Envying the Prosperity of the Wicked
Psalm 73 opens with a confession that many readers know from experience: God is good, yet the apparent success of arrogant and unjust people can make faith feel unstable. Asaph does not hide the temptation. He sees people prosper while speaking proudly and treating others badly, and he wonders whether his own pursuit of purity has been pointless. The psalm therefore begins with spiritual disorientation, not with a tidy answer.
The manuscript linked this immediately to several New Testament teachings about wealth and judgment. Those parallels can help Christian application, but this section is not a prediction of Jesus. Its first gift is permission to bring envy, confusion, and the apparent unfairness of life honestly before God rather than disguising them as faith.