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Psalm 73 "Hanging in With God"

Cameron Wills MPC, 29^th April 2001.

Having gained University qualifications, I started my first full-time job. It was in Gladstone, so I packed up my car, and left Brisbane. I left behind my Christian friends and role models. And I also left here in Brisbane my accountability to those friends. They had been my support system. But in moving to Gladstone my support systems had gone. They disappeared literally overnight.

When I got to Gladstone I was dazzled by the benefits that were coming from my new job. I had my first full-time salary. Money! Wow. I had never seen this much before. I was dazzled by the $50 and even $100 notes I now had in my wallet. I could do so much with all this money. There were so many choices that I could now make. There was so much that I could do now. Things that I had never been able to do before. My feet were slipping away from the Christian values I had pursued for so long.

And I now had position and kudos. I was a professional working in the corporate world. I was very impressed by my work peers and some of the things they had. I was very impressed by what they claimed to be important in life. These things were influencing my life now. Especially my thinking that I could focus BOTH on pursuing those things, that lifestyle - earning the good money, saving and spending that money for my pleasure, which became a new focus for me AND still somehow keep focusing on God. My feet were slipping from underneath me.

I was losing my focus on God.

This created a tension in my life. I was supposed to be becoming a 'fulfilled professional'. I thought I was supposed to feel happy and satisfied. But I didn't. And I knew that the tension I felt inside me would only be relieved by one thing. I knew that I would only find relief as my attitude and focus turned back to God.

Some of us heard last week in Psalm 62 that 'riches might increase'. That's okay, nothing wrong with that. But the Psalmist also said that I was not to "set my heart on them." And that's what I was doing. I was setting my heart on those riches. And that created turmoil inside of me. This is something like the struggle that we read of here in Psalm 73.

The writer of the psalm starts by saying how good it is to follow God. He says how great it is to be hanging in there with God. But then he remembers how he had seriously doubted that. How he had been in danger of walking away from following God.

Look at verses one and two. They begin with "Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart." But then verse two says "But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold."

It's so easy to slip away!

Renιe and I receive the weekly "Brisbane News" newspaper. In general, it's aimed at a certain group of people. It's aimed at those who seemed to have it all together. It seems to be aimed at those who are under the spell of trends; or want to be seen as trend-setters. It's flashy and razzy. And if you are nowhere near the mark, then any other life just doesn't seem to match up. The "Brisbane News" lifestyle seems a much better deal. It's so easy to be envious.

People like that, ….they seem to have it made! Life's a breeze for them. They don't have all of the problems of life, the difficulties that others face. The struggles that you or I might have, each week. They have the so-called 'good life'.

For a time the Psalmist was envious of people like that. He tells us about their lives. Look with me at verses four and five. "They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills." It's no wonder he was envious of them. He's put his 'heart and soul' into living for God. The Old Testament uses the word 'heart' to often mean the very core of our being! And the psalmist says that he has put his whole self, his 'heart' into following God. He has been fully focused on God. But he questions whether it pays dividends. For a time he slips.

Following God doesn't mean that life's always easy. BUT for those who don't follow God, life often appears a breeze. Why would you bother following God? Maybe you have asked yourself that same question in the past. Possibly you are asking that question right now. Maybe you have been passed over for promotions at work. Or maybe someone in your family doesn't want to know you because, in their words, you take this 'religion stuff' 'too seriously'. Are you tempted to be less serious about being a Christian because of these? Does being a follower of Jesus seem like a raw deal to you? The psalmist thought so at times. But he doesn't give up on God. He's got more to tell us.

Because just when everything seems to weighing him down he makes a discovery. Everything suddenly becomes clear. It's like he has opened a door and sunlight has flooded in, showing him how things really are.

He sees that underneath what appears as a life free from struggles and burdens, ….and beyond the arrogance and the prosperity, ...the Psalmist SEES the showy "pride" and the "callous hearts" ….evil conceited minds and hearts" ….and "the tongues" that gloat of having it all. And to top it off he SEES that he wasn't the only one who was being sucked in, ...in fact others have gone the whole hog ….and are now lapping up what the ungodly have to offer. They too have sided with them and in their ungodliness, ….they too now MOCK GOD!

Pick it up with me as we listen to what the Psalmist has to say from v. 6 to 11. "Therefore pride is their necklace, they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say: How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?"

But the Psalmist still struggles to come to terms with the ungodly persons ability to get what he goes for. They still seem to get the top results for themselves. And it just doesn't seem to make sense.

Why, when the ungodly don't care two cents for God, do they prosper and don't appear to have a care in the world? And if you're struggling with coming to terms with that, ...so did the Psalmist. Verse 12 "This is what the wicked are like ….always carefree, they increase in wealth."

And especially when he has done all he could to keep his heart pure, and tried to remain innocent of ever being unfaithful to God. It punishes him to wake up every morning just thinking about it! He even admits that if he ever spoke what was really on his mind, ...that it would be a betrayal of others who trusted God, or are trusting in God.

Again, from verse 13. "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. If I had said; 'I will speak thus,' I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me .."

This guy might be no longer slipping, but he needs a firmer foothold than the one he presently has, and he finds it in turning back to God. In fact it's in turning back to God that he finds the things that have oppressed him; THE WEIGHTY THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN TROUBLING HIM, ...it's when he turns back to God that these oppressive things are lifted from him. NOT ONLY THAT, ...BUT in turning back to God, he sees and understands the destination of the ungodly. THEIR FINAL DESTINATION!!

They might seem to have it all together now, ...they in their arrogance! But it's not going to last. In fact the slippery path that the Psalmist was once on, ...the slippery path away from God ...IS THE VERY PATH THEY ARE ON!

The consequences of their arrogance is ultimately not going to be prosperity, or a trouble free existence, ...in fact the path they're travelling down is leading to ruin and destruction. THE PATH THAT LEADS AWAY FROM GOD IS A SLIPPERY PATH INDEED!

So the psalmist had gained a new understanding about the people whose lives are turned away from God. He now knows what will happen to them in the end. Look to where the Psalmist says it is leading them. Their end will be a disaster. In an instant all their prosperity will be gone.

But worse than that, God will have nothing to do with them. They will be on their own. They will be totally ruined. Read from verse 18 with me. "Surely [God] you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies."

For these followers of Self, these God-ignorers, the end will come. Now some people ignore God in a very public, a very obvious way. But there are lots of people who don't actually shake their fists at heaven in defiance of God.

Jesus met lots of them. In his day, there were people like that, even very religious people. They were super-religious, and people were in awe of them.

For Jesus, what matters isn't just what others can see on the outside. What really matters is what others can't see. Our thoughts, attitudes. In Mark chapter 7, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah to talk about these externally 'good' people. This is what he says about them "These people honour me [that is God] with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

Their hearts are far from God. They are far from God now. And they will be far from God in the future. It's this way for all whose 'hearts', whose inmost core as a person, isn't turned to God. It's that way for the religious leaders of Jesus' day. It's that way for the prosperous arrogant in the Psalmist's day. And it's this way for many people today.

Even many who we wouldn't naturally expect. It might even be the sweet old lady living next door to you. She loves her grandkids to death, she's always friendly to people. She never cheats on her taxes, and is a wonderful neighbour. But God just doesn't get the time of day from her. He isn't even thought about. He's irrelevant, and might as well not even be there. On the outside she's a very 'good' person. But in her attitudes, her life is turned away from God.

I was a like that. As a non-Christian I thought I was a good person. I thought that God was happy with my life. I had never done anything that I thought was really bad, like armed robbery, or murder. But God didn't get the time of day in my life. I ignored Him. And that meant my heart was turned away from Him. In effect, I was shaking my fist in defiance at God.

Well then, the Psalmist tells us that for all people like that, for all who are turned away from God, that the end will be disaster. They will be despised by God, and away from Him for ever.

Last year East Timor gained independence from Indonesia. One of the key people in the East Timorese struggle for freedom was Jose Ramos Horta. In 1975 he was exiled from East Timor. He was sent away from his homeland. And he had to wait 25 years to return. But when he did, it was a great day for him. The people went crazy, singing and cheering and clapping. His exile was over. But the psalmist is saying that it won't be like that for those turned away from God. After they die their life will be like an exile. But an exile that never ends.

The wicked of Psalm 73, will come to their end. And the psalmist must have realised that was almost him. "I want what they have", he had said. However, now he realises what sort of an end will greet them.

Oh sure, they can have the easy life now. And following God can be full of struggles. You know that. You know that from your daily, your weekly living. The psalmist is a realist. He's writing about what he now knows to be true. He's looking back to the struggle that he's been through. But now he's reached a safe place. A place of refuge. He now says with assurance that God is good to those who follow him. He is confident that it is good to follow God.

This psalm is called 'a psalm of Asaph' And there are other psalms that he wrote. And in those other psalms Asaph talks again and again about struggles as a believer. HIS STRUGGLES.

Following the struggles of Psalm 73 Asaph had gained a peace. But that peace would be threatened again and again in the future. There would be more struggles. But there was one critical difference. Asaph has realised that there is something in his life, ...something that the ungodly never has. THAT GOD IS WITH HIM.

Asaph has discovered that God is with him. That God is always with him. Have a look at verse 23 "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory."

So God is there with him, in the easy times. And God is also there with him in the tough times, during the struggles. If you are following God, then He is with you. God is there in the middle of those times when living as a follower of Jesus is okay. BUT GOD IS ALSO THERE, when things get a bit difficult. Even when it can be really hard to live for God.

And after your life on this earth has finished, you will continue to have God with you. You will be with God, for the life that never ends. So the writer of this psalm is writing to you. He wants you to be encouraged. He wants you to be encouraged to keep going as a follower of God. To not give up focusing on Him, and on His son, the Lord Jesus.

Even if life is full of struggles, stick with Him. Keep your focus on Him. Don't focus on the ungodly who seem to have it all, yet will end up with nothing.

God is there with you at all times. And because we are assured and confident of God's presence, we have the very important task of telling others to also seek refuge in God. Or as Asaph puts it in the very last verse of this Psalm: "...as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."