Psalms 73:13
in Psalms 73Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, And washed my hands in innocency;
KJV
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.
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This verse in Psalms 73
Commentary
12 notes on this verseVerily I have cleansed my heart in vain. Poor Asaph! he questions the value of holiness when its wages are paid in the coin of affliction. With no effect has he been sincere; no advantage has come to him through his purity, for the filthy hearted are exalted and fed on the fat of the land. Thus foolishly will the wisest of men argue, when faith is napping.
This site's exposition
in vain I have kept my heart pure
on Psalms 73:13-14
The complaint bottoms out in a verdict against himself, that keeping his heart pure and washing his hands in innocence bought him nothing. Their ease stands against his own affliction all day long and punishment every morning. Obedience has been answered with trouble.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"And I said, therefore without cause I have justified my heart" (ver. 13). In that I serve God, and have not these things; they serve him not, and they abound in these things: "therefore without cause I have justified my heart, and have washed among the innocent my hands." This without cause I have done. Where is the reward of my good life? Where is the wage of my service? I live well and am in need; and the unjust man doth abound. "And I have washed among the innocent my hands."
Indeed, you have there: "Behold, these are the sinners, and they prosper in the world; they have obtained riches. Surely in vain have I justified my heart, and in innocence washed my hands, and been scourged all day long?" I worship God, they blaspheme God. They have happiness, I have calamity. Where is the fairness? Hence the moved feet, hence the nearly slipped steps, hence the near destruction. For see to what danger he came. There he says: "And I said, 'How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'" See to what danger he came by seeking earthly happiness as a great reward from God.
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 4 -- On Faith: First Discourse on Simplicity · Written before 523.
proposed
And again when David sheweth concerning the purity of his thoughts he likeneth them unto hands, and their freedom from iniquity he compareth unto the washing of the hands, saying, "I have washed my hands in innocency," that is to say, I have cleansed and …
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanInterrogation of Job and David, Book 3, Chapter VI · Written before 397.
proposed
And therefore I conferred with my heart and I said to myself, "if I will speak thus, that I have justified my heart in vain," and the voice of God replied to me and said, "Behold the generation of your children, to which I have made distribution." This means: Behold, you find in the Scriptures, O you son of Adam, that I have made distribution to the generation of your children, that wealth may be granted to the wicked simply by chance and not from some merit.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
In vain - Hence I was sometimes tempted, to think that religion was a vain, unprofitable thing. True religion is here described by its two principal parts, the cleansing of the heart, and the hands.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain,....
It is not in vain to do this, not in vain to serve God and keep his ordinances; but good men have been sometimes tempted to say, "It is in vain," and "Religion is a thing that there is nothing to be got by," because they see wicked people in prosperity.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain. Poor Asaph! he questions the value of holiness when its wages are paid in the coin of affliction. With no effect has he been sincere; no advantage has come to him through his purity, for the filthy hearted are exalted and fed on the fat of the land. Thus foolishly will the wisest of men argue, when faith is napping. Asaph was a seer, but he could not see when reason left him in the dark; even seers must have the sunlight of revealed truth to see by, or they grope like the blind. In the presence of temporal circumstances, the pure in heart may seem to have cleansed themselves altogether in vain, but we must not judge after the sight of the eyes. And washed my hands in innocency. Asaph had been as careful of his hands as of his heart; he had guarded his outer as well as his inner life, and it was a bitter thought that all of this was useless, and left him in even a worse condition than foul handed, black hearted worldlings. Surely the horrible character of the conclusion must have helped to render it untenable; it could not be so while God was God. It smelt too strong of a lie to be tolerated long in the good man's soul; hence, in a verse or two, we see his mind turning in another direction.
I have cleansed my heart in vain - It is no advantage to us to worship the true God, to walk according to the law of righteousness, and keep the ordinances of the Most High.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain - That is, There is no advantage in all my efforts to become pure and holy. It does not assist me in obtaining the favor of God; and it would be just as well to live a sinful life - to indulge in the pleasures of sense - to make the world my portion. Nothing is to be gained by all my painful efforts at self-discipline; by all my endeavors to become righteous. It would have been as well for me - or better - if I had lived a life of sin like other people. The righteous obtain from God fewer blessings than the wicked; they have less happiness and less prosperity in this world; they are subjected to more trouble and sorrow; and to all else there must be added the struggles, the conflict, the warfare, the painful effort “to be” pure, and to lead a holy life, all of which is now seen to be of no advantage whatever. Such thoughts as these were not confined to the psalmist. They are thoughts which will start up in the mind, and which it is not easy to calm down. And washed my hands in innocency - That is, It has been of no use that I have washed my hands in innocency. The word “innocency” here means “purity.” He had washed his hands in that which was pure; as, pure water. To wash the hands is emblematic of innocence or purity. See the notes at Psa 26:6.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
But for nought I cleansed my heart All this refers back to: “And they say, ‘How does God know?’” They also say, “But for nothing and in vain we keep the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, for behold, we are plagued all the days.”
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Behold these are wicked They [are wicked] and transgress His Torah; yet they are tranquil in the world and increase power and wealth.
and my chastisement appears all day; constantly, from morning to morning, new troubles are renewed.
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַךְ־ | ʾakh- | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| רִ֭יק | rik | vanity | H7385 → | 12 times |
| זִכִּ֣יתִי | zikiti | I have kept pure | H2135 → | 8 times |
| לְבָבִ֑י | levavi | heart my | H3824 → | 252 times |
| וָאֶרְחַ֖ץ | vaerchatz | and I have washed | H7364 → | 72 times |
| בְּנִקָּי֣וֹן | benikayon | in innocence | H5356 → | |
| כַּפָּֽי׃ | kapai | hands my | H3709 → | 192 times |
אַךְ־surely
ʾakh-H389 →161 times
רִ֭יקvanity
rikH7385 →12 times
זִכִּ֣יתִיI have kept pure
zikitiH2135 →8 times
לְבָבִ֑יheart my
levaviH3824 →252 times
וָאֶרְחַ֖ץand I have washed
vaerchatzH7364 →72 times
בְּנִקָּי֣וֹןin innocence
benikayonH5356 →
כַּפָּֽי׃hands my
kapaiH3709 →192 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
- 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
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.
- Malachi 3:7
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But…
- Zechariah 1:3
So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
- Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Psalms 145:18
Through
Job 35:3For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’
it leads to
- Job 34:9
For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 34:9
Through
Job 21:15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
it leads to
- Exodus 5:2
But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
- Exodus 5:2
Through
Job 34:9For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’
it leads to
- Malachi 3:14
You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Malachi 3:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Interrogation of Job and David, Book 3, Chapter VI; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 73; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 19:4; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 4 -- On Faith: First Discourse on Simplicity.