Psalms 73:28

But it is good for me to draw near to God,.... In prayer, and other acts of religious worship; to attend the word and ordinances in the sanctuary, where the psalmist had lately been delivered out of

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. -His joy in God as his portion, in contrast to the final destruction of all who go from God. Verse 25. Whom have I in heaven (but thee)?

But whatsoever they do, I am abundantly satisfied that it is, as my duty, so my interest and happiness, to cleave unto thee, by faith, and love, and obedience, and diligent attendance upon all thine ordinances. I have put my trust in the Lord God; I depend upon him alone for all my comfort and felicity. That I may declare all thy works; from which I know I shall have this benefit, that I shall have many and great occasions to declare God’ s acts of mercy and kindness to me.

Psalms 73:28 But [it is] good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.Ver. 28. But it is good for me to draw nigh to God] To hang ever upon thee (in this general defection of others) by the faith of the gospel, Hebrews 7:19, by putting my trust in thee, that I may declare all thy works, and relate my experiments. A circle is the most perfect figure, because it beginneth and endeth; the last point meeteth in the first, from whence it came. We shall never come to perfection or satisfaction till we draw nigh to God, till God make the circle meet, &c.

(28) Works.—Not God’s doings, but works prescribed to the psalmist, messages entrusted to him; no doubt here the conclusions he had come to, or the truths that had been revealed to him, in contrast with the false opinions from which he had been freed.

Verse 28. It is good for me to draw near] We have already seen that those who are far off shall perish; therefore, it is ill for them. Those who draw near-who come in the true spirit of sacrifice, and with the only available offering, the Lord Jesus, shall be finally saved; therefore, it is good for them. I have put my trust in the Lord God] I confide in Jehovah, my Prop and Stay. I have taken him for my portion. That I may declare all thy works.] That I may testify to all how good it is to draw nigh to God; and what a sufficient portion he is to the soul of man. The Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic, and Arabic, add, in the gates of the daughter of Sion. These words appear to make a better finish; but they are not acknowledged by any Hebrew MS. ANALYSIS OF THE SEVENTY-THIRD PSALM The prophet shows the grief that many good men feel at the prosperity of the wicked, and the distresses of the godly; but at last, consulting the will of God, he finds that the felicity of the wicked ends in wretchedness, and the crosses of the godly are the way to happiness; and, with this consideration, he gains quiet to his troubled mind. Let the question be, Who is the happy man? The godly or ungodly? And then the parts of the Psalm will be as follows: - I. The arguments produced for the happiness of the wicked, Psalms 73:1-9. II. The impression these arguments make in carnal minds, Psalms 73:2-3; Psalms 73:10-14. III. The rejection of these doubts and impressions, Psalms 73:15-17. IV. The refutation of the former arguments, Psalms 73:18-20. V. The psalmist's censure of himself for his precipitate judgment, Psalms 73:21-22. VI. His full resolution of the doubt, after the full examination of the reasons on both sides. That true happiness consists in union with God; and therefore the wicked, who are far from him, however they flourish, are unhappy, Psalms 73:23-28. But, more particularly, the Psalm is divisible into the following parts: - I. There is, first, an assertion: "Certainly, God is good to Israel, to such as are of a clean heart," Psalms 73:1. But can this comport with their present afflicted state? With this he was greatly harassed, Psalms 73:2. He saw the wicked in prosperity, which he states in several particulars. II. What carnal minds think of them. 1. They have no conflicts in their death, Psalms 73:4. 2. They are not troubled like other men, Psalms 73:5. 3. They are proud and haughty, Psalms 73:6, and yet are not punished. 4. They are oppressive tyrants: "Violence covereth them." 5. They feed luxuriously, Psalms 73:7. 6. They speak evil against the poor, Psalms 73:8. 7. They even speak against God, and all the dispensations of his providence: "Their tongue walketh through the earth," Psalms 73:9. 8. They assert that he takes no cognizance of their ways, Psalms 73:10-11. III. The evil conclusion formed from these premises refuted. 1.

28. But as for me, to draw near to God is good for me: In the Lord Jehovah have I made my refuge; That I may speak of all thy works. Emphatically he contrasts himself with those who ‘go far from God.’ Once he had been tempted to ask what profit there was in serving God, and openly to speak (Psalms 73:15) of his doubts: but now he can find an endless theme for praise in the dealings of God with the righteous and the wicked. The LXX reads, “that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion,” as in Psalms 9:14; and this may preserve the original reading, for the present Heb. text sounds incomplete. The P.B.V. “to speak of all thy works in the gates of the daughter of Sion” combines the LXX with the Heb.

But it is good for me to draw near to God - That is, It is pleasant; it is profitable; it is the chief good. For myself, happiness is to be found in that alone; there I find what my nature pants for and desires.

28. Good for me to draw near to God—Literally, and I, nearness to God to me is good: that is, the ultimate good, the sum of all conceivable good, the summum bonum of the ancients—a clear declaration