Psalm 73:21-28
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RC Sproul says that these verse articulate the crisis of faith.
We are in a constant struggle of releasing our confidence of ourselves and growing in our confidence toward God. This is the crisis of faith.
Look what he says in verses 21-22
When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within, Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
The Psalmist’s heart here has a number of characteristics:
Bitter.
Pierced within.
The idea here is inner turmoil.
The Psalmist is struggling from the inside.
There is bitterness- perhaps toward others, perhaps toward himself, Maybe even God.
Bitterness normally affects all three of these areas. Its a disease that touches everything.
He also says he is pierced within-
In other words he is hurt. There are scars and maybe even an open wound from a recent issue going on here, but nevertheless, he is deeply hurt and he is bitter.
And the actions that flow out of bitterness are normally not helpful.
Something is going on in the Psalmist’s life that has caused these emotions.
I think we can all relate here.
And often during hard times, we tend to take our eyes off of whats important and eternal in times of temporary pain and difficulty.
Our minds get wayward.
Look in verse 22
Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
Bitterness and pain often do not produce the best decision making.
ESV
I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.
A wild animal- what does it do when you come upon it in nature.
it will either do two things
Fight or Flight
Either captures the heart of what he is saying here.
We are not in compliance.
We tend to speak improperly when we are emotional. (Recently a pastor friend spoke with me Church member- who spoke then afterwards knew it was wrong but in pride instead of apologizing owning it and coming back- just left.)
Difficulty and emotional times do not produce the best decisions.
In this case, he describes his actions as senseless and ignorant.
We often do not think properly.
This is a fact of life.
Sense- without sense
Ignorant- without knowledge.
Our minds are dulled.
He describes himself as “A beast” before you.
At this point, I least he is honest.
His behavior is beast like- Unbridled. Senseless, ignorant. No direction. Absent of rational thought.
We’ve all been here. When we become Christians, it doesn’t mean we are now immune to ignorance.
It does mean we need to repent from our ignorance.
But.... Even in our ignorance, there is grace.
Look at verse 23
Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.
What a wonderful truth of God’s correct hand.
I’m reminded of Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
There is a guiding hand in the believers life that takes a hold of us when we go astray.
In the middle of our bitter ignorance.
There is divine grace that pulls us back.
Through love and discipline- God’s takes a hold of us in order to lead us in the paths of righteousness.
How does he do that?
Look at verse 24
With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory.
With your counsel, you will guide me.
What is God’s counsel?
His word.
This is our Guide.
Too often we look to other things to be what god’s has given us his word to do.
We look to others- A sheep follows sheep generally.
We look to societal norms
We look to ourselves.
But there is one guide that leads us perfectly every time and that is God though His Word.
That is our strength for today.
“Great is thy faithfulness” Strength for today.
Our strength for today is to rely upon God and His Word.
We live by His word. We teach his word. We pray according to His Word.
This is our guide today.
And the verse goes on to say.
With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory.
Afterward, you will receive me to glory.
“Great is thy faithfulness”
What follows Strength for today?
and bright hope for tomorrow
God not only gives us strength today, but he assures us of his intentions and our hope for tomorrow.
How do we deal with difficult times in our lives?
With strength today- and the hope promised tomorrow.
God has supplied all of this in his salvation of us.
I want to read the rest of this chapter with you.
Listen to what he says here.
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.
We have a promise.
Is life hard? yes.
Do we at times face difficulty? of course we do.
But we have a guide today and hope for tomorrow.