avoiding the abyss

“But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped” (Psalm 73:2).
 
Scholars believe the psalmist here is Asaph who is responding to a strong temptation he had to envy the prosperity of wicked people. His description of his situation is that he almost stepped over the line and questioned God for allowing corrupt people to appear to be so happy and blessed.
 
He brings himself back from that temptation by remembering the fact that God has been good to Israel. One writer said, “He had well-nigh slipped from the rock of faith into the abyss of skepticism.”
 
By flirting with such doubt, the psalmist places himself on the level of the rest of humanity. How easy it is for us to look at the same situation he looked at and be envious of how blessed some profane and corrupt people are.
 
The message is that God has ultimate control and that all things will work out according to His good pleasure in the end. And, after all, the supreme blessing is a knowledge of Him and an opportunity to receive His ultimate blessing some day.