Psalms 73:1
in Psalms 73Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely God is good to Israel, Even to such as are pure in heart.
KJV
Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
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This verse in Psalms 73
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Ambrose of MilanInterrogation of Job and David, Book 3, Chapter II · Written before 397.
"How good is God to Israel, to them that are right in heart!" Growth in moral perfection is evident as a theme from the beginning of the psalm. Indeed, no one can truly proclaim that God is good but one who knows that goodness is not from his own successes and profits but out of the depth of the heavenly mysteries and the height of God's plan. For it is to be weighed not by the appearance of things present but by the advantage of things to come. Consequently, to the just person God is always good.
This site's exposition
God is good to Israel
on Psalms 73:1-3
The conclusion comes first, that God is good to Israel and to the pure in heart. Then the confession: the psalmist's feet had almost stumbled and his steps had nearly slipped, and what tripped him was envy at the prosperity of the wicked. He gives the answer before the trouble.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Truly, or, more correctly, only, God is good to Israel. He is only good, nothing else but good to his own covenanted ones. He cannot act unjustly, or unkindly to them; his goodness to them is beyond dispute, and without mixture. Even to such as are of a clean heart. These are the true Israel, not the ceremonially clean but the really so; those who are clean in the inward parts, pure in the vital mainspring of action. To such he is, and must be, goodness itself.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
A song of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, etc. Since the topic of this psalm deals with the troubles that befall Israel, he commences it in this manner.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֤ךְ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| ט֭וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל | leyisrael | to Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֗ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְבָרֵ֥י | levarei | to [people] pure of | H1249 → | 7 times |
| לֵבָֽב׃ | levav | heart | H3824 → | 252 times |
אַ֤ךְsurely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
ט֭וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֥לto Israel
leyisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֱלֹהִ֗יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לְבָרֵ֥יto [people] pure of
levareiH1249 →7 times
לֵבָֽב׃heart
levavH3824 →252 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 4:8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Hebrews 10:22
Through
Psalms 51:10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 11:19
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Ephesians 4:22–24
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
- Ezekiel 18:31
Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- Ezekiel 11:19
Through
Psalms 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Psalms 34:9–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, Interrogation of Job and David, Book 3, Chapter II; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.