Surely God is good to Israel

Surely God is good to Israel Psalm 73, Matt. 7: 7-14 This last week I overheard one of our food bank clients, in conversation with my colleague, telling him that Covid 19 was a great leveller because, he said: "the restrictions which are being imposed apply to everyone the same, they affect everyone equally, whoever they might be". It seemed to give them, as they waited in line to collect their food for the week, some encouragement. Well to a degree what they said may be the case; when we think of those who we know and hear of who, because of the current climate, have lost their jobs or businesses, their homes even so that suddenly, from living lives of relative comfort, they're now struggling. However, at the same time, the big divisions between people caused by their economic, social, as well as health situations still exist, as they always have done ... we still have the rich and the poor in every country of the world as well as the huge gulf that can often exist between the rich West and the poorer developing nations. Only the other day I read a headline which pointed out that during the pandemic, whilst millions have become unemployed, many billionaires have seen their fortunes increase by huge amounts. No we're not all the same. Even this last week when we closed up the food bank at 2pm I was going to be able to get into my car and drive home to the manse where I could put on the central heating, wonder what would be for tea later on and whether I'd need to pop to the shop for some milk, perhaps do some work, whilst enjoying some comfort in a quiet environment with no particular worries about what tomorrow might bring. Whereas that person who'd spoken of equality would probably walk back to their, likely as not, far less comfortable home with their bags of food thinking on how they might spread it out over the week. Whilst worrying not only about the possibility of catching Covid 19 but also perhaps about how they were going to afford the gas or electricity to keep themselves warm over the next few days, and whether tomorrow would bring some improvement to their difficult situation. And these differences that exist between the haves and have nots can lead people to aspire to improve their situation, and some succeed. Although too often, despite it being something that might shape their whole outlook on life, it's just so much wishful thinking ... and now I'm reminded of another client at the food bank this week who asked if he could borrow a coin for his scratch card ... he lost of course. Then again people can become despondent, jealous or bitter about a system which just seems so unfair to them and which they feel incapable of doing anything about. And such thinking isn't just confined to those who have reason to be dissatisfied with life, as we find here with Psalm 73. A psalm that was written, we're told, by a man called Asaph who was a faithful follower of God, the grandson of Samuel, the great prophet, priest and leader of the people of Israel who, under God's guidance, anointed firstly Saul and then later David as King over Israel, in the process creating a system where a huge gulf now existed between the ordinary Jewish person and their leaders. Asaph himself was a musician in the court of King David being one of those charged with leading the singing in the house of God. Later he'd also fulfil similar duties for David's son, King Solomon. But then perhaps, because of his position, he may well have come into contact with a good many members of the Kings' privileged officials who took advantage of their position and abused the power which they'd been given, whilst at the same time continuing to thrive. And it seems that that got to Asaph, so that he began to have great doubts about the fairness of the ways in which God deals with the world. And our Psalm shows how he went through a great deal of soul searching before he arrived back at the position where he was able to state with complete confidence his thoughts about the Lord, saying in verse 1: "Surely God is good to Israel" to his own people who are truly of Israel, that is: "to those who are pure in heart". This is the position where of course we all ought to be, that place where we have no doubts that God is good to us, and where we openly rejoice in that fact. But this doesn't mean that we're to arrive here without thinking through what this actually means. There are those who'll say to us: "How can you believe in a God who allows suffering and inequality and wickedness to prosper?", and we have to be able to satisfy ourselves that our understanding of God, his nature and ways, allows us to deal with such criticism ... otherwise when any of these things becomes an issue to us personally we may well find that we struggle greatly. And so back to Asaph who having declared his view of God so clearly in verse 1 goes on to admit that actually, "as for me my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold". And then he goes on to tell us how he got to that place ... As a servant of God he was secure in his faith, he continued to follow the Lord's commands and to put his trust in him; always seeking to love the Lord with all his heart, his soul, strength and mind, and to love his neighbour as himself. And yet, as he looked around at others, he saw people who wanted nothing to do with God and yet they were living, as far as anyone could tell, perfectly happy and successful lives. They prospered in all that they did, they were at peace with the world and the world with them. They had no struggles, or burdens, or ailments that other, lesser mortals had to put up with, and all the while their attitude to their own position and to that of other less privileged individuals was one of arrogance and pride. They thought nothing of using violent means to get their own way, thinking that they were better than other people anyway so that they were just getting what they deserved. These were people, it seemed to Asaph looking on, who: "(laid) claim to heaven" with "their tongues (taking) possession of the earth". They spoke as if there was no power greater than them in heaven or on earth, as though they had the authority to determine not only how they but others also should live. And all the while many people flocked to them drinking in all that they offered them like water whilst denying any power of any so called all-knowing God to do anything about it. Yes this was the position of these wicked people Asaph concluded: "always carefree, they increase in wealth". And then after thinking enviously about such people who placed themselves so far above him the Psalmist talks of how he then became racked with self-pity as he compared his own situation with theirs. (Verse 14): "All day long I have been plagued, I have been punished every morning". And this despite the fact that "I washed my hands in innocence". I sought always to be obedient to God and to walk in his ways. So what's the point? he began to wonder, has it all been in vain? Had he just been fooling himself? In which case he might just as well join in with these wicked unscrupulous folks, he might as well just eat drink and be merry and have done with it. That was how Asaph felt and it just left him totally confused. And yet he still had the presence of mind, as well as the love for God's people, to realise that he should keep his feelings to himself. Aware of the fact that were he to speak of them to other believers in the Lord, it might well lead to their own faith being shaken. That doesn't mean to say however when we have doubts about God's dealings with us, that we should always be careful to keep them to ourselves. Yes we have prayer as well as God's Word to go to on such occasions and often through these means our loving and gracious Father will bring us peace and understanding, but also we have one-another, we have the gift of our church family our brothers and sisters in Christ, some of whom will no doubt be able and led to give us words of wisdom from God that will bring clarity to our thinking ... if we care to listen to them! As for Asaph, as we've said, by this point he just didn't know where to turn. But then he entered the sanctuary of God, he came into God's closer presence convinced that only he whose very faithfulness he'd been led to question would be able to give him the answers he was looking for. And God heard him, and he responded to him, and perhaps not in the way that Asaph would have hoped or thought. God didn't for example tell him: "Don't worry because you've been faithful to me everything in this life from now on is going to be wonderful for you. And by the way you're going to enjoy seeing these wicked people of whom you've been speaking having the tables turned on them". No, instead God turned his, Asaph's, thinking around. His thinking had been too narrow, too short term whereas the Lord now let him see the full picture. And isn't this what the Apostle Paul urges all of us to accept and to buy into, when he writes in Romans chapter 12 from verse 2: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good pleasing and perfect will". Well, now Asaph's mind had experienced some renewing, so that he was able to see from God's perspective what the true end of these people whose lives he'd been envying was. Whilst he himself had spoken in verse 2 of his feet feeling as though they were slipping, the truth was that God had always held him firm. But these people had been placed on slippery ground by the Lord and one day he would "cast them down to ruin" ... they'd be completely destroyed. All that they'd done and built up for themselves in life whilst ignoring others, as well as the God who'd given them life in the first place, would be like a dream from which they'd awakened realising that it was all just a phantasy after all. And as Asaph understood this he was firstly and rightly filled with thoughts of guilt at ever doubting his Lord, acknowledging that he acted like "a brute beast", before ending with a song of high praise to the one who he now knew for certain to be the God who is good to Israel, to the living God of whom he says (from verse 23): "I am always with you, you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory". Asaph had doubted, as only one who believes can, and the Lord had answered him and, also, brought him through to the other side where his faith was mightily confirmed. And we ourselves who continue to live in a world where too often the rich and powerful oppress the weak, and where more often, the not so rich and powerful are also guided in their actions not by God's counsel but by their own God-rejecting counsel, can have the same assurance that God does remain in control and that he is good and will be good to his people. That in the future, as Dr James Elder Cumming has said: "God will pay no regard to the dreams of human life, to the outward show, to the appearance; but the affairs of eternity will be regulated by what is real - by that which constitutes the character of the man" (or woman) And what is the character which God will see and reward? It's the character which is moulded not by the world without but by the Holy Spirit living within the heart of the believer, it's the character of the person who has been clothed in Christ, the one of whom it can truly be said that God is the strength of their heart and their portion forever, who have made the sovereign Lord their refuge. And all the while Jesus says to each one of us here (from verse 7 of Matthew chapter 7): "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened". He tells us: When you fear, when you doubt, when you feel that your foot is slipping, come to me and believe that I will respond by giving to you what you need in love, and believe too that the Father will give you only good gifts. And then, just as Asaph vowed to tell all of my deeds, show me to the world by showing my love to them, doing to them what you would have them do to you. And of course tell them too that without me everyone stands on slippery ground. Yes upon a broad road that, for your false comfort, is trod upon by most of your fellow travellers, but a broad road nonetheless that leads to destruction. Enter then through me, the narrow gate to the narrow road that alone leads to life. I trust that we all know that we're standing on that narrow road today! Amen