shelter.

Perhaps Paul was thinking of Psalm 73 when he wrote in 2 Corinthians that “we walk by faith, not by sight” and also wrote that

“We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-12)

This happens to exactly what the poem for Psalm 73 is about.

Notes on the Poem

There is a rhyme scheme at work in the poem, but don’t try to map it out. It is intentionally slipshod and playful. The form of the rhyme scheme and the message of the poem agree in that the poem is talking about a way of living and loving that is as prodigal as it is impactful, as generous as it is wanton. So the rhyme scheme colors outside the lines of traditional poetic formats too. It bends the rules of form, but (hopefully) the result is joy.

Like a lot of the poems I have been writing lately, the setting of this poem is grounded in my former home, English L’Abri. I always think of L’Abri when I read Psalm 73. Labri is a fool’s errand. It is a non-profit but makes no fundraising efforts. Guests can book in for months at a time, but they are charged well below the cost of their own room and board. L’Abri does not advertise nor does it recruit. It has no strategic plan other than to go on offering hospitality to the people whom God brings to its door. It is more a family than an institution. Yet, despite failing to do all of these things that are “best practices” of other organizations, it has rumbled along through seven decades, praying for bread and tumbling for God.

I wrote the bones of this poem on one of the last nights before leaving L’Abri. There is a ritual to the close of every term. Everyone gathers in the living room and brings something to share with the group. Some people read poetry, some sing, some share a story from the term. There is always a magic to those sharing nights and that night in particular was greater than the sum of its parts.

I arrived late and sat outside the door listening, thinking about my years at L’Abri, and writing a few stanzas that became the poem below.

Poem for Psalm 73—We Laughed as Loud and as Wild as We Would

Next to the lives we might have had
I can see we’re losing ground.

As for me, my feet almost stumbled
When we juggled for God and everyone laughed.
We tumbled. We were picked last.
We held fast. We slipped back.
We waxed rhapsodic as our losses gained.
We were the kernels crushed before the grain.
We knew the pleasure of hardship
That is not the pleasure of pain.
Our flesh and our hearts sickened.
We were vulnerable, hoping,
Toiling at follies and stricken.
But so what?
It was good.

So what if we found treasure
And left it lying on the ground?
So what if we offered without measure
To whoever was around?
So what if we lent more than we got;
If we didn’t get back the things that we lost;
If we used our best
And they broke the whole lot?
It was good.

So what if we gathered to pray and only bled?
And felt dark crowns twist down on our heads?
We could have kept ourselves from sorrow,
And hoarded today against tomorrow.
We could have avoided all the pain,
But instead, we found the dying
That comes before life is taken up again.
We drank the cup. God filled it up.
It was good.

So what if we failed to guard our time?
And said our piece in simple rhymes,
And laughed as loud
And as wild as we would?
It was good.

So what if we promised
More than there was to give?
So what if we gave more
Than it took to live?
So what if we loved and lost
More than we thought we could?
It was good.
It was good.
It was good.

---

Read more from Andy on Still Point (reflections on deconstruction and why people leave Christianity) and Three Things (a monthly digest of worthy resources to help people connect with culture, neighbor, and God).

Support the Project

Any work of sufficient length is only sustained contact with by those who benefit from it.

An idea can be a fragile thing and 150 poems and translations is a big idea. I meant this project to be ambitious though and, if it is ever complete, it will be the work of years.

I know the only way I’m ever going to finish this project is if I know people read, value, and support it. Whether you subscribe or not, if you like a poem or find a rendition of a Psalm helpful, drop me a line or leave a comment and let me know.