Walking by Faith not by Sight

When the championship caliber coach makes the team run the mile at the end of a long practice to get them into shape the team may feel like he is not a good coach at that time.

There are times when even God’s people are tempted to question God’s goodness.

Hebrews 11:23–27 ESV

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

We see that was true for Asaph in .

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Expound upon what we see here with an emphasis that Moses did not live by sight, but instead he lived by faith in the Word of God.

And is a reminder to us as God’s people we are called to live by faith in God’s Word and it is a warning of the dangers that we fall into when we begin to live by sight and not by faith.

God had promised to deliver Israel, God had promised to make them His people, God had promised that His Kingdom would come through this people.

is a reminder to us as God’s people we are called to live by faith in God’s Word and it is a warning of the dangers that we fall into when we live by sight and not by faith.

The Anchoring Truth (v.1)

The Psalmist begins with a foundational truth that is an anchor for the soul in times of difficulty.

We see the importance of this truth as we move forward in the Psalm because we see that the life of faith is a struggle at times.

Deep down he knew the truth of the goodness of God, this truth is an anchor for him as he faces the trial that he lays our for us in the following verses.

The psalmist begins the Psalm with an emphatic declaration of the goodness of God

Truly, good to Israel God is

God is good to His covenant people, God will not neglect His people, God is always faithful to His people.

Here we see the psalmist is talking about the true Israel, to the Israel who has been cleansed within, not just those who are ceremonially clean.

Of course as we follow redemptive history we see the fulfillment of this truth ultimately in our Lord Jesus Christ and then in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And what I mean by that is this, our Lord Jesus Christ is the true Israel, the One who is truly pure in heart and though He never gave in to unbelief or doubt as one looked at His life one may have wandered if God was really being good to Him but of course the answer to the question is yes.

He is the one who by faith saw the joy set before Him and endured the cross.

He is the one who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.

Our Lord teaches His church that the cross comes before the crown, that there are struggles, there are difficulties in this world but there is a great reward for those who belong to the Lord.

Before we move on let us think about this word good. God is generous, He is kind, He gives good things, He works things together for the good of those who are His people.

And what we will see in this psalm is that God’s goodness to His people cannot be measured by present circumstances but it has to be measured by the end results.

Goodness of God may be questioned if one takes a snapshot of the lives of God’s people but it cannot be questioned if one steps back and looks at the big picture, the end result for God’s people.

The Dangers of Walking by Sight (v.2-15)

V.2 begins with a picture of spiritual struggle of spiritual danger.

Asaph tells us that he had almost fallen deep into lies and deception.

There is this confession that Asaph was close to slipping into the valley of doubt and despair.

If the Christian life is a journey then one can picture there being times as one is walking on this dangerous pathway through the world when we might lose our footing and almost slip down into a deep darkness, that is the picture that we have here with Asaph.

Well, lets find out more, what is going one with Asaph here?

What we will see is that Asaph’s struggle is because he is looking with his physical eyes and not walking by faith.

I. He envied the wicked. v.3

I was envious, I was jealous of the arrogant, the boastful, the foolish.

The fool, the one infatuated with world and self.

The parallel statement defines this one as the wicked.

Asaph looked around him and he saw that so many of the wicked seemed to be living the good life.

The were enjoying shalom, completeness, wholeness, peace.

Life was working out for them. Everything they touched seemed to prosper.

There are things that I have prayed for, things that are not bad that I have longed for and you have withheld them from me and given them to the wicked.

Have you ever felt like that?

Have you ever wandered Lord why are you withholding this or that blessing from me and my family and you are giving it to the wicked instead?

You may say hold on, I remember .

Psalm 1:1 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

Psalm 1:

But then we get to and it is as if the Psalmist is saying, hold on Is that really true?

When I look at the wicked at times I envy them.

It looks like they can do whatever they want and get away with it. Sometimes they make the life of sin look enjoyable.

Notice the list given to us

They die peacefully (v.4)

They are blessed physically (v.4-5)

They flourish with pride (v.6-9 and v.11)

They avoid pain (v.12) the are at ease

They enjoy prosperity (v.12) they increase in riches

II. He regrets the way he lived (v.13)

Basically what the psalmist is saying is that his live of faithfulness to the Lord has been lived in vain.

“I should have just lived like the wicked.”

Have you ever wandered if it was worth it?

Imagine the couple that gives their life in service to the Lord and struggles financially all of their life while the ungodly couple their age lives in great wealth.

Think of the godly young couple that gets married early because they believe in sexual purity, that sex is for the marriage bed alone and yet they struggle financially while others live sexually open lives and what to get married so that they can accumulate more wealth.

Imagine the godly business man who operates ethically while the ungodly business man is prospering tremendously through crooked practices.

Lee Ann and I know Greg Riner, who could have become filthy rich, but he gave all that up to serve the local church.

Think of Elizabeth Elliot, who went as a missionary with her husband Jim Elliot, and what did that get her but a dead husband and she was left with small children.

At times one may look at things like this and be tempted to cry out, how the vanity of serving God, oh the emptiness of pursing holiness!

Is it worth following Jesus? Is it worth taking up your cross and following Him? Is it worth dying to the world?

III. He wrestles with how God works v.14

The godly are stricken, the godly suffer.

Physically, emotionally at times, spiritually (the inner battle).

How is it God that the godly man suffers with great physical pain and the sex trafficker is flourishing?

The godly suffer and ungodly politicians grow rich on the backs of the poor?

In v.15 we see that this was an inner battle. The psalmist did not want to discourage others and so he keeps his struggles to himself.

But notice v.16 and 17 there is a transition

The Need for the Sanctuary (v.16-17)

In v.16 the psalmist admits that if left to himself he would not have understood this, he could not have made sense of things if left to his own devices, his own wisdom.

But notice v.17.

This is a crucial verse in the psalm, everything hinges on this verse.

v.2-16 there is struggle, the psalmist is looking around him and he does not understand.

Until

until he went to the Sanctuary of God.

We don’t know exactly what happened by while at the Sanctuary the psalmist attains a right perspective.

He had been so nearsighted and now he is seeing clearly again.

Perhaps he was reminded of the struggle of Israel in Egyptian bondage and how God delivered His people and brought judgement upon Egypt.

Perhaps he was reminded of

Isaiah 40:6–8 ESV

A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

But whatever the case brothers and sisters we are reminded here that we need to frequently withdraw to the sanctuary of God so that we can get our eyesight readjusted.

If we are not in God’s Word, if we are not worshipping God with His people and being reminded of the Biblical truths then we will have a tendency to begin to see with worldly or carnal eyes and we will not rightly see things.

And when we forget Biblical truths then we can be tempted and lured away so that as the Psalmist said, we can come to a place where we are about to fall or maybe you have come to a place where you have fallen.

Well, the Bible gives us the right perspective.

The Victory of Walking by Faith (v.18-28)

Four things here when he is instructed by the Word of God.

I. He remembers their future v.18-20

They are in slippery places, God will make them fall to their own ruin

There destruction is coming and it will come suddenly

Like a cow being fattened for the slaughter one day they will be feasting and the next their destruction will come.

Like a dream

Phantoms

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, ungodliness will not go unpunished.

They may laugh now but there will be an eternity of weeping.

II. He realizes his foolishness v.21-22

I don’t know what I was thinking. I was so foolish.

Brothers and sisters, how can we envy the wicked when there is an eternity of hell before them. Instead of envying the wicked we ought to pity them, we ought to be pleading with them to repent and turn to Christ not desiring to join them in their ungodliness.

Brothers and sisters, lets be reminded that as much happiness that sin and this world promises us, it is all a mist, it is all empty and that true joy, true shalom, true completeness, true peace is found in Christ and in Him alone.

III. He rejoices in God’s faithfulness v.23-24

God has a grasp on him

You hold my right hand, like a parent leading a child.

God guides him

God guides us with His Word and His Spirit.

God will glorify him

IV. God is good to him

You give your people the ultimate treasure, You! v.25 and 26

You are my refuge

You are the God who works all things together for my good.

Conclusion

What does this do? Now he pities the ungodly and he rests in God.

Brothers and sisters if we are going to live faithful Christian lives then we must to live by faith and not by sight.

Hebrews 11:23–27 ESV

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Expound upon what we see here with an emphasis that Moses did not live by sight, but instead he lived by faith in the Word of God.

God had promised to deliver Israel, God had promised to make them His people, God had promised that His Kingdom would come through this people.

Brothers, sister in Christ do you not see all that God has promised you in Christ?

God saves his best gifts for His children, God gives you justification, sanctification, glorification; God gives you Himself so that you can say, I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me. He is my God and I am His trophy of grace.

There are times that God leads His children down difficult paths but we must always know that it is only for our good because ultimately our God is good and He is working all things, even the hard things, together for our eternal good.

May we trust Him!

Unbeliever, v. 18-20

Will you not look to Christ?

Will you not come to Christ to be made clean?

Will you not trust in His redeeming work to wash you of your sins?

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