Almost Stumbled
They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. Psalm 73:4 · Berean Standard Bible
These wicked people seemed to have it all—no pain, no struggle, their lives looked physically easy and comfortable.
Asaph is describing what he actually observed: wealthy oppressors who appeared to experience no hardship. Their bodies looked well-nourished, their circumstances looked smooth. From an earthly vantage point, they seemed to have escaped the suffering that touches everyone else's life.
Asaph, describing the external reality that troubled him.
This surfaces one of the deepest questions in Scripture: Why do the righteous suffer while the unrighteous prosper? It's the very question the book of Job wrestles with, and it's a question every honest believer has asked.
The wicked experience no apparent struggle even in death; their physical bodies remain robust and well-nourished, suggesting divine favor through material abundance.
The phrase בְמוֹתָם (bəmôtām)—'in their death'—is interpretively contested; some medieval commentators like Ibn Ezra read this as their dying process containing no struggle, while others understand it as the ease preceding death. The emphasis on physical vitality (פִּנִּים, pīnīm—'corpulence') reflects ancient assumptions that bodily wellness indicated divine blessing.
Asaph describing observable social reality as he perceives it—the wicked appear to escape suffering that should accompany godlessness.
The sapential assumption under interrogation: that righteousness produces prosperity and wickedness produces suffering. The psalmist observes systematic contradiction of this formula.
2But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.
3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed.
5They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men.
6Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them.
Read all of Psalm 73 — Asaph nearly lost his faith watching the wicked prosper — until he entered the sanctuary and saw the end of the story.
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