Psalms 73:13-14

Psalm 73, I’m going to read the first 14 verses, our focuses on verses 13 and 14 tonight. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. where there are no bands in their deaths, but their strength is firm. They’re not in trouble as other men. Neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain, violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt. and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how does God know, and is their knowledge in the most high? behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world they increase in riches verily i have cleansed my heart in vain and wash my hands in innocency for all the day long have i been plagued and chastened every morning and god bless to us the reading of his sacred and holy word when the Israelites were journeying through the wilderness on the way to the promised land we read about them being very discouraged so discouraged that they actually said that they wished they were back in Egypt and under bondage that they would be better off in enslavement in numbers 215 we read in the people’s spake against God and against Malsus. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? Where there is no bread? Neither is there any water. And our soul loatheth this light bread. Speaking the manna that God had provided. Eventually, many actually made plans for an expedition back to Egypt. They gave up on following the Lord. They gave up on arriving at the promised land. Asaph, who was the writer of this song, was severely shaken regarding his faith in God, as we see from verse 2. He has talked about his feet slipping and the danger that he was in. In the occasion of the crisis of his faith was discouragement. discouragement from two different sources. The first source was this, the prosperity of the wicked. Versus 3 to 12 that we looked at in a previous study. But the second source of discouragement was the plagues he endured as one who served God. And verses 13 to 14, which I hope to consider this evening. It appeared to Asaf that God’s favor and grace rested on the wicked because they prospered. And that God’s disfavor and hatred rested on the righteous because they were plagued. Asaph is so discouraged that he contemplates here in our text tonight about giving up, living a godly life of not pursuing holiness any longer. He might as well, he thinks, join the ranks of the wicked and enjoy earthly prosperity because life would be so much better. So I want to speak tonight on the subject here of discouragement. Now let me begin with this question. Is holiness of life useless for you to pursue? Notice what he says here in verse 13. He seems to indicate that it is. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence. Now let me begin by saying this. That holiness of life involves both your heart as well as your hands. It’s clear that Asaph understands that holiness is not merely a matter of just doing the right thing. Outwardly. It’s not simply a matter of going regularly to church, singing praises to God, offering up his sacrifice to the Lord, bringing an offering, and obeying the law outward. That’s all handwork. That’s all what you would do with your hand. And he says, I’ve washed my hands hands in innocence. He kept his activities morally clean. He walked blamelessly regarding God’s law in general. There was no blatant sin in his life. Now you should also grasp the truth that what we’re talking about tonight because this is an important point. That’s not enough. Remember what Christ said in Matthew 23, 28, ye outwardly appear righteous before men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. outwardly you may appear to be doing the right thing, but inwardly you’re full of sin. In Isaiah 2913, God says, wherefore the Lord Seth, for as much as this people draw near to me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me. So Asaph understands this. aspect of the heart condition, the heart has to be clean. Remember what he said in verse 1, that God is good to Israel, even to such as that of her clean heart, not just merely of clean hands. He knows it needs a clean heart as well as innocent hands. And so he’s not neglectful of his heart’s condition. His heart was purified by faith. in the blood of Christ the Messiah. For God is the one who creates within you a clean heart, as Psalm 51 and verse 10 tells us. And yet after this initial cleansing of the heart by God, the believer has a duty to maintain a clean heart, having been convinced of any impure of heart, he owns it, he laments it. He confesses his heart’s sin before God. You appeal to God’s mercy to forgive you your sin by a fresh application of the blood of Christ so that the truth of 1.1.9 comes to the forefront. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us from all on righteousness. Asaph knows that sinful thoughts as well as sinful actions need to be cleansed if he’s going to have holiness of life. Do you understand this tonight? Are you concerned about the state of your heart, your thoughts, your motives, your plans, being clean? Hypocrats, like the scribes and the Pharisees, are only concerned. about outward appearance. But true believers have clean hearts. We should never be neglectful of the state of our hearts. For out of it flows all the issues of life. So holiness of life involves your heart as well as your hands. Now you must be careful not to judge things by human sight alone. He says here in vain, in vain, in vain, that he has cleansed his heart and washed his hands. I think that applies to both aspects here. ASAF believes that the abhorrence of wickedness and the desire to be free from sin do not produce any advantage. The contrary, he finds, unhappy results from all his efforts to clean his heart in his hands. In other words, all his concern for purity of heart and life is a useless endeavor, he thinks, I’d be better off if I just live wickedly. Imagine coming to that conclusion. So he is saying that the whole of the Christian life of serving God, isn’t worth it. Since the Christian only gets hardship and trouble and not reward. Now, Asaph is a seer, or what we might call a prophet, God gifted him to foresee things about Christ and put the end of the Psalms. But when your faith is napping, even if you’re a prophet, we see that human reason leads you in the dark. He’s not thinking spiritually here. How foolish we are when we look at things from human reason alone without the light of scripture. Later Asaph is going to confess in verse 22, so foolish was I in ignorant. Boy, was I wrong. Sinfully, he had envied the prosperity of the wicked. Is earthly prosperity the reason why a God-fearing person lives a holy life? Is that all there is to it? Is this brief earthly life what is of primary concern to you? Does it really matter that you are enriched with earthly goods? Is that really the ultimate desire that you have? Is this earthly prosperity worth that much that you would join the ranks of the foul-mile? black-hearted worldlings of this earth? Remember what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12 and verse 15 a man’s life consisteth not in the things or the abundance of things which he possesseth. Is that all there is to life? is that the most important thing? we read the parable of the rich full tonight in our scripture reading. In the parable the rich full, Jesus captures here the eagerness of men to gain riches in this life. A certain rich man had a bumper crop year when it came to his fields. Maybe there were massive amounts of wheat and barley and millet and millet and spelt. that he harvested. So much so, so, so greatly did God prosper this man’s harvest, that he had to build bigger barns to hold it all. It was a bonanza crop. In fact, the prosperity of God gave him that God gave him that year was so great that he thought, I can retire. I got enough to last me for years. years. And so he planned to retire and enjoy the rest of his years on earth in luxury. He must have had a year like Isaac had in the book of Genesis, chapter 26, verse 12, where Isaac sowed in that land, Garar, and received in the same year a hundredfold. Whoa. Talk about having a bumper crop. Now, you’ll notice that Jesus didn’t say this man, this man, who had such a prosperous crop yield was blessed and favored of the Lord. That’s not what Jesus says. On the contrary, he has God calling him a fool, a fool, for his life would be snatched away that very night. And man would, the man would never get to leave. in the luxury’s retirement as he planned. Even more devastating is the fact that he only laid up treasure on this earth and didn’t lay anything up with regard to heaven. He was not rich toward God. So he ends up in hellfire. Sadly, you can judge matters from a human reason alone and come to the human reason alone and come to the the very wrong conclusion. It’s dangerous to judge things solely by the human side without considering the divine side. Look where it almost led Asaph. You may think God’s grace and favor rest on those he prospers with earthly goods. God doesn’t say so. Was that true of the rich full? Without divine revelation, you cannot interpret God’s providence. You have no clue about it. So you must be careful not to judge things by you in sight alone. In vain. I’ve cleansed my hands and wash my hands and cleanse my heart and so forth. Notice he says here, verily. Is there really no advantage to cleansing your heart in your hands? Verily. Truly. Pay attention to what I have to say because this is the bottom line of all this. truly this is the case. Is it a waste of time to pursue holiness of life? Asaph thinks so. However, Asap later, as I said, had to retract this statement. He was completely wrong. Verse 22. In other words, there is an advantage to living a godly life. There’s an advantage to it. I want you to look with me tonight at second or excuse me first timothy chapter four verses eight and nine first timothy chapter four verses eight and nine paul move by the spirit writes this for bodily exercise profit little but godliness is profitable on the all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come this is a faithful saying and worthy of of all acceptation. There is the prophet of godliness in this life, having the promise of life that now is. What is this? What promises is he thinking of? Let me suggest a few things to you. First is inward happiness. The wicked live under divine condemnation and all their days, they’re really under divine judgment. It can fall. at any moment. The death angel is hovering above them at all times. They don’t know what’s going to happen. There is no peace, say, my God, to the wicked. However, if you are justified by faith, the scripture says, you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5.1. There’s a happiness that you enjoy when you are reconciled with God that is beyond anything that this world has to offer. Your will is conform to the divine will which secures the happiness of your soul. Let me say this. You’re not necessarily happy because you have good health. There are many people who have good health that aren’t happy. But you can’t be happy, even in poor health, when God wills it. And your will is in sync with His. You’re not necessarily happy because you possess riches. There are many people who have riches that are very unhappy. But you can be happy to be poor because it places God that you should be so. Being at peace with God then supersedes all the circumstances of this earthly life. There’s inward happiness. Here’s another thought. All things work for your good. Romans 828. It’s a very familiar passage. We’ve quoted it many times. Is it not a wonderful promise of the life that now is that no matter what happens to you in this life, it’s actually working for your benefit? Your spiritual good. You gain by your losses. You grow spiritually healthy even when you are physically unhealthy or sick. You thrive by bearing your crosses. All your troubles. are conforming you, ultimately, to the image of Christ. Isn’t it better than all things work for your good than that all things should work as you wish them to work in this life? The wicked may have more than heart could wish, as we see from verse 7. But it’s not working for their good. In fact, it’s a detriment to their soul, as we shall soon see. whatever God brings in your life may not always please you, but it always benefits your soul as a believer. Isn’t that? Then a reason to see that there’s profitability to being holy, living a godly life. How about this? You have fellowship with God under all circumstances of life. You read in the book of Genesis about Joseph. Remember, he gets sold by his brothers into Egyptian slavery. And if that wasn’t bad enough, his owner, Potiphar, has a wife that’s falsely accuses Joseph and he ends up in prison. Not only he’s a slave, but he ends up in prison on top of it all. What bitter circumstances you endure, he had to endure. And yet, what do we read? In all this, the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor. in the site of the keeper of the prison. Genesis 39, 21. The Lord was with Joseph, regardless of how bad things were. That was the most important thing. Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, whatever troubles your soul, you find your fellowship with God is always constant, and that sweetens your life regardless of what else is going on. God’s fellowship is better. than health. It’s better than than riches. It’s better than a tranquil life. It greatly transcends these things. You can overcome every adverse circumstance if God is with you. It’s the greatest comfort you can have in life. So you have fellowship with God under all circumstances. You are free from the fear of death. The ungodly fear death. It robs them, really, of a lot of their earthly prosperity. They have the prosperity, but they can’t take it with them, and death hangs over them, and it sort of takes away all the joy of these things. So they dread having to face God. They dread having to give an account of their evil ways. But you as a believer are free from such fears. And for you, I’m sure, you can say with Paul, to die. is gain. Why, if I die, heaven awaits me. You believe behind all the earthly sorrows and all the misery. You go to be with your Savior. You enjoy eternal rest. So that the prophet of godliness is in this life. Surely that is clear. And then there is the prophet of godliness and the life to come. And that which is to come, he says here. 1. Timothy. Do you not have an inheritance incorruptible undefiled? Fadeth not a way that’s reserved in heaven for you? As 1.4 says. Do you not have the promise that you shall live and reign with Christ forever and ever? Revelation 225. What a great privilege that is. You shall have everlasting joy for heaven is described in this manner. Enter thou into the joy. of the Lord. Matthew 25, 21. You shall see God. God will dwell with you in constant fellowship throughout eternity. There’s unbroken fellowship. And get this. There’s nothing to spoil the eternal bliss that you have in heaven. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death nor neither sorrow nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are past. away. There is a prophet of godliness with regard to the life to come. And so it’s a foolish thing to say there’s no advantage to holiness of life. Yes, there is advantage. So is holiness of life useless for you to pursue? And the answer to that is no. Secondly, tonight, is God’s plague and chastening his disfavor towards you? Look at verse 14. Back in our text here. Verse 14. For all day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. You as a believer often face many earthly troubles. Of the ungodly, Asaph, has said, they are not in trouble. Verse 5. But he complains that the godly man is troubled. Is all kinds of trouble. Verse 14. The brevity of the count here of the troubles of the righteous should not lead to us minimizing the severity of what a believer may face in this life. The word plagued here is a word that means to be wounded or struck violently or beaten down. It’s actually the root word that actually comes from the word for the plagues of Egypt. You know what the plagues of Egypt were. One problem after another, God struck the nation of Egypt. Or it’s like Job. He gets one messenger after another telling him of his losses and so forth. Asaph sees himself plagued in this manner. It’s not a very pleasant experience. Chasting carries the idea of beating or whipping. There’s a severity to this as well. We might put it in a sense of discipline. In addition, ASAP indicates that this plaguing and this chastening is continuous every morning all day long. My friends, your troubles in life may be very much continuous. There’s always trouble. There’s trouble in youth. There’s trouble in middle age. There’s trouble in our senior years. Those constant troubles temper your enjoyment of the pleasures of this life, and that we might find problematic. But they also make you long for heaven, which really is perhaps one of the reasons we have bad days as well as good in this life, that we would not find anything after us here in this life. We would look for something better. The Christian will endure his share of earthly evils in this life. Now, you should realize earthly troubles come from God. Aesaf knows this to be true. All things fall out according to God’s purpose and ultimately his providence. There’s no accident or chance involved in the fact that God plagues or chasens the Christian. This is what troubles him for he knows that God prospers the wicked and that God plagues the righteous. That’s what’s troubling him. Thus, his initial conclusion that God’s favor and grace rests upon the wicked and God’s disfavored wrath rest upon the righteous. contrary to verse one. God sovereignly dispenses earthly evils as he sees fit. shall there be evil in the city? and the Lord hath not done it? Amos 3.6. Whatever may struggle you, God ultimately is behind it. Nothing happens apart from his will. If you deny God’s sovereignty over all the evils that come into your life, then you have no assurance that all things are working for your good because then he’s not controlling these things. So you should realize earthly troubles come from God. You need to see God has a good purpose in sending earthly troubles. Asaph at first completely misses this. He sees the plaguing here and the chastening his signs of God’s displeasure toward it. His disfavored. God at times does send judgments upon his people for willful sins. Asaph knows this, and so does every Christian. he could see what happened in David’s life when David committed adultery and murder and how the sword never left his house. That was very vivid in his day. He could see that happening. Asaph certainly witnessed this. If you deliberately commit sin, if you stubbornly walk in it, yeah, you can expect God to send trouble in your life as a chastening and the plagues may fall. However, Asaph says, but that’s not me. I’m always cleansing my heart. I’m always confessing my sin. I’m always appealing to God for forgiveness. He tried to live a blameless life by obeying God’s commands. He tried to keep his hands. He tried to keep his hands. clean. But despite all these things, heavy blows fell in his life. And so he’s discouraged. He doesn’t understand. Here is what believers often miss. And this is a key thing for us to keep in mind. I want you to turn with me to Philippians chapter 1 and verse 29, if you would. Philippians 1-29. I don’t know if you, when you read this, when you read this, that you cut the drift, the what Paul says here, but we should ponder this carefully. For under you, it is given in behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. God gifts you with the grace of faith, but he also sends us a gift suffering. We’d like maybe to get rid of those last few words on that verse, but they’re there. They’re there for a reason because Paul has talked about himself being in prison and all the hardship he’s had in verse in chapter one. His life is on the line. Does it bother him? Not really. What did what did God tell Paul when he called him to be a missionary? On the Damascus road. Remember what God said. He’s a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of of Israel, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake. Acts 9, 15, and 16. Do you see that word chastened at verse 14? Underline that. This is the key, the understanding everything here. What is that? What is chastening? Is it not an indication of God’s favor? What does the scripture say in Hebrews 126? For whom the Lord loveth, he chastenedeth and scourgeteth every son whom he receiveeth. Did you catch that? Those whom God loves, he chasens. Not all chasting is for deliberate sin. God can chase you by way of discipline. Just as we discipline our children in order for them to do the right thing, to train them up in righteousness. Of course, the wickedness. you’re not chasing because they’re not God’s children. You don’t discipline all the children in the neighborhood because you’re not their father. Under you it is given to suffer for his sake, Philippians 1.29. God does not give worthless gifts to his children. There is a precious gift to suffering and chastening which the carnal eye often misses. God, your heavenly father, loves you. You enjoy his favor. And he is conforming you to the image of his son. Think of this. No angel is given this privilege. But you, as a child of God, are given the privilege to suffer for Christ’s sake. I need to close tonight. Discouragement may make the Christian ready to give up when it comes to the Christian. Christian life. However, you need a biblical perspective to overcome all the discouragement that you have. What you think is God’s disfavor, what you may look upon and say, well, God must hate me if he brings this into my life, may be a sign of his good favor, his love, his blessing upon you. And it’s because we don’t look at things from a spiritual perspective. that we miss this point. Let’s not miss this point. Let us go.