我們繼續思想詩篇第七十三篇，讓詩人感到掙扎的問題核心是：「我實在徒然潔淨了我的心，徒然洗手表明無辜。因為我終日遭災難；每早晨受懲治」（詩七十三13-14）。請容許我將他的話重新演繹：「我在這裡，過著敬虔的生活，保持自己的內心和雙手清潔，避免犯罪，默想神的事情，獻身於討神喜悅的生活；但雖然這樣，我面對各種困難。如果神不保護我，事奉祂有甚麼好處？」

因此，問題不是邪惡人的興盛，而是詩人眼見別人生活美滿，而自己卻經歷很大的考驗。我們現在開始看到詩人較早時提到嫉妒的根源所在：「我見惡人和狂傲人享平安就心懷不平」（3節）。嫉妒源自兩個原因──「無知」和「錯誤的比較」。

讓我們先探討「錯誤的比較」這一成因。桑斯特博士（Dr W E Sangster）說：「我們所有問題都幾乎源於錯誤的比較。」這是多麼正確的說法。我們與別人比較外表、高度、收入、家庭、教育和能力，然後很快的就看不見自己的獨特之處。把我們自己與基督比較是健康的屬靈操練，但如果沈溺在與那些比我們興盛和幸運的人比較，就是直接走上嫉妒的路。

We come now to the heart of the issue with which the psalmist is struggling in Psalm 73: "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning" (Psa. 73:13-14). Permit me to paraphrase what I think he is saying: "Here I am, living a godly life, keeping my heart and hands clean, avoiding sin, meditating on the things of God and devoting myself to a life pleasing to God, yet despite this I am facing all kinds of troubles. What's the advantage in serving God if He doesn't protect me?"

The problem, then, is not so much the prosperity of the wicked as the fact that he himself is passing through a period of great trial while they are getting off scot-free. We begin now to see the roots of the envy to which the psalmist referred earlier: "For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (v.3). Envy is born out of two things: ignorance and a wrong comparison.

Take, first, a wrong comparison. "Almost all our problems," said Dr W.E. Sangster, "begin in a wrong comparison." How true this is. We compare our looks, our height, our income, our homes, our training and our abilities with those of others and soon we lose sight of our own individuality and specialness. To compare ourselves with Christ is a healthy spiritual discipline, but to indulge in comparison with those we think are more prosperous and fortunate than we are is the direct road to envy.