“Therefore pride serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; They have more than heart could wish.” Psalm 73:6-8
Asaph continues describing what he sees to God. In verses 4-5 Asaph talked of the difficulties the wicked seem to avoid in this life. In verses 6-9 he turns his attention to their evil they do that goes unpunished.
Pride serves as their necklace Asaph knew humility was
highly valued by God and pride was a sin that led to one’s
downfall. Yet the wicked wear their arrogance as a necklace for all
to see. It adorns their lives. In ancient times necklaces served as
indicators of social status and wealth. The wicked wore their pride as a visible indicator of their elite status.
Violence covers them like a garment The rich are covered with
an impressive garment, but that covering is violence toward others.
Violence indicates they engage in oppressive and destructive behavior. While the word refers to physical violence, it includes broader forms of injustice and wrongdoing which stem from not
loving ones brother or fellow man. Their lack of love of God (the greatest commandment) is shown in their failure to show love for their fellow man (the second greatest commandment).
Their eyes bulge with abundance One’s eye was considered the window into his soul, his character. It revealed one’s inner thoughts and intentions. Here Asaph sees the wicked focused on abundance or “fat”. Fat refers to the fat of animals, that which is the best part. It is often associated with sacrificial offerings, where the fat was burned on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Asaph watches the wicked take the choicest, the part that belongs to the Lord, for themselves. One commentator described the rich this way. “By fatness, or corpulency, the natural lines of the face are changed, or rather obliterated. The characteristic distinctions of the human face are gone; and we see little remaining besides the human hog.”
They have more than heart could wish The Hebrew verb “abar” (have more) implies the act of breaking a command or law. Here Asaph notes how the wicked violate God’s commands to gain the desires of their own hearts. Asaph sees the wicked worship wealth as their god – they love money and possessions, not God. But despite this evil, they prosper! How can this be?
What can we learn? Asaph sees the prosperity of the wicked and does not understand. He knows God is good and blesses the righteous but it looks like God is blessing the wicked instead. He is troubled and confused and wondering if he is doing the right thing by serving God. This man of God is under attack by Satan. Yet God will use this test in Asaph’s life to allow him to write a
psalm to teach us how to deal with the allure of the worthless trinkets this world offers.
We might wonder how this temptation could attack a Godly man like Asaph. First he is a human and in his flesh he has the desires of sin within him. Second the world lures us to it. We have limited attention spans and the glittery things the world offers easily deters our focus from God to junk. Finally Satan and his demonic army attack us to draw our attention away from God, either through the promise of ease or through the threat of suffering and loss.
Asaph’s psalm also gives us insight into how he got into the position of envying the wicked. In verses 1 he acknowledges God’s truth but in verses 2-3 he turns attention on himself (note the pronouns “I and
me”). Then in verses 4-6 his eyes focus on the prosperity of the wicked (note the use of the pronoun “they”). When our focus is off God and on others temptations arise.