The goodness of God to Israel; though for a time, in the holy ways of God, His people may be allowed to suffer while the wicked prosper.
The ways of God with Israel are presented through the experience of a godly man who, seeing the prosperity of the wicked, is tempted to say that godliness is in vain. These ways of God, at first so passing strange to the soul, become plain when the sanctuary is entered.
(vs. 1) The great theme of the psalm is stated in the first verse, “Truly God is good to Israel”―the true Israel― “even to such as are of a clean heart.” Circumstances may seem to deny this great truth, therefore the conviction is only reached through painful experience. The result of the exercise is stated before the soul conflict is described.
(vv. 2-3) Though God is good to His people, circumstances may arise which tempt the soul to question the goodness of God. The godly man is near to being stumbled in his spiritual life, for he finds that he is left to suffer while the wicked prosper (cf. Matt. 11:2-62Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? 4Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. (Matthew 11:2‑6)).
(vv. 4-12) The psalmist proceeds to describe the prosperity of the wicked. Apparently they are better off than the people of God. Death causes them “no pangs” (JND), and life has for them no plagues. Pride is counted by them as an ornament; and their violence, like a garment, is seen of all. Their eyes betoken their self-satisfaction and gratification of every wish. In heart they are corrupt; in words they speak with lofty contempt of others; in their arrogance they express their judgment on things “in the heavens” as well as things on earth. The mass of the people follow them, abandoning themselves to license, scornful of God, with whom, they say, there is no knowledge of the ways of men. Such are the ungodly, “who prosper in the world” and “increase in riches.”
(vv. 13-14) Contrasting the outward prosperity of the wicked with the suffering of the godly, the soul is tempted to think that it is useless to have cleansed his heart and washed his hands. What benefit is there in having a pure heart and clean hands, if one is plagued all the day and chastened every morning, while those who are wicked prosper?
(vv. 15-16) The contemplation of the prosperity of the wicked may suggest these unbelieving thoughts; but at once they are resisted by the psalmist. “If,” says he, “I will speak thus; behold I should offend against the generation of thy children.” Nevertheless, to answer these unbelieving questions was a grievous task to the godly man.
(vv. 17-20) These painful doubts, even if resisted, remain unanswered until the psalmist enters the sanctuary. There, in the presence of God, all become plain. At once the outlook of the psalmist is entirely changed. He had looked at the outward prosperity of the wicked; now he sees their end. He had been thinking of what men say and do; now he sees what God is doing in relation to the wicked. They appeared to be prospering, but, says the psalmist, “thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.” Their desolation comes in a moment, and “they pass away, consumed with terrors” (JND). When the Lord awakes to judgment, He will despise their image even as a man in his waking moments thinks lightly of some horrible dream.
(vv. 21-23) The sanctuary has, moreover, other lessons for the psalmist. He has learned the truth about the wicked; now he learns other and more important truths about himself. He now sees that when his heart was “in a ferment” (JND), he was thinking foolishly like a mere brute that has no thought of God. Nevertheless, though he had forgotten God, he learns in the sanctuary that he had never been out of God’s thoughts. In the midst of trials he was continually before God: and when his feet were almost gone, and his steps had well-nigh slipped, he now sees that God held him fast by the hand.
(vv. 24-26) With the confidence that God has sustained him through all his trials, he looks on with confidence to the future and says, “Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and after the glory, thou wilt receive me” (JND), When the glory of the Lord will be revealed the godly man will have his portion in the kingdom. If he sees the solemn end of the wicked in spite of their present prosperity, so he sees the glorious end of the godly notwithstanding their present suffering. Thus God Himself becomes the confidence of the soul. His flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of his heart.
(vv. 27-28) Those who live far from God will come under judgment; those who draw near to God will surely find that God is good to Israel (vs. 1).