What does Psalm 73:7 mean?
What is the meaning of Psalm 73:7?

From their prosperity

Prosperity in itself is not sinful, but for the ungodly it often becomes the very platform from which rebellion against God is launched. Abundance breeds a false sense of security and self-sufficiency.

Deuteronomy 8:12-14 warns, “When you eat and are satisfied… your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God.”

Hosea 13:6 echoes, “When they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.”

• The rich fool of Luke 12:19-20 stacks up grain, then hears God say, “You fool! This very night your life will be required of you.”

The psalmist is simply observing what Scripture consistently affirms: unchecked prosperity can dull a person’s sense of dependence on the Lord.


proceeds iniquity

What naturally flows out of that smug comfort? Sin. Wealth gives both the opportunity and the means to act on corrupt desires.

Micah 2:1-2 portrays land-grabbers who “devise iniquity… because it is in their power.”

James 5:1-5 rebukes the rich who “have hoarded wealth in the last days” and exploited workers.

1 Timothy 6:9-10 notes that the craving for riches pierces people “with many sorrows.”

The picture is of a pipeline: prosperity at one end, open rebellion at the other.


the imaginations of their hearts

The real battleground is internal. What a person meditates on will eventually dictate action.

Genesis 6:5 records that “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.”

Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.”

• Jesus pinpoints the source in Mark 7:21-22: “From within the hearts of men come evil thoughts… greed, wickedness, deceit.”

The psalmist emphasizes that sin starts as a mental screenplay long before it shows up on life’s stage.


run wild

With no fear of God to restrain them, those inner fantasies break out into unbridled behavior.

Proverbs 29:18 observes, “Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.”

Romans 1:21-24 describes people who, once they refused to honor God, were “given over” to degrading passions.

Ephesians 4:19 portrays individuals who “having lost all sensitivity, have given themselves over to sensuality.”

Left unchecked, the heart’s runaway designs become public, brazen sin: injustice, exploitation, arrogance.


summary

Psalm 73:7 shows a simple yet sobering sequence—material success breeds complacency, complacency supplies fuel for sin, inward fantasies incubate that sin, and those fantasies finally explode into lawless living. The verse stands as a timeless caution: prosperity without humble gratitude and obedience turns blessings into a springboard for iniquity.

How does Psalm 73:6 relate to the theme of divine justice?
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