Surely God is good to His people
Notes
Transcript
WELCOME:
I want to thank you all for the gifts and kind words. Ya’ll really went above and beyond and I am very grateful!
We did cancel the yard-sale yesterday and will probably wait until spring before we try it again.
This Wednesday we are having Bible Study and starting on Romans 6. You don’t want to miss that! Also we will be eating Fried chicken.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Psalm 57:7–11 “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.”
LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!
“The Goodness of God”
Words and Music by Hillsong’
PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS
Lord, thank you for your constancy. For never turning Your back on us, for never getting frustrated with us, for forgiving our sins, for allowing us to be part of Your plan. We ask that You would look down upon this gathering of people and fill our hearts with great joy today as we focus on You. Amen!
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
“What a beautiful Name”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS
Lord, give us ears to hear Your voice and eyes to see Your glory. Would you this morning illuminate Your Word and make it known to us? Help us no to make application to others peoples’ lives, but to apply every Word to our own lives. Amen
SERMON
INTRODUCTION:
I want you to open your Bibles to Psalm 73 please. Psalm 73 is the first Psalm in book three of the Psalter. There are a total of 5 books that make up Psalms.
I want us to read the first three verses because they summarize the whole Psalm:
Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
This Psalm written by Asaph (one of David’s 3 chief musicians). And he records a testimony about his life who after walking with the Lord became envious of the wicked. He did not become envious of their deeds, but because their life seemed to prosper in every area in comparison to his life.
Can anyone else relate?
Does it ever seem like no matter how faithful you are and how wicked the world is around you, everything seems to go right for the wicked?
Do you ever secretly wonder inside, how much easier your life would be if you just lived the life of the unsaved?
And maybe secretly, your headed in that direction now. Pursuing what they pursue. Making this world your priority rather than the Kingdom of God.
That is where Asaph is in this Psalm. He sees his life: hard and difficult. He speaks of daily afflictions. And then he sees the life of the unsaved, careless, easy, very little trouble, prosperity, pride, arrogance and it makes him envious.
But then something happens that makes him realize that when it has all been said and done, HE WAS A FOOL to even consider the thought to want to be like them.
It has been said, “you only have one life, make the most of it”. But this Psalm teaches us, “there is but one thing in this life worth living for, and that is God and Him alone”
Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Explanation:
This is his conclusion of the whole matter of contrasting his life with the life of the unsaved.
And beneath this confession was the question, “Is God really good to His people?
Does God really love us?
Is following the Lord really worth it?
Is this life lived which is harder, filled with trials, deprived of seemingly good things really worth it, or am I a fool who is wasting his one life away?
That is what made Asaph stumble, He says in verse 2, “but as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped”
If God is really good to His people, why are things harder in this life for us? If we do what God wants us to do, why do we receive more affliction and more troubles as a result.
And the first sin to ever enter the world was birthed by questioning God’s goodness for Eve. The serpent said to Even in garden, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
He fooled her by making her think God was trying to keep something good from her.
And the devil today uses this same scheme, with our wealthy neighbors, and all the materialism we see around us, and the seemingly easy life of people who are unfaithful to God, to try make us question the goodness of God.
Now what is it that Asaph sees that causes him to envy the wicked?
For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth. Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
Explanation: Lets just hit each of these briefly and see if we can relate any of this today:
(v 4) “for their are no pains in their death , and their body is fat”
This is simply saying the unfaithful seem to not experience things as often that make death arrive before it should. They are often free of pain and physical ailments.
Billy Joel even picked up on this truth and wrote a song called, “only the good die young” about a man trying to seduce a young woman to leave her faith because only the good die young.
“and their body is fat”. Most people are not longing to be fat today, but this is just saying that they are well-fed and do not miss meals
(v 5) “They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind”
Another reason he is envious is because they do not seem to go through the troubles as the faithful do. They do not experience the trials and hardships that seem to almost plague God’s people.
(v 6) “therefore pride is their necklace; the garment of violence covers them”
They are proud of their way of life. They flaunt it, they sing about it, they wear it like a necklace showing off their achievements and prosperity. And this has never been more true than in our social media age that we live in.
Their lives are marked by wrongdoing. Maybe the way they prosper through wicked schemes. Whatever it is their behavior is detestable to God and obvious to all.
(v 7) Their eye bulges from fatness; the imaginations of their heart run riot” (overflow)
They have everything they could ever want. Anything the eye sees it gets! Any kind of luxury, any kind of pleasure, any kind of sin, anything the heart could imagine they get.
(v 8-9) “They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; they speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth”
Its not just what they do, but what they say. Their words are evil and they are prideful at heart. They without regret oppress others to get their desires met.
And their words go throughout the whole earth and reach multitudes of people because of their popular positions they have. People listen to them! People respect them! People look up to them and take what they say to heart, no matter how wrong or wicked it may be according to God.
(v 10-11) “Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
This is a sad verse, because it speaks of God’s own people become misled by the unfaithful. They see what they have, they see their easier life, they envy them, and then they leave the Lord and begin to walk with them.
The unfaithful are great at convincing God’s own people that their way of life is better, and more satisfying!
They say to them, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
Like what does God know about this life!? See how hard your life is compared to my life of ease and comfort?? This is how you live this life! We have this thing figured out! Come with us
“and the waters of abundance are drunk by them”.
(v 12) “Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth”
Here is Asaph’s summary of the unfaithful: An easy life and increased wealth.
So Asaph says, following the Lord then must be pointless
So Asaph says, following the Lord then must be pointless
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight
Explanation:
“Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure”
Can you see the effort to live the Christian life in this statement?
All this struggle, all this toil, must be in vain!
Listen, it is not an easy thing to keep one’s heart pure! It is not na easy thing to keep one’s hands innocent!
These are words of a person who has strived to enter the Kingdom of God, of a person who has put great effort into his faith!
Luke 13:24 ““Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
And it seems then since the GOOD life and the EASY life comes to those who live for themselves, what is the use of living for God?!
Surely it is all in vain!
Has anyone ever felt like that!?
You strive to maintain faithfulness to the Lord. You give up the things of this world, you deprive yourself of worldly pleasures, you do what God wants you to do and the world seems to get along better than you do!
That’s exactly whats going on here:
Not only that, “I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning”
Its not just that good things come to the ungodly, but the hardships and toils that come to the godly.
stricken all day long, it as if arrows are constantly being fired at me over and over and you wonder how much longer must I endure and why!? The more faithful I become to Jesus the more stripes I receive.
(v 15) “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus’ behold I would have betrayed the generation of Your children”
So he keeps it all buried inside for fear of misleading the next generation of children astray and pushing them to become unfaithful to God
The dawn of truth
The dawn of truth
Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.
Explanation:
“Until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end”
This is the dawn of truth!
When he stepped foot into the very presence of God, he was immediately reminded of eternity! And that no matter how things may look on earth, only those who do right by the Lord here will be able to stand
The wicked stand in “slippery places”. They live like heaven on earth for decades and then suddenly they are swept away only to stand before God in the judgement!
The wicked may feel like they have everything under control in this life, that they can control their health, their destiny, but any moment without notice they are taken away like being awaken from a dream!
The real issue lies in the fact that God is angry with the wicked everyday.
And no matter who the man is, every man is going to have to stand before God when he leaves this place.
And after ignoring promise after promise that God will destroy the wicked man, the unfaithful should only expect God’s judgement
Psalm 75:10 “And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off, But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”
Proverbs 14:11 “The house of the wicked will be destroyed, But the tent of the upright will flourish.”
Proverbs 10:29 “The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, But ruin to the workers of iniquity.”
When all of this came to realization, in the presence of the eternal God, he saw what a fool he was.
And even though they may live such a great life, what will happen when this life ends…
When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within, Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.
Explanation:
“Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You”
In other words, he was acting like a mere animal with no understanding of eternity.
The difference between humans and animals is that animals no nothing about death. They know nothing about eternity. They live as each day will come as it has in the past. By we are not like that. For the Bible says, God has put eternity in every man’s heart.
And so are we foolish when we desire to be like those whose future is certain destruction, to be like those who walk on the slippery slope of God’s judgement, to be like those who at any moment in this life could wake up from their dream to find themselves be in the presence of God and be utterly despised by Him.
And then he realizes, what he has in the Lord is pure gold compared to the glitter of this world: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth”
Jesus is the real treasure. Jesus is better to us than any amount of gold or prestige this world has to offer. To have Jesus is to have everything, to not have Jesus is to lose everything in the end.
“To whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth”
That is when he crosses over into eternity all the toils and toys of this world will be left behind. All the pains and hurts and disappointments will be left behind. All the riches and land and houses and possession will be left behind.
We will be just like Job who said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there.”
So back to verse 1: “Surely God is good to Israel” (His faithful people)
(v 26) “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”
The faithful taking all things into consideration, have a much better portion here on earth than do the unfaithful. Not just in a hope of heaven one day, but also as a reality here on earth.
“You have taken hold of my right hand”
“With Your counsel You will guide me”
God is actively involved in this psalmist’s life in the same way He is actively involved in our life.
Though he envied the wicked in a foolish way, it was God who opened his eyes to reality and planted his feet back on solid ground.
It was God who took by the hand and let him see the chief end of the sinner. It was God who would never leave him nor forsake him.
Is God truly good to His people?
God is so good, He would not let the psalmist stay there wishing to be people whom the Bible says are cursed.
God penetrated deep into his heart and made him realize what a foolish thing to think that the unsaved are better off than he.
There is no higher good in your life! God’s love is so much deeper than what we see here on earth! God knows that the comforts and luxuries we have here are nothing compared to our o relationship with Him. God knows that to have Him, is to live with affliction and be stricken, but to have Him is to have Him always and nothing is better than that!
And that God is so good that he would receive us into glory.
Final take aways:
Final take aways:
1) Prosperity or an easy life is not a sign of God’s favor or approval of one’s life. Nor is good health evidence that God is with us. Nor is a life free of pain or trouble a sign that God is with us. Nor is a life of sin that seems to go unnoticed before an omniscient God.
According to these verses, prosperity is a normal part of life for the UNSAVED, in fact is it far more common among the unsaved than it is the saved.
Why is that?
The devil will give people just about anything they want as long as they never truly give themselves to Jesus.
And he loves to draw people away with idols of this world, the riches of this world, the glitter of this world so they never discover the true treasure in Jesus.
Satan told Jesus he would give Him the whole world if he would just bow down and worship him
There is a decision that person must make over and over in our walk with Christ: we are either going to make our lives about the things this world has to offer, or we are going to live our life as a pilgrim of this world on our way to heaven.
Asaph envied the life of the unfaithful because it “seemed” better, until he looked past this world into eternity…
And that is the way that we are to walk. Not short sited! Not seeking every comfort at the cost of our faith and service. Not trying to accumulate worldly things that will perish.
But in wisdom from above knowing that all things are going to change when we leave this world and step into eternity
2) If your life is marked by affliction and struggle, do not despair, but rejoice! This is a mark of the Christian life and it is worth it! The false idea that coming to Christ is going to be full of “feel good moments” and everyone looking up to you and no more struggles and no more heartache is simply not true. In fact it is quite the opposite.
Jesus promised believers that in this life that we will have troubles. in fact of you are following Jesus you should feel some of what Asaph felt and experienced. If you do not then your faith may not be where you think it is.
John 16:33 (NASB95)
“In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
If you plan on following Jesus, then you must plan on tribulations. Theres no way around it! This is part of God’s design, it is part of his discipleship plan for you!
John Bunyan was a great puritan preacher from the 17th century. He wrote the famous book “The PIlgrim’s Progress” the second best selling book ever, right behind the Bible.
Bunyan lived a life marked by extreme suffering all throughout his life:
His mother and sister died almost at the same time
He was drafted into the military at age 16
His first child born to his new wife was born blind
He ended up with four children by his first wife before she died leaving all four children to him to take care of
He was remarried to a woman named Elizabeth and then imprisoned for 12 years for preaching the gospel.
He was told he would be released from prison and reunited with his struggling family if he just agreed to stop preaching; which he refused to do and served out his entire 12 years apart from his family
He was Imprisoned again later on for a winter and a spring
He then died prematurely due to illness at around 60 years old due to illness
This is what he said about suffering:
He quotes 2 Corinthians 1:9 where Paul says, "We had this sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God that raiseth the dead."
Then he says,
By this scripture I was made to see that if ever I would suffer rightly, I must first pass a sentence of death upon every thing that can be properly called a thing of this life, even to reckon myself, my wife, my children, my health, my enjoyment, and all, as dead to me, and myself as dead to them.
Bunyan said if we are to suffer rightly, then we must die to ALL things in this life including his freedom and family.
One CANNOT follow Jesus and be free of tribulation
3) If you find yourself envious of the unfaithful, you are not alone; but you must not stay there!
(v 10-11) “Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
To stay there would place you in great danger of drinking the waters of abundance and then turning from God altogether….only to realize when you leave this earth what a foolish thing you have done.
I can’t imagine being at the end of their life, in the final moments of their life, and maybe have lived a really good life according to the world’s standards, but knowing deep inside we have chosen the things of this world over the Lord.
And in those final few moments, knowing death is at the door, knowing our time is up, with deep regret knowing we have lived this life as a mere animal, a fool with no understanding.
If that’s you, do not stay there.
If you are willing, God will take you by the right hand, and counsel you to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
And all you have to do is be willing to take His hand and trust Him. Take His counsel and trust Him. Trust Him with your life, and You will have treasure that will never fade!
~PRAYER~
