God is not Fair

God is not Fair

Text: Psalm 73 A Psalm of Asaph.

Introduction:

* One day a long time ago, when all was well with the world, Eve looked out over all the works that God had done and in her heart of innocence rejoiced in the perfect love and peace of God.

* On that same fateful day, that vile villain we know as Satan, launched His first attack against God’s prize creation- mankind.

* This was the first blow in a bloody destructive war against God’s beloved creation called “Spiritual Warfare.”

* On that fateful day Satan struck a blow at the heart of God.

* What was it that the Devil did that he thought would do damage to God?

* What awful, terrible, shameful, thing did the Devil do to God’s prized creation that day?

* He came to Eve and told her the most damaging lie that has ever been told since the beginning of creation- he told her that God was not fair.

* The Devil had hoped that God would reject his beloved creation once God saw that men had become corrupted and no longer trusted in His goodness, but instead, God treated Adam and Eve with kindness and love and promised to give them a seed from their children that would crush the head of that old serpent, Satan, the Devil.

* The Devil, that serpent, being enraged that God loved his prize creation, and promised to save it instead of destroy it, set out one again to doom mankind with his lies.

* The Devil caused Cain to rise up and kill his brother Able because he had convinced Cain that God was not fair- in that God accepted Able’s offering of blood, and had no respect to his own offering of the work of his hands.

* Cain complained to God and said “God you are not fair” in Genesis chapter 4, beginning with verse 5:

Genesis 4:5–8 (KJV 1900)

5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the Lord said unto Cain,

Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

* And so, once again, convincing the Son of Eve called Cain, that God is not fair, Satan manipulated Cain into killing the seed which God had promised Eve would deliver mankind from their sin.

* The Devil has been telling men the lie that God is not fair since the beginning of time, and it is still his primary form of attack upon God’s people to this very day.

* I would like to take a short break this morning form our series on the pieces of the “Armor of God” to deal with this lie that the Devil will use to defeat you in spiritual warfare, if you are not watching for it- the lie that God is not fair.

* When we as Christians deal with those outside the church, this is one of the first accusations that those who have been deceived by the Devil bring up against us.

* They ask “If God is a God of Love, and if God is always good, then why does He allow evil things to happen? Does God not have the power to prevent a child from getting cancer? Does God not have the power to prevent terrible tornadoes, and hurricanes, floods and acts of nature that take human life?

* The Devil had convinced mankind that a God that would allow these things is not fair. Jesus said in John 8:43:

John 8:43–44 (KJV 1900)

43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

* I don’t have time this morning to deal with the theology of why God allows evil in the world, that will be another sermon, but this morning I would like to show you how that the Devil uses this same lie- the lie that God is not fair, to cause even those who love God to stumble and fall.

* Turn with me if you will to Psalms chapter 73 and take a look with me at the heart of one of God’s beloved servants, the director of King David’s choir, the man called Asaph.

* Asaph was a godly man that David had set over all of the singers and musicians and was in charge of the worship in God’s house.

* Asaph wrote Psalm 73, and we will see that He wrote this Psalm from his own life’s experience. He was a man who was not afraid to bear his heart before God’s people to instruct them in God’s ways.

* Psalm 73 is what we call a Psalm of “Lament.” It is Asaph’s heart honestly pouring its self out before God in pain, looking for an answer to an apparent conflict in his life.

* What was this conflict that pained Asaph so much? When Asaph looked through the world view of a man, is seemed as if God was not fair.

* If the Devil can get you to look at life through the eyes of this world, He will convince you that God is not fair.

* Let’s read the first verse together:

Psalm 73

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 Truly God is good to Israel, Even to such as are of a clean heart.

I. God is good to those of a clean heart.

* Now Asaph, no doubt being raised by God’s parents of the faith of Israel, starts out by establishing a blessed truth: God is always good those who are of a clean heart!

* Asaph knew well the worlds of the very first Psalm:

Psalm 1:1–3 (KJV 1900)

1 Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

* We find a very similar passage of Scripture to this the New Testament in the book of James:

James 1:25 (KJV)

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

* Asaph makes it very clear that he knew that God has revealed in His Word that God will always be good to those of a clean heart.

* Now having made this clear, Asaph goes on to relate a story to us of how the Devil had deceived him and made him stumble.

* That old deceiver the devil, had almost wrecked his faith in God! The devil had almost cause Asaph, the great worship director of the house of God, to backslide in his heart!

II. Asaph relates how he had almost slipped.

2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; My steps had well nigh slipped.

A. He listened to the devil tell him God is not fair.

1). The wicked seem to be blessed by God.

3 For I was envious at the foolish, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no bands in their death: But their strength is firm.

5 They are not in trouble as other men; Neither are they lagued like other men.

* I remember many years ago as a young man, about 20 years old. I had given my life to God and had fully surrendered my life to the ministry. I remember what it felt like to lack and to feel I was without strength while the wicked prospered around me.

* I remember not having a car, walking to work at Howard Brothers, barely making minimum wage, so that I could go to Bible College.

* I remember working and going to school during the day, and at night coming home to an apartment with no lights and no water.

* A godly deacon in the church where I attended loaned me an old truck. I would take the battery out of the truck in the evening, and hook it up to two car headlights that I had placed in the lamps in the living room so we could have light to study by.

* I remember making the gas in the car go as far as it could then, when it ran out walking 15 miles from Jefferson City to Morristown to get to work.

* I remember years after that after moving away from Morristown to Oliver Springs to work in our first church and again having to walk and hitchhike from Oliver Springs to Clinton to get to work.

* I remember going into work and acting like I was leaving only to sneak back in and sleep by my machine all night so I could get back to work.

* Like Asaph, who no doubt had suffered with David in the early days, knew what it was to hide in the caves and suffer lack while Saul searched to kill David.

6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; Violence covereth them as a garment.

7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: They have more than heart could wish.

* I am sure that when my children were growing up, they felt like families who didn’t follow the ministry like their dad, and were free to work on Sunday and make lots of money,

* and have boats, and cars, and go carts, and four wheelers- I am sure that they felt like they had everything their heart could wish, while they couldn’t even have a decent bicycle!

* Asaph said that those who wicked, foolish men, who refused to follow God with a clean heart seemed to be so blessed, that their eyes bugged out they were so fat!

8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: They speak loftily. 9 They set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue walketh through the earth.

* I remember one day when my children were little, I had no choice but to go and humble myself and ask a real-estate man for a little more time to pay the rent.

* I remember the man said to me “I had you pegged that way all along- you call yourself a preacher! I knew you were a deadbeat all along.

* The man threw me out of the apartment and took me to court and garnished my paycheck. He was merciless and proud of trying to destroy me in every way he could.

* This man became one of the richest men in Hamblen County and lived like a king and was blessed with riches.

* Asaph paints a vivid, and ever humorous picture of the tongues of the wicked walking around bragging of how they oppress the poor in the earth!

10 Therefore his people return hither: And waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

* Their cup is full and running over! They seem to even be blessed by God!

11 And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the most High? 12 Behold, these are the ungodly, Who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

2). The righteous seem to be plagued and punished constantly.

13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain,And washed my hands in innocency. 14 For all the day long have I been plagued, And chastened every morning.

* Asaph said in his heart that he was living a clean life, a life that was good and right, and free from rebellion against God, for nothing! In his heart he said that he had cleansed his heart and confessed his sin for nothing!

* I remember when the Devil came to me and told me the same lie, and almost caused me to turn my back on God too!

* I remember the day the thought came into my heart, born there by the Devil himself, He came to me and said “You have kept yourself pure, you never so much as touched your wife before you married her, you have been faithful to your wife for 17 years!”

* He came to me and said “You are 38 years old and have never put a drop of alcohol to your lips, you have never so much as puffed one puff on a joint of marijuana, you havn’t so much as cussed when you mashed your finger!

* The Devil came to me and said “Now where has all this got you? Your wife is sleeping with another man, you gave up having a career for the ministry, it looks like you are going to pay for someone else to live in your house, and raise your kids, What good has living a clean life gotten you!

* If you had lived in sin, you at least would have had a little fun in life! Why don’t you just quit living for God? God is not fair!

* I remember another man in the Bible who had a similar experience to that of Asaph. This man was the prophet Jeremiah:

*Turn with me now to Jeremiah chapter 12:1-5:

* The old Devil had came to the prophet Jeremiah with this same old like, the like that God is unfair, but Jeremiah was a little more bold in how he handled this problem of fairness.

* Jeremiah takes it upon himself to discuss the way God is doing things! Listen the worlds of Jeremiah chapter 12, verse 1:

Jeremiah 12:1–5 (KJV 1900)

Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Therefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

* Now, Jeremiah begins to whine to God about how he is being treated unfairly:

3 But thou, O Lord, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee:

* Jeremiah then proceeds to tell God how he thinks it should be done! Boy this guy Jeremiah has got some grit! He says

pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.

* Now I want you to notice how God replies to the complaints of Jeremiah. You would expect God to be like us and feel sorry for Jeremiah, but instead God give him a stinging rebuke:

* God tells Jeremiah that if he can’t handle what seems unfair to him now, then he’s got another thing coming! He tells Jeremiah that there is a world of more hurt coming his way!

5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

3). Asaph’s delima- if he reveals what he is feeling, he will destroy the faith of those who looking to him for understanding.

15 If I say, I will speak thus; Behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

4). Asaph found himself in a state of despair and discouragement.

16 When I thought to know this, It was too painful for me;

* I remember a time like Asaph, when all this sent me into a downward spiral of depression! When we arrive to this place as Christians, we find ourselves like the pilgrim in “The Pilgrim’s Progress” stuck in the sloth of despond. We are bogged down, discouraged, trapped and we feel like there is no way out!

* We have believed the lie the devil told that God is not Fair!

* But there is a way out! And Asaph tells us how he got out of this awful place of despair!

* He found the way out at the House of God!

5). Asaph finds the answers to his dilemma at the house of God.

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then understood I their end.

* The Devil convinces men and women that there is nothing to be learned at church! There is nothing for them at church! God cannot be trusted! God’s people are hypocrites, they can’t be trusted!

* The church can’t be trusted, it’s all about getting people’s money!

* but my friend the only place of hope that you have is the house of God this morning!

* There is no help with the psychiatrist! There is no help with the Sociologists; there is no hope with the counselors of this world! You will find help for your depression in the house of God!

* The house of God is where you will hear the truth of what will happen to the wicked who seem to get everything they want in this world!

* This is what Asaph learned at the hand of King David when he went up to the house of the Lord:

* Evidently, the Devil had also came to King David himself pedaling this same lie that God is not fair. Look with me now in Psalm chapter 37:

Psalm 37:1–40 (KJV 1900)

A Psalm of David.

1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, And thy judgment as the noonday.

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath:

Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked plotteth against the just, And gnasheth upon him with his teeth. 13 The Lord shall laugh at him: For he seeth that his day is coming.

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy,

And to slay such as be of upright conversation. 15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, And their bows shall be broken.

16 A little that a righteous man hath Is better than the riches of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: But the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

18 The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: And their inheritance shall be for ever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20 But the wicked shall perish, And the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: They shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. 21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: But the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. 22 For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; And they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread.

26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; And his seed is blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell for evermore.

28 For the Lord loveth judgment, And forsaketh not his saints; They are preserved for ever: But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell therein for ever. 30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, And his tongue talketh of judgment. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. 32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, And seeketh to slay him.

33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged. 34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, And he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green bay tree. 36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: For the end of that man is peace.

38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: The end of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble. 40 And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, because they trust in him.

6). What was the answer Asaph found? In the house of God Asaph learned that God gives the wicked of this world enough rope to hang themselves.

* Asaph learned in the house of God that God is absolutely fair in his dealings with mankind. God had bent over backwards in extending his mercy and his grace to the wicked. Even so much so that it seems to those who love God that God is not as good to them as He is to those that hate Him!

* In the house of God Asaph learned that God gives the wicked of this world enough rope to hang themselves. No one will be able to stand before God on judgment day and say “You didn’t give me chance to repent!”

Acts 17:24–31 (KJV 1900)

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

* God gives men space to repent as we see an example of this in Revelation 2:

Revelation 2:20–23 (KJV 1900)

20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

Galatians 4:3–5 (KJV 1900)

3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

* Now look back with me at our text in Psalms 73 and look at what Asaph says in verse 18 that he had learned:

18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: Thou castedst them down into destruction. 19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.

* In the house of God Asaph learned that it may seem to the eyes of those who refuse to have a clean heart before God that they are getting away with forgetting God and living wickedly, but they are not getting away with a thing! Judgment day is coming!

* Ecclesiastes explains why it seems like those who refuse to have a clean heart before God and live wickedly seem to prosper:

Ecclesiastes 8:11–13 (KJV 1900)

11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: 13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

* This is the truth that brought Asaph out of his depression that he learned in the house of God:

* There is a great pay day coming when everyone who has refused to live with a clean heart before God will pay for their wickedness! No one will escape!

Psalm 7:11–13 (AV)

God is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death…

Jeremiah 46:10 (AV)

10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood…

* Listen to the words of Jonathan Edwards from the famous sermon “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God.”

* The bow of God’s fierce wrath is drawn back-

- the bow strains with the pressure of the string

- and the arrow is ready on the string

- the arrow is pointed at your soul this morning

- nothing but the mere whim of God, and that of an ANGRY God, from being made drunk with your blood!

* The wrath of God is like a great ocean that is dammed up for the time being. The waters build up more and more and higher and higher. The longer the flow of God’s wrath is dammed up, the more force will be released when the dam breaks.

* The floods of God’s vengeance against your sins have been withheld temporarily. Your guilt in the meantime has been constantly increasing.

* You are every day treasuring up more and more if the wrath of God.

* If God were to let go of the flood gate, the fiery floods of the fierceness of God’s wrath would rush forth with terrible furry and would come upon you with all the power that God possesses!

* My friend, who are you to be able to withstand the fierceness of the wrath of God?

Isaiah 13:6–11 (AV)

6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity…

Jeremiah 46:10 (AV)

10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

* First, Judgment will come to the people of God. Those who have been saved, but refuse to live with a clean heart before God, your judgment is coming!

* Oh it may look like the backslider is living it up! But for the Christian, who backslides and forgets God, remember your judgment is coming!

1 Peter 4:17–19 (KJV 1900)

17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Hebrews 10:26–31 (KJV 1900)

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

* Then final Judgment will come to those who have not been saved:

Revelation 20:12–15 (KJV 1900)

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

7). Asaph’s heart is pricked and he repents for doubting God’s goodness.

20 As a dream when one awaketh; So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. 21 Thus my heart was grieved, And I was pricked in my reins.

* When Asaph went to the house of God the Holy Spirit of God convicted his heart because he had doubted God’s care for him. He was convicted because he had almost believed the Devil’s lie that God was not fair!

22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. 23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand. 24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

8) Asaph’s trust in God is renewed, and he re-dedicates himself to declare God’s Word once again.

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all thy works.

Conclusion:

* You may be here this morning and you find yourself like Asaph. You have stumbled in your walk with the Lord because believed the lies of the Devil, and you no longer server the Lord.

* You have stumbled and no longer serve the Lord and live with a clean heart before God because you have become discouraged.

* You may even be like Asaph and Jerimiah and David, an so many others in the Bible, and find yourself angry with God because it seems He allows the wicked to prosper, while when you tired to love God and live for Him, all you got was suffering and pain in your life.

* You like Asaph feel like God is just not dealing fairly with you!

* Oh my friend, see the lies of the Devil for what they are, and turn your heart back to God this morning. The Holy Spirit of God is pleading with your soul right this very minute to come back to the God you once loved and served!

* There be many who are afraid to come to God and humble yourself to be saved for the same reasons. Don’t listen to the lies of the Devil this morning! He hates your soul and desires to see your soul in Hell!

* Come this morning and commit the keeping of your soul to God, the one who loves you and entered his own creation to die for your sins! Cast the lies of the Devil away from you and flee to God this morning! His loving Holy Spirit is pleading with you this very moment! Come without delay!