Psalm 73 - Asaph's Psalm

Every October, little children anxiously venture home from pumpkin patches to messily carve a face into their malleable canvas. As they finish their design, they walk outside, sit it on the porch and stick a light inside so the eyes of their pumpkin can look out into the world. Well, it is certainly nowhere near October, but there are still helpful lessons from those festive little jack-o-lanterns. You see, every believer in here knows the doctrines that we confess as a church; that God is good, that He is in control, and that we can trust in Him. But when the hardships of life darken the world around us, do the doctrines that we claim to hold inside of our hearts allow us to see things in a godly perspective?

Michael Kruger said, “In the Christian life, we often vastly underestimate the amount of suffering we will be called to endure and overestimate how well we will handle it when it does come.” Well, have you found yourself there? Are you struggling with a crisis of faith and ashamed to even share the doubts that you’re having? When you look at the world around you, do you find yourself questioning whether it pays to serve God after all? If so, you aren’t alone. Today, we will find that even gifted and godly leaders like Asaph have been there, and he extends a helping hand to beat up pilgrims like you and me.

At the forefront of our Psalm, you will notice that this is a Psalm accredited to Asaph. Now, although the first verse comes after this, these superscripts are inspired Scripture. So, when you read, “A Psalm of Asaph” here, you are being introduced to the writer, the purpose, and perhaps some of the context of the psalm at hand.

With that in mind, we need to ask ourselves, “Who is Asaph?” Well, in 1 Chronicles 6:31, David has brought the Ark to Jerusalem from Kirjath-Jearim where it was for over twenty years. And when he sets it up, he introduces something new to the worship setting there in that he chooses music ministers to orchestrate the worship of God around the Ark and of them, 1 Chron. 6:39 tells us is Asaph.

So, what we know so far is that Asaph is a Levite who has been appointed as one of the music ministers around the ark. Other passages later tell us that he was also known as a seer or a prophet. His being a Levite is important for us to understand going into this text because, according to Deuteronomy 18:1, all the inheritance that Asaph has is the Lord Himself. The text reads,

Deuteronomy 18:1 NKJV

1 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion.

However, as we dive into this text today. We will find that even impressive spiritual leaders have struggles, hardships, and come close to total spiritual shipwreck in spite of the beauty of all they receive from God. You see, Asaph was aware of how dangerous this situation was and so he records it not only for his own benefit, but for the benefit of a whole nation and for our help today. As I prepared for this sermon, I checked through ten or so Bibles and found that most of them include a header above Psalm 73 that reads, “Book 3.” If you are into marking in your Bibles, it may be helpful to write down that Book 3 of the Psalms is a compilation of songs to minister to Israel during their time of exile.

To summarize, we are about to read about how envy corrupted the mind of a man whose inheritance was the God who is greater than all the world and how dire that situation almost was. And it was this man whose Psalm was placed in such a way that it was to minister to a people who found themselves in exile. So, this is a Psalm about a man who only had God, writing to a people in exile who literally have nothing else except their God and Lord.

In verse one, Asaph makes a confident declaration that came about after a time of serious doubt. He being by telling us, “Truly God is good to Israel” and to expound upon who that is he writes, “To such are as pure in heart.” Now, if God is good to those people and those people exclusively in this case, we need to ask ourselves what it means to be pure in heart, don’t we?

In Matthew 5:8, Jesus writes,

Matthew 5:8 NKJV

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

The heart is a figure of speech that refers to the inward man. A sense of his innermost commitments and affections. And so, for those to be pure means that our heart is purified, it is righteous and wholly committed to the Lord. And how do we achieve such a heart? Well, the repentant David in Psalm 51:9-10

Psalm 51:9–10 NKJV

9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Therefore, tonight we can move forward knowing that God is good to who? To those whom He was cleansed, those who He has made pure, those who He has transformed. And as New Testament Christians, how does this come about? By the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. But this isn’t all the Psalm has to say, is it? Psalm 73:2-3

Psalm 73:2–3 NKJV

2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

So, this is a Psalm set aside for the people of God struggling with loss, doubt and concern as they look around them and see the world prospering while in sin while they suffer as the people of God. As we dive into the body of this passage tonight, let’s consider that:

When we find our faith troubled by the prosperity of the world around us, we should remember:

The Danger of a Corrupt Perspective

As we look at this passage, we find ourselves startled by these heavily contrasting statements from verse 1 through 3. In verse two, Asaph tells us that his feet almost stumbled and that he nearly slipped. This is a figure of speech telling us that his whole person was shaken. What he thought was grounded, was shaken. His faith, his confidence, his heart and soul were disturbed. In short, Asaph is telling us, “Hey, I almost walked away from God.”

In verse three, he will give a description of how this took place with each line giving more detail. What we see in this passage are his steps towards spiritual shipwreck. In the latter half, we notice that it says that his perspective was corrupted as he writes that he saw the prosperity of the wicked. What we learn immediately is that perspective influences how we interpret everything around us.

Imagine it this way: Let’s say you’re driving down the road and one of the tires on your car goes flat. Now, if you’re a high school boy whose excitedly heading to go on his first date. That sounds like the end of the world. But, if you’re heading to a meeting with someone who you only said yes to so they’d leave you alone, that doesn’t sound that bad after all, does it? It’s all about perspective.

And the perspective that Asaph has isn’t through the lens of the goodness of His faithful God, but through the lens of envy. Notice what he says in Psalm 73:13-14

Psalm 73:13–14 NKJV

13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, And washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all day long I have been plagued, And chastened every morning.

So, the first dangerous step toward shipwreck is a clouded perspective. Secondarily, we find, in the beginning of verse 3, that this clouded perspective resulted in him being envious of the boastful people around him. About this, Thomas Le Blanc writes, “If you are touched with envy at seeing the peace of the wicked, shut your eyes, do not look at it, for envious eyes think anything vast on which they gaze.”

I read a story this week about two ancients who were discussing how to enlarge ones eyesight. One was arguing that glass would be the way to go and the other was arguing that a special concoction would fix the issue. This is when the writer spoke up and said that he told them the cure would be envy, because it makes everything in sight seem greater than it really is. And this is the story of Asaph’s perspective. Just listen to how he describes the men he’s envious of:

In verse 4-5, he is envious of their ease of life. It seems to him that they never have hardships and in verse 4 he says, “These men don’t even agonize in their final days! They have perfect health up until they enjoy a quick death!”

In verse 6-9, he writes that all of their ease in life has caused them to be a violent and arrogant people who have more than they could ever dream of needing. In verse 9, such prosperity causes them to think that since they own all they could want on the earth, they turn their mouths toward heaven because they’re so proud.

In verses 10-11, we find some translational differences throughout a few works, but I believe the primary meaning here is that these successful and wicked sinners aren’t only proud, but popular and they have their followers drinking up all that they give them. And what is their attitude towards God? Ah, God doesn’t know or care about what we’re doing. They behave as though God is ignorant and if He is aware of their sin, He won’t do anything about it anyway. As Asaph looks around at this, his heart is torn to shreds with jealousy, frustration, and doubt. As we read in verses 12-14.

But in verse 15, something changes. There’s a snag in the rapidly descending heart of Asaph and for those of us who have found ourselves in this place, you might be able to testify that it’s a barrier or saving grace for you as well. It’s our second point which is: When we find our faith troubled by the prosperity of the world around us, we should remember the people of God.

The People of God

In verse 15, Asaph is at the pinnacle of his struggle and doubts concerning the value of religion and the faithfulness of God to His people. However, before he voices his thoughts he is seized by the thought of how such beliefs would harm the faith of those around him who he cared for. Asaph isn’t doubting the reality of God, just the value of serving Him and here we find that his affectionate love for God’s people is a means that prevents his shipwreck from going public.

What we should take away from this passage is not that we can’t express our doubts and pains to our brothers and sisters, but that the people of God are a lifeline for falling saints in their time of turmoil. Have you ever been there? Have you ever found yourself so consumed with doubt and frustration that it seems that the truths you’ve always confessed must be true for everyone but you only to find that the Lord uses His people to firm you up and to encourage you in the Lord?

Now, in verse 16 we find that the struggle of Asaph is totally resolved, but that he is prevented from going public. However, as he tries to reconcile the issue of the prosperity of the wicked with the goodness of God, he confesses that its just too much for him to handle. This is a man who doesn’t know where to turn. So he does the only thing that he knows to do. He goes to worship. Tonight if you find your faith troubled by the prosperity of the world around you, remember the person of God.

The Person of God

As I studied this passage, I was a little surprised to see how little commentary there was on verse 17 and how often commentators were using the phrase “Temple” to refer to the sanctuary. Now, I am willing to be proven wrong. But if this is the Asaph that is appointed by David then there’s almost no way that he is still ministering at the time of Solomon’s temple being completed. My theory is that this must have taken place at the Tabernacle of David in Jerusalem which was the Ark of the Covenant, a tent, and the music ministers of Israel surrounding and signing praises to the Lord. In short, as the discourage Asaph makes his way to worship, he is struck by the reminder that the glorious God of Israel invites His people to worship and adore Him in spite of what may take place around them. What lessons did he learn at this worship service?

That God is Righteous: Sin will not go unpunished.

In verse 17-20, Asaph’s perspective is reoriented and he is reminded that though the wicked prosper for a while, their pleasures will fade like a dream that you are rudely awakened from and that God will not wink at their sin and let it pass Him by.

Tonight, if you are here and you are comfortable in life. If you have everything you could’ve ever wanted and you think things just couldn’t go any better so you don’t see the need for God as a crutch, you are in a dangerous place. What good does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? There is no salvation found in the pleasures of this world, only in the Lord Jesus Christ and His work for sinners.

Christian, if you are doubting the goodness of God as you feel like you’re suffering and those around you are sinning and living it up, be reminded of the righteousness of God. Let that draw your heart to worship Him for His saving grace and let it cause your heart not to envy those around you, but to pity the blindness of their souls!

God is Trustworthy: It is Foolish to doubt Him.

In verse 21-22, Asaph is grieved by how foolishly he doubted the Lord. This conviction weighed heavily upon him as verse 21 could also read, “My conscience was grieved, and I was pierced through my kidneys.” But what is his grief over? It’s not a sin to have questions. But that wasn’t the source of his grief. He is grieved that his envious perspective had him living as an animal who is only concerned with the here and now and not concerned with the future. What is the cure to this? Being reminded that:

God is Faithful

Through our heartache and unbelief. (23)

Yes, Asaph behaved foolishly, but even when it seemed his grip was loosening, he is now able to look back and see that it is the Lord who held onto Him. Several years ago, I went through a time of serious struggle and I was riddled with questions. I didn’t have the answers, I didn’t have the peace. But I had one thought that I held onto and it was that even when my hands seems weak, the weakest of hands grab a hold of the same Christ as the strongest. And that those whom Christ takes a hold of, will never be let go.

To guide us through life and death. (24)

This newly restored Asaph is reminded of the faithfulness of the word of God to equip us with a godly perspective and that through this life we will walk by the word He’s given us until we see Him face to face.

To be our all when there is none else. (25-26)

Finally, the most blessed reminder that Asaph recieved was that God was his portion forever. As I read through this passage, I found it interesting that as the passage develops, so do the intimacy of God’s named. Initially, He is called “Elohim” which is a rather generic term used to refer to gods and isn’t solely used for the God of Israel. However, after his encounter, he begins to call God, “Adon” or Lord and finally, “Adonai Yahweh.”

I point that out to say this, that as our perspectives are shifted from the things of this world and back toward the God who loves us and cares for us, we will find our hearts sparked with love for Him. In the beginning Asaph doubted the faithfulness of God, in the end Asaph is declaring to us all that He trusts in his covenant keeping God and lives to tell others about all He has done. When Asaph’s perspective was on the world, he couldn’t speak because it was detrimental to the faith of others. But now that his eyes are set on the Lord, he can’t help but to speak about the Lord.

Conclusion:

Tonight we should be reminded that Christ was one upon the Earth with no place to rest His head, but lived in accordance and to the fulfillment of the law of God, dying that we might be saved, and, as verse 24 says, “was received into glory.” It is through the work of Jesus Christ for us that 1 Peter 2:9 says

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

You may feel like forsaken, you may feel alone, you may feel like you’ve been given the short end of the stick. But for those who believe, we have Christ as our inheritance and with that is the lens that we see the world through, what else can we do but to love Him more and tell others about Him?

Lessons:

As those whom Christ has made pure in heart by His own blood, we are not exempt from the hardships of this life. However, we are ensured that He is always near and that brightens our vision in the darkest night.

As a doubting and forgetful people, God has given us a community to walk with in His Church.

As we face hardship this week, God has set aside a day for refreshment and remembrance. We must not neglect it. Worship is vital for the Christian.