The prosperity of the wicked
How the psalm resolves the sight of the wicked prospering — in the sanctuary, at the end, or not at all in this life.
Psalm 73:1-28
1Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
2But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had nearly slipped.
3For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.
5They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.
6Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.
7Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
8They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
9They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.
10Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.
11They say, “How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.
13Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence,
14For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.
15If I had said, “I will speak thus”; behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me,
17until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end.
18Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
19How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
20As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
21For my soul was grieved. I was embittered in my heart.
22I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.
23Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have held my right hand.
24You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.
26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27For, behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you.
28But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
Rashi says that in the sanctuaries in Jerusalem he saw what happened to Sennacherib and understood that the end of the wicked is destruction. Their good is only slippery places, because the Holy One makes their way easy and smooth so they will not turn back to Him and will perish.
Rashi (trans. A. J. Rosenberg), Rashi on Psalms (The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi) - Sefaria — Comment on Psalms 73:17
Patristic
Augustine reads the psalmist as saying that from the sanctuary of God he stretches out his eye to the end. In doing so, he passes over present things.
Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Book of Psalms (NPNF ser. 1 vol. 8, trans. J. E. Tweed) — Psalm LXXIII, on ver. 17 (the sanctuary)
Catholic
Haydock’s commentary says the answer lies in the sanctuary, understood as the Church, heaven, the Scriptures, or rather God’s counsels disclosed to him; human reason could not answer the question satisfactorily. It adds that the last judgment will explain all, and in this life we cannot know the particular causes why the just are afflicted.
George Haydock (with Menochius, Lyranus, Calmet, Worthington), George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary — Comment on Psalms 72:17 (Vulgate numbering; Hebrew Ps. 73:17)
Orthodox
No sourced position found. Checked Hilary, On the Trinity, and John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (NPNF ser. 2 vol. 9, ccel.org cache): 'lxxiii' occurs only in the volume's scripture index, no exposition of the psalm; Philaret's Longer Catechism (pravoslavieto.com): no psalm commentary; no public-domain English translation of the Greek psalm commentaries (Theodoret, Diodore, Hesychius) was found.
Reformed / Protestant
Matthew Henry says the psalmist went into God’s sanctuary, applying himself to devotion, meditating on God’s attributes and what is revealed for us and our children. He consulted the scriptures and the priests, prayed for understanding and help, and at length understood the wretched end of wicked people.
Matthew Henry, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Vol. III (Psalms) — Comment on Ps. lxxiii. 16-17
Evangelical
Wesley explains that the psalmist understood only when he consulted the word of God, alluding to the practice of resorting to God’s sanctuary and oracle in difficult cases. There he learned that their prosperity was short.
John Wesley, Wesley's Notes on the Bible, Psalms (Wesley Center Online) — Chapter LXXIII, notes on vv. 17-19