Psalms 73:15

The book of Psalms, Psalm 73, I’m going to read the first 15 verses. Our focus this evening is going to be on verse 15 itself. 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 have well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. where there are no bans in their deaths, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain. Violence coverth 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 lofty. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore, his people return hither, and the waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth 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 washed my hands in innocency for all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. May God bless to us, He is sacred and holy word. this evening. In Psalm 73, Asaph here makes an honest confession. He freely admits that his feet had well nigh slipped. They had just about given up the faith and became an apostate. He confesses his ignorance and his sin in this regard, verse 22. And in this regard, this Psalm, he relates how he came to the conclusion that he provided for us in verse 1, that God truly is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. Asaph was perplexed. He’s been living a godly life, but he’s been suffering. And as he looks around at his neighbors, He sees those who are living very wickedly, and they are prospering. He wasn’t a blasphemer. He wasn’t a thief. He wasn’t a Sabbath breaker. He wasn’t an adulterer. He wasn’t a gambler. He was a man of prayer. He was a student of the Word of God. He was a true worshipper of God. A pursuer of holiness, as we saw last week, both in hand and heart. And yet, he’s the one with all kinds of difficulty. He’s the one that’s being plagued and chastened every day. The wicked, he’s surprised to find, are prospering. They’re proud and arrogant. They have more than heart could wish. They have plenty of food. They’re not plagued by sickness and loss. They have a happy family life. peaceful life for the most part. Yet, they defiantly blasphying the name of God. So he’s perplexed. It seems to him that God’s favor and love rests upon the wicked and not upon the righteous. Now, Issaf has to work this all out. God has to actually reveal to him the solution to his problem. We’ve heard his conclusion from verse one. What we need to figure out here and learn is the way he got there. How is it that he came to the conclusion of verse 1, despite what he sees happening in his own life and in the happening in the life of the wicked? How did God bring this about that he came to this conclusion? He didn’t immediately have the thought of verse 1 in mind, but he arrived at this position. through a series of steps and God led him all away to this proper conclusion. So it would be profitable for us to see how he got there so that we may find ourselves pursuing the same course as he did. Let me begin by saying this tonight. You must keep yourself from speaking impulsively. He says here at verse 15, if I say I will speak thus, if I begin to talk about this publicly, to my friends, my family, my neighbors, the people I go to worship with, he’s concerned about that. If he began to talk about that. If he began to talk about what he said in verses 13 and 14, and what he thought that the wicked are the ones that prosper and the righteous are the ones that suffer, he’s concerned about the effect of that. So one thing that God used to help this man keep him from spiritual disaster was he preserved his lips from speaking rationally. Here is a man who’s tempted to say something. He wanted to tell people that Christian life isn’t worth it. But he catches himself. He stops and doesn’t say that. He restrains himself from saying what’s on the very tip of his tongue and what he would like to say. Now this is tremendously important for us. The Psalmist realize the importance of never speaking hurriedly or on sudden impulse. You know, there are times when we get emotionally distraught and we are upset and you say things you shouldn’t say. You can say them in the heat of the moment. Out of deep discouragement. And you’re tempted to say perhaps something like, well, there are so many hypocrites in the church. I wonder if any worship is really real and value. something like that or why should I attempt to live the Christian life when God doesn’t bless the righteous anyway the wicked or the wonder prospering but you must not speak in haste the psalmist in Psalm 16 talks about guarding your mouth here’s what he says in Psalm 116 verse 11 I said in my haste all men are liars he said it in his haste because it’s not true that all men are liars there are godly men who are true and honest. It’s wrong for us to say or do anything in haste to jump to conclusions. I think James captures it for us in James chapter 1 and verse 19. Be swift to hear, slow to speak. Slow to wrath. What a lot of trouble. This would save us. The proverb, the writer of Proverbs says this in Proverbs 29, 20, seeest thou a man that is hasty in his words there is more hope of a fool than of him. Proverbs 1528, the heart of the wise study of the answer. Doesn’t blurt out an answer. He thinks about it first before he speaks. Gives some thought to it. Proverbs 1019, in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin. But he that restrainseth his His lips is wise. It’s better not to utter everything that’s on our mind. Think about it before we speak. We should implement this important principle. The story is told about a young man in the middle ages who went to a wise friend for advice. And it seems that the young man was guilty of spreading a slanderous story. about someone that wasn’t true. In his anger against this individual, he decided he would hurt the man by slandering him. And he asked his friend, well, what should I do now? He said, his friend said to him, here’s what I want you to do. He says, I want you to go out throughout the whole town and put a feather on the doorstep of every house. So he goes out and puts all these old. feathers out on the doorstep. He comes back to his friend. And he says, now what? He says, now I want you to go back and pick up all the feathers? And a young man looked at him and said, that’s impossible by now. They’re blown all over the place. And his friend said, so have your slanderous words been spread about so much so now that it’s impossible for you to take them back. Therefore, you always must be careful what you say, because you can’t always take it back. think what would happen if Asaph had said what he was thinking here. Always remember that every idle word you speak, you’re going to have to own up to somewhat day before God. So you must keep yourself from speaking impulsively. Now notice secondly. You must consider the consequences of what you say or do. Behold, he says, in the second part of verse 15, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. What he’s saying here is you have to think about what effect is going to take place because of what you say. What’s going to happen if you say these things? The problem was very clear in Asaph’s mind. The ungodly prosper. I have to mourn my sins and I’m trying to obey God and I’m trying to obey God and I’m not prosper. But he’s saying, here, let me examine this again. Let me turn this over in my mind. Let me meditate upon this a little bit further. Before I speak rashly, let me look over this situation because if I say this, it’s going to offend God’s family, God’s people. We can avoid a lot of tragedies in life if we would look a little further before we leap. To speak against God. against his ways. It’s a dangerous thing to do, so we must be careful and hesitate before doing so. Remember poor Joe, who lost all his flocks and his herds and his harseseseses and all in one day. He loses his health as well. And his children, his exasperated wife, urges him to give up the faith. Why don’t you just curse God and die? And Job refuses to speak rashly against God, and he calls his wife’s suggestion that of an ungodly woman. In all this, we read that Job did not sin with his lips. He kept his tongue. He refused to blaspheme God because of his testimony. terrible troubles. He was not ready to cast away the faith. He wants to ponder the matter further. Let’s consider the consequences of what we say. Nothing you do in this life is without consequences. And so many troubles arise because we forget that causes lead to effects. Sometimes we don’t think far enough they had to think, well, if I say this, what’s going to happen? Asaph catches himself. He says, if I say this, this is what’s going to happen. Your one problem sometimes monopolizes your mind and your attention so much that you’re not thinking about consequences. But Asaph here considers them. You recall that Nehemiah was the man called by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down many years before by the Babylonians who conquered the city. And he met with all kinds of opposition to building the walls, especially from his enemies, Sandballot and Tobay. Who bitterly opposed God’s work, wrote letters to the king of the Medes and the Persians, to try to stop him. It got to the point where the people of God had to be on guard against any attack at all times. And so they’re working with one hand, but they have to have the sword in the other hand. We’re ready at their side. And Nehemi was the leader. He was certainly in a position where his life was in jeopardy. That was a daily concern. In Chapter 6 of Nehemiah, it was someone who pretended to be his friend. His name was Shemaiah. He was actually hired by his enemies. And he can’t. came to Nehemiah, and he said, Nehemi, you’re a good man. Therefore, you must not risk your life in the building of this wall. Well, I’ve heard your enemies are planning to come tonight and kill you. He suggested a proposal whereby Nehemi would flee, hide in the temple, and shut up the doors, and lock them. And you can imagine him doing this in such an ingratiating way. Look, I’m concerned about you, Nehemiahia. You’ve got to protect your self. Now, if Nehemiah had listened, the whole course of Israel’s history would have been changed. But we read that Nehemiah said, lo, I perceive that God had not sent him. This doesn’t sound right to me. The idea must have appealed, though, to Nehemias. He thought over this, he replied, should such a man as I flee? What will happen if I do this? How will my decision? affect those under me? What will they think? What will happen to the Wall project? So he’s considered the consequences. What’s going to happen to his fellow laborers? And immediately, he thinks, this isn’t going to be good, because it would discourage the work, and they would think, well, if Nehemi’s not going to risk his life, why should I risk mine? and would stop the whole project. And he said, no, I’m not going to do this. So you must consider the effect of what you say or what you do. Notice something else. You must consider, or you must be concerned not to offend a brother or a sister in Christ, the generation of that children. Asaph didn’t want to shake the faith of those fellow believers by saying what he was thinking. So he set aside all the perplexities having, all the trouble. He’s understanding this. matter. And he’s thinking, well, here I am. I’m the chief musician. I’m composing spiritual Psalms under the influence of the Holy Spirit. I’m a spiritual leader at the temple. What will this do to my fellow worshippers if I say such a thing as this? The Apostle Paul said this. He said, no man, none of us, liveth to himself, and no man die. to himself in Romans chapter 14 he goes on to elaborate this principle by speaking about his weaker brother in Christ no man should put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way chapter 14 to Romans and verse 13 I don’t want to do anything Paul says that’s going to cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble and so Asap is thinking along the same lines. Paul, you know, we’ll talk about eating meat sacrifice to an idol and how that could lead someone to think that you were involved in the worship of this idol and so forth could lead them astray. But ASAP is thinking, if I say what I’m thinking, it’s going to lead people astray. He does the same thing in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10. In other words, you have to decide your course of action, but you must not decide strictly for what would suit you. You have to be thinking about your brother or sister in Christ. How is it going to affect them? Is it going to offend the generation of God’s children? No man liveth to himself. We’re all bound together as believers. There’s a sense in which there’s one body, one family, and therefore at times we have to check ourselves for the sake of others. what about your family? What about the church? What about other worshippers of Jehovah? Others are involved beside you. Remember when Adam sinned, he plunds the whole human race into sin and death. When Ham sin, the son of Noah, he sinned in such a way affected the whole family line his son’s Canaan for generation to come. The the Canaanites came out of that line and they’re all wiped up of the Israelites later. When Aiken said, the whole nation of Israel suffered because of it. So we should never forget this point. You must consider the consequences of what you say or even what you do. My third point tonight is this. You may have to be content not to solve your problem for the time being. But is this. main problem, Asaph is still puzzled. He hasn’t figured it out yet. He did not understand why the wicked were prosperous, and he was suffering as a godly man. Even after he stopped himself from speaking impulsively, he still couldn’t understand God’s dealings. God had not revealed to him the answer to this yet. But having looked at the thing again, he realized, he realized. if he were to speak, he would offend God’s people. So here is his thinking at this point. I got to hold on to this one truth. And that is, I have no right to offend God’s people. And therefore, I’m not going to question God’s dealings with his children. Even though right now it’s murky and fuzzy for me, I don’t get it. He’s sure that it would be wrong, though. To say such a thing, and offend his brother and sister in Christ. And so here is the thing. When we run into a situation where we’re puzzled, we don’t have the answer. You need to grab hold of a bedrock truth and build on that. So the bedrock truth for him is, I can’t offend my brother or sister in Christ. That I cannot do. Therefore, I keep my lips silent at this point. Find a biblical principle, something that fits your situation about which you are certain and stand on it. It doesn’t solve your main problem, but it keeps you from sinning further, from doing something wrong as you wait for the answer. In a sense, Asaph says to himself, I’m going to have to leave this main problem for the time being. I need more guidance, and I’m going to have to wait for it. God to give it to me. Not everything’s going to be clear to you in life, especially when you’re dealing with God in the way he deals with us and the world. You recall that in the book of Daniel, Daniel had some very strange dreams and visions about the future. It frightened him. It left him stunned and overwhelmed. And Daniel says this, I heard, but I understood not. And I said, oh my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? How’s this all going to turn out? And God says to him, go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed to the time of the end. It’s not for you to know, Daniel. I’m not going to tell you the answer to that. You recall the remarkable problem that Habakkuk, the minor prophet, had? His problem was that you couldn’t understand how God could use the wicked Babylonians to punish the Israelites. that didn’t make any sense. God is a holy God. How can you hold your peace when the wicked devire the man, meaning the Israel, that is more righteous than he is? How is that possible? Having raised the question, Abakok then proceeded to wait for God’s answer. Remember what he said in chapter two, I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower. I’m going to go up in the watch tower. I’m going to wait for God to give me the answer and the Lord eventually does give him the answer. God explained it to him that he would indeed punish the Babylonians in due time. but he’s going to use them right now to chasten his people. Always act upon the truth that you know. And the truth that we know is this, that truly God is good to Israel, even to such as of a clean heart. Find a place in which you can find some firm footing so that your feet don’t slide. Don’t slip. It’s like mountain climbing. If you’re slipping, you grab hold of something. Maybe it’s a root or a branch or a hole that’s a hole in a rock that’s sticking out or something. You grab a hold of something to keep you from falling. You gain your composure and then you begin climbing again. Two brief conclusions. The first is this. you must realize that truth is interrelated. There’s no such thing as an isolated truth. Asaph here started thinking about only one problem, the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous. But he soon realized that interrelated with this was his offending the people of God if he wasn’t careful in what he said. What you believe in one, area is bound to affect another area. You know, when you believe in the doctrines of grace and you believe in man’s total depravity, then you realize it has to be unconditional election. It has to be an atonement that’s made by Christ and not a cooperative effort between Christ and man when it comes to redemption, that it takes the irresistible grace to save a person and so forth. If one is true, the others have to be true. There’s people say, well, I’m a two-point Calvinist or a three-point Calvinist. No, you’re an inconsistent person. That’s what you are. For instance, look at the theory of evolution that so-called scientists have talked about. How does that affect the doctrine of sin and man’s fallen at them? Have you ever thought about that? The Bible teaches the wages of sin is death. Evolution teaches us that death came before Adam. For Adam was even evolved. Death came prior to that. The death is just a natural process, leading to further development of the species and so forth. My friends, this affects the doctrine of faith. The doctrine of the atonement. Why do you need an atonement if this is just natural? So don’t be quick to form opinions on one area by itself, remember these areas are interrelated. Look at the big picture. Take everything in. Try to look at the whole thing before you jump to conclusions. The second thing tonight is this. You must have a list of things you must never do. ASAP is saying, I must never offend my brother in Christ. Can’t do that. God has given us. a list of nevers. He gives us, Thou shalt not. Certain things to us should be unthinkable. I like how Paul puts it in Ephesians 5.3. But fornication, sexual sin, in all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you has become a saint. Can’t have it. That’s a list of something you should never do. Look at the appalling increase we have in divorce. The divorce rates in our conscience. country at the present time. You know what? It’s due to, I think, a failure to realize this principle. Two people get married. They make these solemn vows before God and others. They pledge that they will stay married till death do us part. And yet, there are people who get married, and they ought to lock the door to getting divorced. We shouldn’t never get married with the idea, well, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just find somebody else. Going to strict guidelines for divorce. Only if there’s sexual sin, and only if there’s desertion. Outside of that, you are to stay with that spouse, and you should go into the marriage with that clearly in mind. That should be bedrock. Can never do this. Outside of a lot of what those two areas that may occur. The trouble today is that people no longer believe in absolutes. ASAF believes in absolutes. I’m never going to say anything which is going to make my brother struggle. So you need to have biblical absolutes fixed in your mind. Things that you will never do that would affect God’s cause or his people and caused harm to them. Remember, you’re a Christian. You’re bought with a price, and therefore you’re not your own. The absolute scriptures of absolutes of scripture must be stood upon firmly so we can keep ourselves out of a lot of trouble. Well, let us close with a word of prayer tonight.