Tehillim 73–74 | How Do We Deal with Evil?

The third book of Tehillim takes a sharp turn from the closing of the second. Whereas Psalm 72 presents an idealistic vision of a powerful king upholding justice and righteousness, the third book is filled with psalms of lament and protest over Israel’s suffering and the absence of justice in the world. Let’s briefly examine the first three psalms in this book and trace a theme that runs through them.

Psalm 73 deals with the question of justice in the world — why do the wicked prosper? As faithful Jews, we believe that “God is truly good to Israel, to those pure of heart” (73:1). There is a moral order to the world: the righteous will be rewarded, and the wicked will be punished. But reality often defies this simple truth, leaving us confused. In the first part of the psalm, the poet complains about how he nearly lost his footing and suffered. He envied the wicked, who live in ease and comfort. These people deny God’s providence and do whatever they please: “They say, ‘How could God know? What knowledge has the Most High?’” (73:11). And between the lines, it seems the poet identifies with these feelings, and it's difficult for him to blame them. Then, a turning point appears: “Until I came to God’s Sanctuary and realize what their end would be” (73:17). Something about entering the Temple and encountering the Divine Presence has an effect on the poet:
1.    He gains a new perspective and sees that the prosperity of the wicked is an illusion, fleeting and unstable.
2.    He realizes that God has been with him all along.

The first insight is important philosophically. Knowing that the wicked will ultimately fall helps the poet settle his moral indignation against the injustice. But the second realization is deeper, existentially. It’s not just that the wicked will suffer later, but that he is already well off, here and now. The encounter with the Divine Presence reorients his priorities. It reshapes his sense of success and what really matters in life. Suddenly, he sees that he doesn't need anything but God: “Whom else do I have in heaven? With You, I desire nothing on earth” (73:25). And in the end: “But as for me, God's closeness is good for me” (73:28).

All of this collapses in Psalm 74. The Temple had given the poet perspective and a sense of closeness to God, but now the Temple is destroyed, and the people are overcome with despair, feeling utterly abandoned by God: “Why, God, have You forsaken us off forever?” (74:1). The psalm emphasizes the despair, repeating words like “forever" and “for how long,” conveying the feeling that it's not clear if it possible coming out of exile. Unlike another harsh lament we’ve seen, Psalm 44, the poet doesn’t claim that the destruction was undeserved or that the people were righteous, but he does cry out, asking for the exile to end already. The destruction was justified, but how long must it last? Even the psalm’s conclusion echoes this tension. Although the poet prays for God to return and redeem His people, he doubts the prayers success, while the ending tone of the psalm is the voices of God's enemies destroying the Temple: “Do not forget the voice of Your foes, the ever-rising din of those against You” (74:23).

Psalm 75 tries offering a response...