Making Sense of the World (20

Psalm 73, cont’d. Asaph starts off with the fact that God is good. The thoughts he shares throughout this Psalm have already been worked through in his mind. He writes this from the other side of seeing the struggles he writes of.

Our perspective on our lives is so important. Kidner says as much when he says this psalm will show the relative unimportance of circumstances in comparison with attitudes which may either be sourced by self interest or set free by love.

Additional points from 73:

1. Think twice before speaking once. The things we say are important and the more we say them, the more real they become.

2. What will help our perspective? Worship is a must resort for a tempted soul. Asaph’s perspective shifted when he went into the sanctuary of God. Then he was able to see where the path of his life was heading. The pure in heart set God first and foremost. There is a healing that comes when we engage in worship. Don’t you always feel better afterward? It lifts our eyes outside of ourselves, it anchors our heart on what is most important in this world.

3. Prosperity for the wicked is short and uncertain. They are “men of the moment.” Their future will unmake everything for which they have lived. So who are the wicked? It’s not just the worst of society. It is also, as the Bible tells us, the person who does not have proper regard for God. It is also the careless and selfish.

4. All is well that ends well. But nothing is well that ends ill. Psalm 37, wait for the Lord. In a little while the wicked will be no more. Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of the wicked. Warning: Once you delve into a life of sin, there is always the danger you will go so deep into it that it becomes impossible to get out.

5. Stay occupied in the most noble of confessions. At the end this is Asaph’s conclusion. I need to be busy in the things of God.

Seeing the promised land. We have tasted of what is coming. We are on the path to something great, so wonderful it defies description.

One of the most important prayers in the Bible is found in Eph 1:18-19, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.