Sermon Tone Analysis

Draw Near to God

(Seeing things from His perspective)

Psa.73

Intro:

Seeing things from a different perspective can be a real eye opener.

Take for instance Christian and Hopeful from John Bunyan's book Pilgrims Progress.

When him and Hopeful were in the valley they could not see anything good but once they got to the Delectable Mountains and looked through the perspective looking glass, they were able to see that just on the other side of the tombs that were in the valley was the celestial gate.

When they saw this it gave them the strength to continue on their journey.

When we only See things from our own vantage point, it can lead to a lot of distress

This was the problem which confronted the writer of this Psalm.

He was looking at things around him from the wrong vantage point.

How often are we guilty of the same thing?

There are times when terrible things come our way and all we see is what is happening around us.

When this happens, we tend to only look at what we can see.

However, there is far more to the picture than what our mortal eyes can behold.

This Psalm teaches us how to get our eyes off of our circumstances and place them squarely upon the Lord.

Our friend Asaph was ready to quit.

He was ready to throw in the towel and just walk away from God.

However, he learned to look at things, not from a faulty human perspective, but from the perspective of God.

When we stop looking through our eyes and begin looking through the eyes of the one that created us, we will begin to see things a lot different.

Thats the thought I would like to bring tonight, Draw Near to God and see things from His perspective.

The first thing we see about our friend Asaph is he was on the.....

I. Solid Ground of a Higher Perspective

(How Asaph had been educated)

v1.

Truly God is good to Isreal, even to such as are of a clean heart

In this first verse, we see Asaph standing on Solid Ground.

He has been taught about the goodness of God.

He has been taught that the Lord is nothing but good.

This is true!

Jesus, Himself, testified to the goodness of God,

“For there is none good but God”

The psalmist tells us in

Asaph has been taught two great truths …

A. God Blesses His People

—This is a true statement—

B. God Blesses The Pure

—This is another true statement—

So we see that Asaph has been educated properly and was standing on the

I. Solid Ground of a Higher Perspective (How Asaph Has Been Educated)

We see Asaph began to slip on the....

II.

Slippery Ground of a Human Perspective

(What Asaph Had Experienced)

V. 2–16

Asaph had learned the truth about God, but what he experienced in life seemed to contradict what he had learned.

This brought him to a place of confusion and doubt concerning God.

In this section of this Psalm, we see Asaph standing on Slippery Ground, in v. 2

But as for me, my feet were almost gone; My steps had well high slipped

The problem for Asaph is the same problem we all face from time to time.

We misinterpret the goodness of God!

We often think that goodness translates into blessings.

Why not ask Job about this kind of logic?

Do you think, even for a minute, what Job endured was a fun thing?

Well, it wasn’t!

However, in the end, he had been brought closer to the Lord and he was blessed by God for his faithfulness!

For too many years, a kind of “health and wealth Gospel” has been preached in churches.

People have been lead to believe that if they live the right kind of lives and do the right things, then the Lord is obligated to bless them and give them good things.

My friends, that kind of teaching is a lie!

Often, the Lord will allow things in our lives that are hard to bear.

He will place loads on our shoulders that will literally break us under their weight.

This isn’t a pleasant thing, but it is a necessary thing!

What we forget is that the Lord is molding us into His image.

And, for lumps of clay as badly disfigured as we are, that takes a lot of molding on the potters wheel.

Asaph had learned this truth about God.

But, I repeat, what he had learned about God did not go along with what he had experienced in the world.

As a result, he was confused by several things.

Notice what Asaph was confused about:

He was confused

A. By The Prosperity Of The Sinner

v.3 For I was envious at the foolish, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

—It bothered Asaph that the wicked prospered while the children of God did without.

B. By The Peace Of The Sinner

v.4 For there are no bands in their death: But their strength is firm.

—He watched the wicked live their lives in sin and slip off into eternity with no problems at all.

He was amazed at the peace they had in death.

C. By The Pleasure Of The Sinner

v.5 They are not troubled as other men; Neither are they plagued like other men

—He was astounded that the wicked could live lives of such sin and do so without trouble.

Their good times just seemed to roll on and on!

D. By The Pride Of The Sinner

vs.6-11

—Because they live the lives they do, and there is never any opposition from God, they are filled with pride before Him.

They say, “God doesn’t know!

Even if He does.

He is weak and unable to do anything about it at all”, v. 11.

All the while, they squeeze the last drop of pleasure from life, v. 10.

It appears to Asaph that they have it made!

E. By The Progress Of The Sinner

vs.12-16

—When Asaph took all this in, it caused him to become bitter in his heart.

1.

He looked at the life he had been living for the Lord,

v. 13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

I believe Asaph might have said something like this:

“I mean I am a hymn writer for the king.

I’ve written many hymns that would one day end up in God’s Holy Word.

If anyone deserves to recieve blessing from God its me.”

2.

He looked at his own share of sorrow,

v. 14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

Asaph contracted Eore syndrome.