Psalm 73

Psalm 73

God is THE Good

I.                    Proper perspective in our perplexing lives must come from looking to God, so we must not look for proper perspective in others or in ourselves (Vv. 1-14)

a.       Asaph is looking back at a time when the circumstances of his life moved him to perplexity and doubt. The ultimate answer to his difficulty and doubt is revealed in the first verse of his psalm, and then his process of working through to see the validity of his opening statement is revealed through the body of his psalm. The important part of this for us is that Asaph’s beginning point was the good of God. He was having difficulty understanding God’s goodness, but his questions came from the beginning perspective that God is surely good to those who are fully committed to Him. He knows this is true, but he’s having trouble seeing it, and he his feet almost slipped and caused him to stumble over his doubt; but why and how did that almost happen? Asaph was looking for the answers to his doubt and perplexity in understanding God’s goodness in the wrong places; he was looking enviously at the lives of the wicked and evaluating himself based on God’s goodness being a function of their worldly prosperity and his personal circumstances. As his envy and misguided perspective led him astray, his doubt and confusion continued to grow. Even though the wicked flaunted their ungodliness and spoke out against God, they seem to always be at ease in thinking God doesn’t care what they do or even see them, while they grow steadily richer. He then used the criteria of worldly success and prosperity to judge the goodness of his life and the fruitfulness of his own works, leading him to increasing confusion, discouragement, despair, depression, and failure. He was feeling sorry for himself, and was literally ready to quit his post as worship leader because he was beginning to think that none of it was worth it. When our beginning point for understanding what is good begins and ends with the desires of the world, we sink into selfishness, and never see worldliness through to its ultimate conclusion. Then whether we have much or little, we’re caught in a cycle of envy and fruitless gains which prove vain and frustrating, and which lead to confusion and despair.                                                (Vv. 1-14; Job 21:13, 23; Ps. 37:1; 84:11; Prov. 3:31; 23:17; 24:1; Eccl. 1:1-2:11; Matt. 6:19-33)

II.                 Proper perspective in our perplexing lives must come from looking to God, so we must draw near to Him in worship      (Vv. 15-28)

a.       But in verse 15, Asaph’s perspective begins to change. His eye moves off his envy of the world and himself, and he begins to think of others. How would all his talk of being envious of the ungodly, not knowing why God seemed to be blessing them and letting the godly suffer, and walking away from God and worship ministry impact other believers? He was grieved, perplexed, and frustrated, until he came into God’s presence and worshiped Him. When Asaph stopped focusing on the world and himself, and sought God’s presence, his vision was cleared up. Instead of his heart and mind being confused about God’s goodness because his thoughts and feelings terminated in worldly good, God opened his eyes to see the fruits of worldly goodness through to their conclusion. He sees that those who think they live blissfully in this world, with no accountability to God, are headed for eternal destruction, and all their “good” in life is only transient. This produces self-awareness in Asaph instead of selfishness, and he realizes he was acting in senseless ignorance. God had never left him, never stopped guiding and strengthening him for His good will and purposes. The wicked might seem to enjoy their earthly life, but all their earthly possessions won’t last, and their end is eternal destruction. God’s goodness in our lives isn’t about the things of this life at all, God Himself is the goodness which He provides, and we gain what is good only by drawing near to Him and committing ourselves to Him. God’s goodness is seen mostly completely in Christ and His selfless sacrifice to redeem us to Himself. The goodness of God in Christ never fades in our lives, cannot be taken away from us now or in eternity, and is a goodness the wicked can never obtain or enjoy if they reject Him. All other things in life can and will be taken from us, no matter how good we think they are, or how much we think we need them or deserve them, but those who belong to God and draw near to Him cannot be separated from Him and His goodness, and are compelled to testify to His goodness with their whole lives. (Vv. 15-28; Exod. 34:14-16; 1 Chron. 5:25; Job 1:20-22; 23:10; Ps. 23:1-6; 139:7-10; Eccl. 12:13-14; Jer. 29:11-13; 33:2-3; Matt. 7:13-14; 19:16-17; 28:18-20; Luke 12:16-21; John 3:16-21; 4:10-14; 6:26-35; 7:37-39; 14:1-4, 9, 16-18, 27; Rom. 8:28-39; 2 Cor. 4:3-18; 5:1-8; Eph. 3:14-21; 2 Thess. 1:6-10; Heb. 13:5-8; 1 Pet. 5:6-11; 1 John 2:15-17)