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[Reconnoiter]

Jim,

I have been reading Psalms lately and a very bizarre question came to mind. Is Psalms technically God inspired or is it the author giving his thoughts and opinions? This question hit me while reading Psalms 73. The way to author is describing God's personality made me think. For example, verse 18, does God put the wicked on a slippery path to send them sliding down a cliff of destruction? Does God have human enemies? What are your thoughts, thank you!!!

[jimwalton]

Thanks for the question. I believe that the Psalms are not only technically but also in every way fully inspired by God. But let's talk about Ps. 73 in specific, and v. 18 particularly, as an example of your wondering about it.

In verse 18, the writer is speaking prophetically. Let's roll into it.

He starts (v. 1) by establishing a commonly held idea: God blesses the good people and judges the wicked. Just watch someone's life, and you can tell which they are.

But then he realizes he's been thrown into disequilibrium (v. 2), because the picture he is seeing is different from the one he believed would be reality.

Verses 3-9 show the writer's picture of what he's seeing, and it's not God blessing the good people and judging the bad. Instead, he sees this negative ideal: all the bad people are doing just great. They have no problems, everything works out for them; they are healthy, wealthy, and successful. What's up with THAT??? It grates at his sense of justice and weighs against the Retribution Principle (people get in this life what they deserve: good people get blessed and the wicked are miserable). They feel perfectly free to act according to their own self-interest, self-benefit, and self-enrichment, with apparently no consequences.

Seeing life like this causes people to doubt God's knowledge and goodness (v. 11). Either God isn't all good or He's not all-powerful.

He starts to doubt his own choices (v. 13). Why have I bothered to be good if I just get jerked around and the bad people have a life of comfort and ease? Maybe I should have just lived like they do and had the good life! Instead I live in comparative misery (vv. 14-15).

He is troubled by all these thoughts (v. 15).

Ah, but then he submits his mind to spiritual truth, and the deeper truth comes clear to him (v. 17). He starts seeing with God's eyes; he is seeing prophetically. What he is now able to see is that what happens in this life is not indicative of God's view of their behavior. Because they are having a good life doesn't mean God is blessing them. The future is the real indicator of the value of how we lived in life and what we did. He sees that their final destiny (v. 17) is one of judgment from God's hand (v. 18). They're not just going to "get away with it." Instead, they will be judged for what they have done (v. 19-20).

He also gets a better grip on his own self-perception. Though his life has been less than ideal, and certainly less than that of the bad guys, he has a relationship with God that they don't have (v. 23), and ultimately will enjoy God's presence and they won't (v. 24)! He realizes he has let his emotions of his circumstances skew his understanding and miss the deeper truths. Now he realizes he has a relationship with God, no matter what his circumstances of life (vv. 25-26), and they will ultimately perish, no matter what their circumstances of life (v. 27).

I hope that helps. Feel free to interact with me about all this.