What's The Point Of Being Faithul? From envy to eternity. Psalm 73
Notes
Transcript
Subject: Perspective
Theme: Eternal Clarity
Thesis: Psalm 73 teaches us that while the prosperity of the wicked may cause us to question God's justice, true understanding and peace come when we enter God's presence and see life from His eternal perspective.
Principle Statement: When we bring our doubts and envy to God, He reshapes our vision—reminding us that He is our greatest treasure, both now and forever.
Have you ever looked around and wondered:
Why does life seem so easy for people who don’t care about God… while I’m struggling to stay faithful?
Have you ever watched someone cheat, lie, or cut corners—and succeed—and felt that quiet thought creep in:
“What’s the point of doing things God’s way if it costs me more and gets me less?”
Maybe you’ve tried to live with integrity.
You’ve prayed.
You’ve obeyed.
You’ve said no to things others indulge in without guilt.
And yet, they seem happy.
At ease.
Even blessed.
Meanwhile, your life feels hard. Heavy. Frustrating. Unfair.
If you’ve ever felt that way—even for a moment—you’re not alone.
Psalm 73 puts words to the thoughts most of us have had, but are too afraid to say out loud.
It’s the honest confession of a godly man who almost lost his footing—not because he stopped believing in God, but because life didn’t seem to add up.
He looked at the wicked, and they were thriving.
He looked at his own life, and it felt like suffering.
And he almost walked away.
But something happened.
This psalm takes us on a journey—through doubt, envy, and bitterness—to a moment of stunning clarity,
when the psalmist steps into the presence of God and everything changes.
Today, we're going to walk that journey with him.
And if you’ve ever wrestled with unfairness… with silent envy… with frustration over how life unfolds—this is a word for you.
So don’t tune this out.
God wants to do in you what He did in Asaph:
Not just fix your circumstances—but reshape your vision, revive your soul, and reclaim your joy.
When we bring our doubts and envy to God, He reshapes our vision—reminding us that He is our greatest treasure, both now and forever.
Let’s open our Bibles to Psalm 73.
A Psalm of Asaph. 1 Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. 7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. 8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. 9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. 10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. 11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. 15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children. 16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. 18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. 21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, 22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. 23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Envy Distorts Our Vision (vv.1–12)
Envy Distorts Our Vision (vv.1–12)
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Verse 1 of this Psalm sets and anchor point to return.
Asaph, a man of God, praising God in the temple, makes a statement that He knows to be true about God, but is apparently having a hard time actually feeling that truth.
The very first word of this psalm is an expression of this in Hebrew.
The ESV translates the word Truly, others translate the word surely or indeed.
Eugene Peterson in The Message paraphrase puts it this way -
No doubt about it!
In Hebrew the word can express both confidence and concession.
It may hint at internal tension—as if he’s reminding himself of God’s goodness in the midst of doubt.
Israel of course is a reference to God’s chosen people.
Asaph expands to those who are pure in heart.
“Pure in heart” doesn't mean moral perfection but sincerity and faithfulness before God
David writes using this same word
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
It is the same idea that Jesus uses when He says in the sermon on the mount -
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
After setting his anchor, Asaph gets real with God so to speak about what he is felling.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.
Asaph is experiencing real pain, real questions in relation to God.
This is metaphorical language for spiritual instability.
Asaph feels like he’s losing his footing—not physically, but in his faith.
The cause? - found in verse 3
3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Asaph has some jealousy rising up within his heart.
The word Asaph uses there for prosperity actually the word shalom.
completeness, soundness, welfare, peace
We’ve talked about this word some before but I want to remind us that sholom is a Hebrew term for peace which describes comprehensive well-being.
Shalom, while used in a daily greeting among the Hebrews, is a weighty theological term in the Old Testament.
Shalom embraces concepts of harmony, security, serenity, right relationships, wholeness, health, prosperity, and even success.
Asaph is using the word in an ironic fashion.
He cant understand why the peace that should belong to the righteous appears to rest on the godless.
As such he is envious.
Envy here is not merely jealousy—it’s disillusionment.
He believes the wicked are receiving what only the righteous deserve.
Verses 4–12 give a poetic and detailed description of the wicked’s life from Asaph’s skewed perspective:
They have “no struggles,” their “bodies are healthy and strong.”
They don’t experience the burdens others face.
Their pride is visible (“a necklace”), their hearts are overflowing with wicked schemes, and their mouths speak arrogantly.
People admire them and are drawn to them despite their mockery of God.
“How would God know?” they ask.
To them, He is distant or irrelevant.
Asaph sees in these wicked individuals
Physical health (v.4)
Emotional ease (v.5)
Social influence (v.10)
Material abundance (v.12)
Spiritual indifference (v.11)
From a limited, horizontal point of view, it looks like wickedness works.
B. Theological Reflection
B. Theological Reflection
This section shows the danger of interpreting life only through what we can see.
Asaph is walking by sight, not by faith (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7).
His theology begins to unravel—not because it’s incorrect, but because his experience seems to contradict it.
Asaph brings to light some very real tensions that show up in life.
God’s justice vs. human prosperity –
How can a just God allow the wicked to thrive?
But what Asaph is missing is
The present vs. the eternal –
What looks like blessing may actually be judgment in disguise
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
The truth is that what we see externally doesn’t always reflect spiritual reality.
A clear biblical example of this was King Saul
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
This distortion is precisely what envy does:
It compares without context.
It isolates us from gratitude.
It blurs spiritual discernment.
This is a questions asked elsewhere in the Bible as well.
Job 21:7–15 – Job asks a similar question: “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?”
Jeremiah 12:1 – “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?”
C. Application Bridge
Have you ever felt similar to Asaph.
Perhaps you might ask the question -whose life am I secretly envying right now?
Have you begun to measure success by comfort, visibility, or wealth—rather than faithfulness?
Are you doubting God’s goodness because of what He’s allowed others to have?
Envy will always tempt us to interpret life wrongly.
It’s not just a sinful emotion—it’s a lens that warps our spiritual sight.
And when our sight is off, our steps follow.
Asaph nearly loses his spiritual footing—not because he rejects God, but because his view is distorted by envy.
He is fixated on the prosperity of the wicked and it leads to confusion, bitterness, and doubt.
Envy is more than just wanting what others have—it’s the belief that God has been unfair.
It whispers that we deserve better and that others are getting away with evil while we suffer for trying to live faithfully.
Asaph starts this psalm with the truth: “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.”
But the moment he begins comparing himself to the wicked, his footing slips.
His belief in God’s goodness becomes foggy because his eyes are fixed horizontally—on people, wealth, health, and ease—not vertically, on God’s character.
The deeper danger here is that envy doesn’t just distort what we see—it starts to reshape what we believe.
If God is good, why are the proud flourishing?
Why are the rebellious secure?
Why does doing right seem to cost more than doing wrong?
These questions are real, and they emerge from an honest heart—but left unresolved, they lead to spiritual disillusionment, bitterness, and even silent rebellion.
Have you ever found yourself resenting someone else’s success, even if you wouldn’t say it out loud?
Have you looked at someone who ignores God, lives selfishly, and still seems happy—and thought, “What’s the point of trying so hard to follow God?”
Are there areas where you’re holding on to God intellectually, but emotionally drifting into envy, comparison, or frustration?
This is where Psalm 73 meets us.
It gives voice to our internal conflict.
And it warns us: If you don’t check envy at the door, you’ll lose sight of who God is—and what really matters.
When envy takes root in our hearts, it doesn’t just distort what we see—it begins to change how we think and feel.
The more we compare, the more confused we become.
And what starts as a passing glance at someone else's success can slowly harden into something deeper: bitterness.
The psalmist doesn’t stop at envy—he goes on to wrestle with discouragement, frustration, and even despair.
It’s not just that he sees the wicked prospering; it’s that he begins to wonder if his faithfulness has even mattered.
And that leads us into the next section of the psalm—where Asaph opens up about the toll this has taken on his heart and mind.
Bitterness Clouds Our Understanding (vv.13–16)
Bitterness Clouds Our Understanding (vv.13–16)
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. 14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.
Asaph gives voice to a question that many of us are afraid to admit when we look around us.
Is was living faithfully even worth it?
He has lived a life of devotion to the Lord.
Again, that does not mean perfect, but he has sought to follow God to best of his ability.
Seeking God’s forgiveness when he has failed.
In contrast to the ease of the wicked, the Asaph says “all the day long” he suffers.
His suffering isn’t occasional—it’s unrelenting.
This is not theological ignorance—it’s emotional despair.
He is now bringing that despair to God alone - which is a good place to bring it.
Verse 15 - “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ I would have betrayed the generation of your children.”
This verse shows spiritual self-restraint.
Asaph doesn’t vocalize all his doubts in public because he knows it would harm God’s people.
He’s walking a tightrope between honest struggle and faithful leadership.
There's a lesson here: not every inner battle should become a public doctrine.
Honest doubt should drive us to God before it drives us to others.
Asaph was struggling with bitterness.
Bitterness is not just an emotion—it’s a lens.
Bitterness warps our theology, not just our mood.
It makes faith feel foolish, obedience feel wasted, and God's justice feel absent.
This emotional spiral causes the psalmist to question the value of faith and the reality of God’s goodness.
The heart that grows bitter eventually shapes how we interpret all of life—including God.
15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
If you go read in James 3:14-16, James tells us how envy and bitterness lead to spiritual confusion and disorder.
Asaph must go somewhere through because he is mentally exhausted.
“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task…”
He had been wrestling with it on his own.
He’s trying to figure out divine justice without God's help—and it’s spiritually exhausting.
This is a warning: trying to understand life apart from God’s presence will always end in confusion.
Have you ever quietly wondered if following Jesus is worth it?
Have you grown resentful, not just toward people—but toward God, because life hasn’t turned out as you hoped?
Have you tried to “figure God out” in isolation—without entering His presence, prayer, or community?
If so, you're in the same place the psalmist was.
And here’s the good news: God can handle your honesty, and He lovingly confronts our bitterness not with condemnation—but with clarity.
Bitterness has a way of closing us in—it shrinks our world to what we can see and feel in the moment.
That’s exactly where Asaph found himself: exhausted, disillusioned, and unable to make sense of life.
But that’s not where the story ends.
Everything begins to change with one simple step: he enters the sanctuary of God.
He doesn't find all the answers by thinking harder—he finds clarity by drawing near to God.
What Asaph needed wasn't an explanation.
He needed a new perspective—and that came through worship.
That is exactly what he does in verse 17.
Worship Reframes Our Perspective (vv.17–22)
Worship Reframes Our Perspective (vv.17–22)
All of theses things were running through Asaph’s mind, poisoning his heart until.
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
The word “until” signals a crucial shift—not in circumstances, but in perspective.
It was when Asaph made the conscious effort to seek God in his situation that he gained real insight or understanding.
Asaph doesn’t find peace by resolving all his questions—he finds peace by entering God’s presence.
Worship is what reorients his heart and clears the fog in his mind.
It is through worship that Asaph understands and writes in 18-20 that what once looked like solid ground (prosperity, ease, status) is actually thin ice.
From an eternal perspective, the wicked are not to be envied—they are to be pitied.
It is with this eternal perspective that Asaph can now reflect back on where he had been.
21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, 22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.
These verses reflect back on the previous section (Point 2), but now with humility.
Verses 21–22 model repentance without despair.
He’s not merely changing his opinion—he’s surrendering his false assumptions to God.
Asaph felt real hurt, he was deeply troubled, pricked in the heart.
“Brutish” and “like a beast” express how he had reverted to instinctual, reactive thinking—driven by emotion rather than truth.
Asaph isn’t shaming himself; he’s grieving how far his thinking had drifted when God was no longer the center of his vision.
That is one of the amazing and essential parts of worship.
Worship isn’t just expressive—it’s corrective.
Worship realigns what we love, what we trust, and how we see the world.
In the sanctuary, God was not only praised—He was revealed.
Here is the amazing thing for us as Christians today, we don’t have to wait to go to the temple, we don’t have to wait to go to church to get that perspective shift.
If we are have trusted in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He now resides within us.
All we need to do, whenever, wherever, is to shift our focus.
Sing a song to the Lord, pray.
When we do, we are reminded that life is not about ease but about eternity.
Where do you go when life doesn’t make sense?
Are you trying to understand life apart from God's presence—or are you entering the sanctuary, drawing near to God through His Word, worship, and people?
True clarity won't come from complaining or comparing—it will come from re-centering your soul around the reality of who God is.
Worship changed everything for Asaph—not because his circumstances improved, but because his vision was restored.
He now sees that the success of the wicked is short-lived, that their strength is fragile, and that his previous bitterness was driven by a distorted view of reality.
But God doesn’t just correct his thinking—He draws near.
And in that nearness, Asaph discovers something far greater than clarity about the wicked—he finds contentment in God Himself.
That brings us to the final and most beautiful part of the psalm: God isn’t just the answer to our questions—He is the treasure our hearts were made for.
God’s Nearness Is Our Greatest Treasure (vv.23–28)
God’s Nearness Is Our Greatest Treasure (vv.23–28)
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.
“Nevertheless” (וַאֲנִי) marks a powerful reversal.
Despite his bitterness and beast-like ignorance (vv.21–22), God never abandoned Asaph.
That is such a beautiful truth for us to remember.
“Continually with you” is covenantal language—a declaration of God’s faithful presence in all circumstances.
“You hold my right hand” conveys tender, intimate care.
This is not the grip of control but of companionship and protection.
“You guide me with your counsel” – God provides wisdom for this life,
and “afterward receive me to glory” – hope for the next.
Asaph realizes that God has not only been good—He’s been present.
In envy, he felt distant.
In worship, he feels held.
This leads Asaph to make the beautiful declaration we find in 25 and 26
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
This is the climactic confession of the psalm.
His heart, once tangled in envy, now rests in satisfied delight in God alone.
The nearness of God doesn’t just provide comfort—it reorients desire.
True spiritual maturity is found when God is not merely useful, but beautiful.
Even if everything else gives way—health, success, clarity, emotional stability—God is enough.
He’s not just the giver of blessings; He is the blessing.
Verses 27–28 – Final Contrast and Resolved Confidence:
“For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God…”
The psalm closes with the contrast between those who are far from God and those who are near to Him.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
When God is your portion, you can lose everything else and still have everything you need.
In a world of shifting fortunes, God alone is our secure portion—both now and forever.
Psalm 73 takes us on a journey—from envy to clarity, from bitterness to worship, and from confusion to deep, abiding confidence in the nearness of God.
Envy distorts our vision.
When we fixate on the prosperity of others, we begin to question God’s goodness and lose our spiritual footing.
Bitterness clouds our understanding.
It drains our joy and makes obedience feel pointless.
It blinds us not only to God’s justice, but to His presence.
Everything changed when Asaph entered the sanctuary.
Worship reframed his perspective.
He didn’t need every answer—he needed to be reminded of who God is and what truly lasts.
Asaph realized what his soul had needed all along: God’s nearness is our greatest treasure.
Earthly blessings fade, but God remains.
He holds us, guides us, and will receive us into glory.
That’s the heart of this psalm—and the call of this sermon:
When we bring our doubts and envy to God, He reshapes our vision—reminding us that He is our greatest treasure, both now and forever.
So what do we do with that?
Come into God's presence.
Don’t stay stuck in envy or silent disillusionment.
Like Asaph, take your honest questions into the God—into the Word, into worship, into prayer.
That’s where clarity begins.
Let God search your heart.
Are there places where bitterness has taken root?
Are you living as if success or comfort are better than God Himself?
Confess it.
God already knows—and He is ready to restore your sight.
Recenter your desires around Christ.
Asaph’s breakthrough wasn’t about answers—it was about affection.
He stopped asking, “Why don’t I have what they have?” and started declaring, “Whom have I in heaven but You?”
Trust in Jesus, your portion forever.
Psalm 73 ultimately points us to Christ—the One who not only suffered injustice, but bore it for our sake.
He is the only One who can satisfy the deepest longings of your soul and walk with you through every trial.
If you’ve never trusted Jesus, the call today is to stop chasing lesser treasures and receive the One who is your portion forever.
If that is something you want to know more about, please come and talk with me.
If you know Him, renew your desire for His presence.
Rejoice that He is with you now, and He will receive you into glory.
But for me it is good to be near God.
Let that be the declaration of your life—not just on Sundays, but every day.
He is your strength. He is your portion. He is enough.
