Psalms 73:25-28

73:25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?

I desire no one but you on earth. ¹ 

73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, ² 

but God always ³  protects my heart and gives me stability. ⁴ 

73:27 Yes, ⁵  look! Those far from you ⁶  die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ⁷ 

73:28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. ⁸ 

I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,

as ⁹  I declare all the things you have done.

[73:25]  ¹ tn Heb “Who [is there] for me in heaven? And besides you I do not desire [anyone] in the earth.” The psalmist uses a merism (heaven/earth) to emphasize that God is the sole object of his desire and worship in the entire universe.

[73:26]  ² tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).

[73:26]  ³ tn Or “forever.”

[73:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to a rocky summit where one could go for protection and to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[73:27]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[73:27]  ⁶ sn The following line defines the phrase far from you in a spiritual sense. Those “far” from God are those who are unfaithful and disloyal to him.

[73:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “everyone who commits adultery from you.”

[73:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “but as for me, the nearness of God for me [is] good.”

[73:28]  ⁹ tn The infinitive construct with -לְ (lÿ) is understood here as indicating an attendant circumstance. Another option is to take it as indicating purpose (“so that I might declare”) or result (“with the result that I declare”).