Psalm 73 - “My Feet Almost Slipped”

[Music] we come now to psalm 73 which begins actually a new section within the book of psalms many times we don't notice but psalms that book of 150 collected songs of ancient israel is actually divided into five books the first book is made up of psalms 1 through 41 the second book is made up of psalms 42 through 72 now with psalm 73 we begin the third book of psalms the third volume if you will and one thing that's characteristic about this third volume of psalms in the collection is that it begins with 11 psalms written by a man named asaph that's what we see right here in the title from the hebrew text it says here that this is a psalm of asaph and that tells us that it was written by this great singer and musician of david in solomon's era you see asaph was an organizer and a leader for the temple choirs in the days of david and presumably for solomon after him asaph was the one who also prophesied according to the order of the king as it says in first chronicles chapter 25 verses 1 and 2. the first psalm we have of him here in this string of 11 psalms that begins book three in the collection of psalms is wonderful and one way to understand psalm 3 is by understanding the dominant pronouns in each section of psalm 73 so in other words when asaph is troubled by the fate of the ungodly that's in the first 12 verses the prominent pronoun is they is looking at they when he describes his own frustrated thinking leading to the resolution the dominant pronoun is i so first he's looking at they then he's looking at i when he finds the resolution of the problem that's in verses 18 through 22 the dominant pronoun is you in the sense of god and then when he proclaims the assurance of his faith and his fellowship with god that's in verses 23-28 the dominant pronouns are a mixture of you talking about god and i so it's a beautiful psalm first going from they to me to the lord and then to the lord into the world in general so let's take a look at this marvelous and i think very meaningful psalm for us today psalm 73 verses 1 through 3 we read this truly god is good to israel to such as our pure in heart but as for me my feet had almost stumbled my steps had nearly slipped for i was envious of the boastful when i saw the prosperity of the wicked asaph began this psalm with a simple declaration of the goodness of god to his people did you see that in verse 1 truly god is good to israel and by this he indicated that he understood not only that god was good but that god actually shows that goodness to israel that he shows that goodness to the pure in heart truly god is good to israel to such as our pure in heart now in contrast this comes in verse 2 he says but as for me my feet had almost stumbled asaph knew what he said about god in the first verse was true god is good to israel yet there was another truth that disturbed him greatly that truth almost made him stumble it made his steps nearly slip and we're going to talk about what that was in just a moment but i want you to understand something just by comparing verses 1 and 2 of psalm 73 knowing that god is good to israel but but having his feet almost stumble it does show us something that it shows us that having doubts like asap had is not incompatible with the christian life asaph was a man who believed in god and believed that god was indeed good to israel but at the same time he was a man who looked at the world around him and he had questions he had doubts god does not despise our questions in our doubts now we should never regard doubt as a desirable destination it's never where we want to remain but it may be unnecessary and in a sense even good phase so to speak that we pass through on the way to a stronger faith and that's what it's going to be for asaph in this particular song now what was it that almost made asaph stumble look at it here in verse 3 where he says for i was envious of the boastful when i saw the prosperity of the wicked now this was another truth that seemed to contradict what asaph knew of god as declared in the first verse look in the first verse he knew that god was good to israel and to the pure in heart but it also seemed that god was good as well to the boastful that god's also good to the wicked it all seemed unfair to asaph and it made him almost as he says in verse 2 stumble and slip you see asaph saw the same troubling evidence that many people see in their own everyday lives many people cannot deny that god has been good to them but it also seems that god is good perhaps too good to the boastful into the wicked and it's easy then to envy the wicked and their prosperity after all if god is good or at least seems to be good to both the uh righteous and the wicked what's the point in being righteous i'll get god's goodness or god's blessing either way you see such deep questions cause us to question the moral order of the universe it makes us ask what good is there in being good if the wicked are going to enjoy the same prosperity as the pure in heart then what is the reward of godliness i like how james montgomery boyce stated this problem in his commentary on psalm 73 boyce said this quote if god is in control of things the plans of the wicked should flounder they should be even punished openly the godly alone should prosper but that is not what asaph saw and it is not what we see either we see scoundrels getting rich utterly degenerate persons like particularly vile rock musicians or movie stars are well paid and sought after even criminals get rich selling their crime stories you see that's putting asap's question into what we might call a modern context and we can also say that this was the same faith or the same mentality about how the world should work that was believed so strongly by job's friends do you remember that in the book of job this was the same frame of mind that prompted the question of the disciples who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind that's in john chapter nine verse two back in job in the gospel of john in our modern day in psalm 73 we all have this thing there's a moral order to the universe we're told we believe we see it sometimes but how come we don't seem to see it all the time now starting at verse 4 asaph is going to go on to verse 9 and describe what appears to be the good life of the wicked ready he says this for there are no pangs in their death but their strength is firm they are not in trouble as other men nor are they plagued like other men therefore pride serves as their necklace violence covers them like a garment their eyes bolds with abundance they have more than heart could wish they scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression they speak loftily they set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth wow what a description of the wicked there in verses four through nine he begins with the observation here in verse four for there are no pangs in their death perhaps asaph had seen some wicked people die agonizing and painful deaths but he had also seen enough wicked people die peaceful deaths to make them say there's no pangs in their death matthew henry wrote this he said men may die like lambs yet have their place forever with the goats but it bothered asaph that a wicked man might die like a lamb and then he goes on in verse 5 they are not in trouble as other men nor are they plagued as other men here asaph developed his argument even further not only are the wicked rewarded equally to the righteous they seem to be more blessed than the pure in heart notice that in verse five they are not in trouble as other men nor are they plagued as other men their lives seem to have less trouble and they are not as plagued as the average man therefore verse six therefore pride serves as their necklace in asap's analysis because god did not punish the wicked as he should they simply became more wicked they even wore their pride as a prominent necklace they therefore became more violent more greedy and more likely to scoff and blaspheme you gotta appreciate the poetic power of asaph's description you can just picture it in your mind we see the wicked man with an ostentatious necklace of pride as it mentioned in verse six he's covered with an impressive garment but that covering is violence towards others verse 7 tells us that he's so filled with good food that his eyes bolds with abundance and he has more than his heart could which wish his mouth as verse 8 says always scoffs and speaks wickedly and his mouth is set as verse 9 says against the heavens worst of all everybody seems to hear about this wicked man and his prosperity because it seems as if his tongue walks through the earth so together with asaph we picture these we can picture them in a modern context where they have excuse me in an ancient context with asap but we can also picture them in a modern context among us today we can just picture these rich famous proud showy violent greedy fowl-speaking gangsters strutting about enjoying their wickedness and when we consider that in our mind we are as troubled by their prosperity and their seeming indifference of god towards them as asaph was and then he continues on to verse 10. therefore his people return here and waters of a full cup are drained by them and they say how does god know and there is knowledge in the most high behold these are the ungodly who are always at ease they increase in riches surely i have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence for all day long i have been plagued and chastened every morning you see look at how he understands this in verse 10 the the wicked man has associates who are just like him he says therefore his people return here and they take and take just as the wicked man does that's why he says in verse 10 waters of a full cup are drained by them they just are takers they're not givers and then they're arrogant about it verse 11 they say how does god know in the previous verses asap told us that the wicked man sets his mouth against heaven and here he tells us that the wicked man and his associates they talk against heaven as well they claim that god is blind or ignorant therefore they can do whatever they please and god is unable to do anything against them he goes so far as to say looking over these wicked people and to pronounce this in verse 12 behold these are the ungodly we almost sense that asaph is speaking out of frustration he's looking now as the ungodly life as if it is the good life he says they are always at ease they always increase in riches this is all in verse 12. they're rewarded for their wickedness by a god who seems to be as unknowing as the wicked claim that he is which leads him to the conclusion in verse 13 surely i have cleansed my heart in vain this frustration kept on building for asaph until he felt that it was vain for him to be pure in heart vain for him to have clean hands before god vain for him to be innocent matter of fact he thought that he was worse off than the wicked verse 14 all day long i've been plagued and chastened every morning asap felt that his life was much more difficult than the life of the ungodly men that he observed while the wicked man enjoyed all of his wealth and all of his ease and all of his pride asaph had to endure being plagued and chastened and he had to endure it look at the words of verse 14 all day long he had to endure every morning it's interesting the phrasing he uses there in verse 14. he says all day long i have been plagued and chastened every morning now plagued is bad and someone might assign a plague to an anonymous and natural cause but chastened is even worse because chastened implies that god himself was inflicting asaph with the difficulties basically asaph is saying lord you are easy on the wicked and you are hard on me now as we would expect in the psalms which let's remember the psalms are poetry this is a poetic outpouring as we would expect in a poetic outpouring asaph was exaggerating the life of the wicked was not actually as good as he observed nor was his life as bad as he felt it to be but at the same time you cannot deny or contradict the feeling that prompted asaph in this song and we can instead strongly identify with that feeling we're the ones standing right beef side asap saying amen asaph i understand how you feel i understand the power of your words i too have felt what good is it to be righteous what good is it to make any sacrifice to follow the lord because my life seems to be so hard and the life of the wicked seems to be so easy at least at times well that's through the first 14 verses now let's come to verse 15 and see asaph coming to a new perspective the the whole psalm changes in the transition between verse 14 and verse 15. here we go he says if i had said i will speak thus behold i would have been untrue to the generation of your children when i thought how to understand this it was too painful for me until i went into the sanctuary of god then i understood their end you see asaph caught himself from sliding further into despair over the perceived prosperity of the wicked he did not want to be untrue to the generation of your children as he says there in verse 13. so he said i'm not going to speak thus any further but at the same time he recognizes verse 16 when i sought how to understand this it was too painful for me you see asaph was caught in a trap he could not deny the evidence that said that the wicked and the ungodly often have good lives he couldn't deny that and he could not also deny that his own life was often hard it left him feeling plagued and chastened by god he felt all of this was true but he also felt that he couldn't talk about it because if he did talk about it it would be untrue to others therefore all of this together it was too painful for him again verse 16 when i thought of how to understand this it was too painful for him we just see the pressure building and building within this man asap until we get to verse 17 and then we read this until i went into the sanctuary of god the crisis seemed to build and build for asaph until he went into the house of the lord there at god's house he gained a perspective on his problem that he didn't have before there in god's house asaph was able to see things from an eternal viewpoint and then look at that phrase in verse 17 he understood their end i like what a writer named chapel says about this he says this what did the psalmist do the answer to some will seem perfectly childish he went to church just what others got out of this service were not told but the psalmist came into possession of certain gripping convictions that steadied him and enabled him to walk in the after days with firmness and assurance yes it's true in our modern way of speaking we would say asaph went to church and god spoke to him about eternity matter of fact we should ask ourselves what did going to the house of god do for asaph well he could gain understanding in several ways first of all by prayer and worship in the sanctuary asaph understood that god was at the center of all things and he gained a fresh appreciation of both god and eternity isn't that one of the things the church should do for us we should go to a church service and put our attention on god we put our attention away from other people that we look at we put our attention away even from ourselves and we focus our attention on god and we realize once again god you're at the center of all things and we recognize too that god dwells in heaven that he is eternal and we gain this fresh appreciation of both god and eternity that's one thing asap gained the second thing asaph gained was he heard the word of god in the sanctuary and then he understood that there is a truth that goes beyond what he saw what he experienced what he felt in everyday life now listen what we see that's real what we experience it is what it is what we feel there's some experiential truth in our feelings but listen there's a greater truth than all of that it's the truth that we receive from the word of god and when asaph went to the house of the lord he heard the word of god when we go to the house of the lord we worship and get our eyes off ourselves we hear the word of god and we have our understanding of truth properly positioned but then also something else happened for asaph when he went to the uh when he went to the house of god he observed sacrifice at the sanctuary and there he understood that god takes sin so seriously that it must be judged and atoned for even if it's judged in an innocent victim who stands in the place of those who are guilty and those who are guilty receive the sacrifice of that innocent victim by faith so do you picture asaph going into the sanctuary going to the house of god he sees the sacrifice and that repositions his mind he prays in worship that repositions his mind he hears the word of god that repositions his mind and brothers and sisters this is one of god's great purposes in establishing a place where his people come to meet with him it's never to imply that there's only one place or only a few places where someone can meet with god it's true you can meet with god out at the park out at the beach you can meet with god in your own home it's not to say that there's only one or a few places where someone can meet with god or that we have to meet with god in ornate or glorious buildings no this is to emphasize that it is good to have a place separate from other places where we focus on a heavenly perspective an eternal perspective and for asaph this was as he says here in verse 17 this was the sanctuary of god it was the the temple in jerusalem or the tabernacle that existed before the temple for us this is the place where we meet with god's people for worship and fellowship and hearing the word of god how precious those places are for us now when asaph went to the sanctuary of god notice something he received he received understanding it was not only a place to impact the senses and the feelings but it was a place to un impact the understanding of a man you see asaph didn't remark on how he felt about their end or he'd even experienced what was going to happen to the wicked it says there in verse 17 that he understood their end now listen it is not a bad thing to feel things in the house of god and to experience the right things in the house of god not at all we're not against the proper kind of feeling and experiences but there must also be understanding the communication of truth and the communication of truth in a way that can be received when asaph went to the sanctuary of god it only did him good because he connected with eternity he connected with something that made him as it says here in verse 17 understand the end of the wicked check this out he did not fundamentally go to the house of god to hear about the news of the day he didn't fundamentally go to the house of god to hear about the same talk someone would hear in the marketplace or the business office asaph needed the ultimate relevance he needed the relevance of eternity and he found it at the sanctuary of god now having gone into god's house having had his understanding impacted by the worship by the word by the sacrifice now his mind is in a different place and starting at verse 18 he's going to describe the unsafe place of the wicked this is what asap now observes in his wisdom he says here verse 18 surely you set them in slippery places you cast them down to destruction oh how they are brought to desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream when one awakes so lord when you awake you shall despise their image notice this verse 18 surely you have set them in slippery places this was part of the understanding that asaph gained in the house of the lord he understood that the ease and the security of the wicked was really only an illusion that they were actually set in slippery places and they were ready to fall at any time now it's very interesting earlier in the psalm in verse 2 asaph worried that his feet had almost slipped now with the perspective that he gained from the house of the lord now he sees that it's the wicked who are the ones in slippery places oh friends remember that if you feel like you are on slippery ground understand that if your faith is in jesus christ in the sacrifice that god has made for you it's not you that's in the slippery place it's anybody who would reject jesus christ and the great work that he's done for us charles spurgeon said it quite eloquently he said this sinner you may fall now at once from your slippery standing place you fall and you are gone forever death makes the place where you stand slippery for it dissolves your life every hour time makes it slippery for every instant it cuts the ground from under your feet the vanities which you enjoy make your place slippery for they are all like ice which shall melt before the sun you have no foothold sinner you have no sure hope no confidence is a m it is a melting thing you trust in oh that's like imagining somebody standing on slippery ice and trying to get a solid ground they have no solid ground god has set the wicked one in slippery places and that's why he leads to the next thought there in verse 19 oh how they are brought to desolation as in a moment now asap could only understand this with the eternal perspective brought to him at the house of the lord in daily life he could only see what worked well for the wicked the life they enjoyed right now and he looked at the life they enjoyed right now goes look it looks pretty good for them but with an eternal perspective he saw their destruction he saw their desolation he saw their terrors you know earlier in the psalm we had the feeling that asaph would have gladly traded places with the wicked men who seem to be so blessed and after gaining this eternal spect perspective we see that asaph would never trade places with them after all who wants to come into the place of destruction desolation and terrors and then he uses this very vivid image in verse 20 did you see that as a dream when one awakes with an eternal perspective from the house of god asap understood that the good life of the ungodly is really as fragile as a dream and they will soon wake to the reality of destruction desolation and terrors that are their portion so what does he do in verse 20 he also calls upon god to awake asaph admitted that it seemed as if god was asleep but because he could not always see his active hand of judgment against the wicked so he calls out in verse 20 so lord when you awake asaph knew that god would not always sleep in his patience towards the wicked and one day god would awake and judge them he would despise their image now again we need to stress asap didn't actually believe that god was asleep but he believed that it seemed like god was waiting that god was asleep in his active hand of judgment but one day that would awake now in verse 21 asap is going to confess his foolishness he's going to receive guidance from god i love these few verses verses 21 through 24 he says this thus my heart was grieved and i was vexed in my mind i was so foolish and ignorant i was like a beast before you nevertheless i am continually with you you hold me by my right hand you will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory asaph so honest here he says in verse 21 thus my heart was grieved i was so foolish and ignorant asaph confessed before the lord and really before us who read the psalm but he confessed before the lord his sinful lack of understanding before he went into the house of the lord asaph felt foolish that he had forgotten the obvious truths of eternity and god's justice matter of fact he says in verse 22 i was like a beast before you asap rightly observed that animals seem to have no concept of eternity animals simply live their lives for momentary pleasures they're satisfying just their natural urges that's how it is for animals and when asaph forgot about eternity he was truly like a beast before god but listen verse 23 nevertheless i am continually with you you hold me by my right hand asaph here declared both that he was with god and that god was with him it wasn't enough for asap to know and to say that god was with him he also had to confess that he was with god i am continually with you and you hold me by my right hand verse 24 you will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory with this new perspective gained in the house of the lord asaph knew that god would guide him in this life and ultimately receive him to glory significantly notice here in verse 24 asaph expected god to guide him with his counsel he expected to hear god's wisdom and to receive guidance through it he didn't expect to be guided primarily through feelings he didn't say you're going to guide me through my feelings he didn't say you're going to guide me through my circumstances you're going to guide me through my experiences no lord you're going to guide me with your counsel and then asaph had this wonderful faithful expectation of an afterword of glory now this is a deliberate contrast with the end of the wicked that was mentioned in verses 17 through 19. the end of the wicked as mentioned in those verses was terrible it was all about desolation and destruction and terrors oh but not so with asaph not so with the godly as a godly man asap has his afterward it's an afterward of glory and the wicked will have quite another afterward the psalm concludes now with this declaration of a glorious heavenly hope notice this starting at verse 25 whom have i in heaven but you and there is none upon the earth that i desire besides you my flesh and my heart fail but god is the strength of my heart and my portion forever for indeed those who are far from you shall perish you have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry but it is good for me to draw near to god i have put my trust in the lord god that i may declare all your works you have to say there's something very strikingly beautiful about that phrasing in verse 25 whom have i in heaven but you and there is none on the earth that i desire besides you this is the beautiful expression of a longing heart for god and for eternity now intellectually asaph probably understood that there was a lot for him in heaven there were angels in heaven that's going to be pretty awesome there were dwelling places streets of gold the companionship of the people of god throughout all generations all those things are going to be pretty amazing about heaven yet all of that is almost nothing it's like a shadow compared to the light of the presence of god whom have i in heaven but you o lord like what matthew poole wrote about this that old puritan commentator said this let sinners have an earthly prosperity i am satisfied with you and with your favor since you gave me support and conduct here and carry me safe from here to eternal glory what do i need more or what can i desire more now verse 25 is really a beautiful expression it's been used by many people over the ages james montgomery boyce noted how verse 25 was used by charles wesley that great methodist hymn writer of the 18th century charles wesley as a matter of fact was thinking about that line whom have i in heaven but you on his death bed and he actually composed a hymn on his deathbed and it was his final testimony calling his wife to him he dictated these words charles wesley here composing hymns on his deathbed but he did it in light of this wonderful statement in psalm 73 verse 25 whom have i in heaven but you this is what charles wesley dictated to his wife he said in age and feebleness extreme what shall a sinful worm redeem jesus my only hope thou art strength of my failing flesh and heart oh could i catch a smile from thee and drop into eternity what charles wesley did his hope was fulfilled in heaven i pray your hope is going to be filled in heaven as well but but it also matters for earth look at what he next says in verse 25 and there is none upon the earth that i desire besides you for asaph god was not only a heavenly hope but an earthly desire as well god was both his inheritance in heaven but he was also his earthly desire right here and right now this is the strength that god gave him verse 26 my flesh and my heart fail but god is the strength of my heart and my portion forever asaph recognized both his weakness and the great strength of god matter of fact he understood the enduring character of god's strength you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever now he says here in verse 27 indeed those who are far from you shall perish you see asaph no longer had doubts about the destiny of the ungodly with the eternal perspective that he gained at the house of the lord he understood that the wicked the ungodly would surely perish but for him look at verse 28 it all resolves here he says it is good for me to draw near to god i have put my trust in the lord god that i may declare all your works you know it's staggering to see how much good asaph's visit to the house of the lord did for him it gave him understanding it gave him an eternal perspective there he saw the great benefit in drawing near to god which he doubted before back in verse 13 he was doubting the benefit of drawing near to god now he knows it in times of trouble and distress what do people draw near to do they draw near to their liquor bottle their alcohol do they draw near to their distractions do they draw near to their uncleanness and their lusts asap knew this it is good for me to draw near to god asaph saw the value of putting his trust in god and now understanding that god was reliable god could be trusted and by the way he was left with a passion to declare all god's works that's what he says at the very last line that i may declare all your works now asap says i'm going to become a messenger of god's goodness and of the eternal perspective that he gained in the house of the lord oh dear brother dear sister i hope that you have that eternal perspective i hope you know the joy of going to the house of the lord and getting your perspective set straight through worship through the word through through uh having this understanding of the sacrifice of jesus christ and you know ideally we do those things at the house of god there may be times in our life when we're prevented from going to the house of lord i think of somebody who's sick and shut in at home they can still know through worship have the right perspective through the word of god that can come to them they can have the right perspective through thinking about and receiving the goodness of what jesus did on the cross they can put it all in order just as asaph did now before we leave psalm 73 let's consider a question that we've been asking throughout the book of psalms how does this particular psalm how does psalm 73 point to jesus i'll give you three ideas that i have first of all number one jesus intimately knew the sorrows of life in verse 14 asaph wrote this for all day long i have been plagued and chastened every morning now jesus experienced that in theory jesus could have protected himself from all such sorrows in theory jesus never had to experience a single sorrow but he did not as isaiah 53 verse 3 tells us jesus came as the man of sorrows well acquainted with grief no there's a sense in which jesus understood the sorrow and the difficulty that asaph experienced in this psalm jesus intimately knew the sorrows of life that's number one number two we would say jesus is the one that we have in heaven verse 25 says whom have i in heaven but you now we know from the new testament that it is jesus who is ascended and enthroned in heaven he is our advocate he is our defender he is our intercessor before the throne of god jesus is for us and he is for us in heaven that's the second way the third way that i would say that psalm 73 points to jesus i'm not trying to say that these are the only ways but these are three ways that i thought of the third way i would say is that jesus understood the end of sinners in verse 17 asaph relates how when he went into the house of god he says this then i understood their end now jesus didn't have to go to the house of god to know or to intimately understand the end of sinners and those who reject god as someone who came from heaven as someone who intimately knew the reality of eternity beyond as someone who was fully god and fully man jesus knew and friends because jesus understood the end of sinners that's why jesus spoke of hell and warned of hell more than any other person in the bible by a long stretch no jesus understands the end of sinners that's why he gave his own life as a sacrifice for sinners that's why jesus said i will be the sacrifice i will pay for the guilt and the shame and the judgment and the wrath that is deserved upon all guilty sinners i will bear it in myselves and it will be effective for all those who put their trust in me jesus understood the end of sinners i hope you do and i hope you've received the sacrifice that jesus made on your behalf let me pray in our conclusion here at the end of psalm 73 father in heaven we who have at times been troubled by the same questions that asaph has been troubled by we call out before you lord and we simply say as we draw near to you at the house of god as we draw near to you in worship in the word in recognition of jesus's perfect sacrifice as we do all those things lord would you give us the wisdom to put our lives and the lives of others into proper perspective both now and in eternity do it in our lives lord we commit this to you in jesus name amen

Channel: David Guzik

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Length: 44min 21sec (2661 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 06 2021