The Slippery Slope

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.  Psalm 73:2-3  ESV

Almost stumbled – Asaph proclaims that God is good to Israel and all who are Israel are known by their “clean heart” actions.  But he quickly realizes that his steps court disaster.  As much as he wants clean heart actions (reverence, duty, devotion, charity, benevolence, virtue and goodness), he is astute enough to notice his envy of the arrogant and his desire for the riches of the wicked.  In Asaph’s mind, just entertaining such thoughts leads him right to the edge of the cliff.

I almost stumbled.  The Hebrew phrase is kim’at natavi (there is an alternative reading kim’at natayu).  The words are me’at (little, few, small) and natah (to extend, stretch out, bend, incline, bow).  The verb presents considerable translation challenges.  For example, it is used 35 different ways in the King James.  There is simply no way to connect all the variations in translation with the same underlying Hebrew verb.  Context must determine the translation.  About the only thing similar among all the variations is the fact that most of the 215 occurrences are figurative.  Certainly that is the case here.  Literally, Asaph says “my feet little stretched out.”  But the verb also means “to pervert, to turn,” so the idea of stumbling fits.  This is the same verb that is used in the phrase, “God stretched forth his hand.”  Natah is a perfect example of the umbrella of meanings that can fall under a single Hebrew word.

Let’s turn to Asaph’s concern – envy of those who do not follow YHWH.  This is as close to home as we can get.  How many times have we nearly slipped when we considered the apparent success of the wicked?  How many times have we said, “Why doesn’t God take care of me that way?”  And even if we don’t actually verbalize our complaint, haven’t we, however briefly, felt dissatisfied that God doesn’t give us what the wicked clearly don’t deserve?

What is it that Asaph envies?  He mentions two things – arrogance and prosperity.  What is the Hebrew idea of arrogance?  The root is hll.  It is used poetically to describe the shining of the sun and the light given off by celestial bodies.  The word seems to be related to the idea of pagan mythologies where the sun and the moon were objects of worship.  From this context, we derive the idea of boasting about some connection to a deity.  There is another remarkable thing about this verb.  It has the same consonant structure as the Hebrew word meaning praise.  You will recognize the hll root in the words tehillah and hallelujah.  Arrogance is really twisted praise.  Arrogance is intimately connected to the proper praise of God.  It is the same action projected toward the wrong object.  No wonder it lives so close to home.  Arrogance is not an alien invasion.  It is merely a fork in the road.  When we experience God’s goodness, in whatever form that may come, we stand at the place of choice.  Which road will we take; the one that is content with His blessing or the one that assumes we earned it?

Asaph’s second concern is the Hebrew word shalem.  You know the derivative shalom.  Shalem means “to be complete, to be sound.”  It encompasses all that is needed for life to be full, productive, useful and satisfying.  But the Hebrew idea behind this word is not the possession of things that make life pleasant.  The Hebrew foundation is the restored relationships that provide meaning in life.  The principle indication of proper relationship is peace.  In this sense, the Beatles had it exactly right when they sang, “Give you everything I’ve got for a little peace of mind.”  The Hebrew point of view puts no ultimate stock in things.  Things are to be used to foster relationships.  Relationships are not to be used to gain things.

But that is precisely the indictment of the wicked.  They use what should be treasured and treasure what should be used.  The result appears to be gain, and so we envy their possessions.  But Asaph knows that this gain is really loss because what they spent in order to acquire it was what should have been kept in the storehouse of eternity.  The spent the relaitonships God put in hands to acquire assets.  They should have spent the assets to further relationships.  I suspect that if we really examined our lives we would find that we spend what should be kept in order to gain what should be spent.  We aren’t all that different from the people Asaph knew.  In fact, we aren’t all that different from Asaph.  Our struggle to see clearly which road to take is a continuing problem.  It’s a good thing that Asaph writes about it.  Perhaps we will learn from his struggle.

Topical Index: envy, arrogance, prosperity, helel, halal, shalem, shalom, Psalm 73:2-3