Psalms 73:27-28

Psalm 73, reading verses 27 and 28 for our text and study this evening. For lo, they that are far from thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them that go a hoaring from thee. But it is good for me. to draw near to God. I put my trust in the Lord, God, that I may declare all my works. And God blessed to us his sacred and holy word this evening. When Napoleon was engaged in the momentous battle of Waterloo, among one of the prisoners that was taken by the French, was a Highland Piper from Scotland. And Napoleon was impressed by his mountain garb. It was kind of strange looking, his determined air. And so he struck up a conversation with the captive. Seeing that his bagpipes with him, he asked him if he would play a tune, which he did. And then Napoleon, and said, now I’ll play a march. And the Scotschmen complied and played a march. Then Napoleon said, now play a retreat. And the Scotlandman said, nay, nay, that I cannot do. I never learned to play one. Falling the Lord means there’s no turning back. There is no retreat possible for us. We can’t go back to the world in which we have now been separated, from which we have been separated. Asaph here states his resolution in verses 27 and 28, to trust in the Lord and to never be far from the Lord. For him, like the Highlander, there is no retreat possible. He has learned an important last thing, and being envious of the wicked, and he will cling to the Lord and powerfully declare all his wonderful works while he is here on this earth. You’ll recall that Asaph has been living a godly life, but he’s been suffering. He looks around him, and he sees many who are living a wicked life, and yet they seem to be prospering. This high highly upsets ASAP. He finds fault with God. He tells us that his feet had well nigh slipped. He was ready to give up the faith. He was confused. He was bewildered. He didn’t know what to think until he went to the house of God. And there it was that he was given insight and understanding. And he came to a right understanding about God, that God is indeed almighty and sovereign and just in all his ways. He came to a right understanding about the wicked. Why God has set their feet in slippery places, and they are doomed. And he came to a right understanding about himself, how foolish and ignorant he really was to even think the way he had been thinking. At this point, we read that ASAF rejoiced in the grace of God that has been granted to him. What he was was because of his relationship to God. And he finds satisfaction in God alone, as we talked about in our last study. These closing verses provide, as I said, ASAF’s resolution. He resolves to concentrate. on staying near to God. Asaph provides you with a whole philosophy of life here in this short section of Scripture. The purpose that you should have in life is to trust in God and draw near to him. Have you arrived at the same conclusion of Asaph? Have you come to see that that is indeed what life is all about. Is that your resolution tonight? Let me begin by saying the one thing that matters in life is your relationship with God. ASAP’s resolution should be yours as well as he tells us here in verse 28, it is good for me to draw near to God. It’s good for me. Now when he begins the contrast himself with others. Whatever may be true about them, he knows that for him, it is good that he draws near to God. His chief aim is, of course, to stay near God. Notice how he contrasts his desire with that of the wicked in verse 27. Lo, they that are far from these shall perish. so what is his desire? I want to be near the Lord God. These are really the only two real positions in life. Either you’re far from God or you’re near unto God. No doubt, viewing his own experience, Asaph has come to the conclusion that at the heart of his problem was the fact that he didn’t keep near unto God. He started drifting away from God. Previously, he thought his problem was he was suffering while the wicked were prospered. That really wasn’t a problem. Now that he’s been given enlightenment in the house of God, Asaph sees quite clearly that the root cause of his problem is something else didn’t keep near to God. And really, the only thing that ultimately matters in life is your relationship with God. When you think about it, if you’re near to God, does it really matter what happens to you in this life? That relationship supersedes everything else. I’m reminded of the three Hebrew children that were cast into the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. And they, you remember Nebuchadnezzar built this huge golden image, demanded everybody. bowed down and worship and they wouldn’t do it. He says, I’ll throw you into the fiery furnace. He says, well, whether you throw us, they said, whether you throw us into the fiery furnace or not, we’re not going to do it. Whether our God, who is able to deliver us, delivers us or not, doesn’t matter. Well, God did not immediately deliver them. And indeed they were thrown into the fiery furnace, and the king was so mad. He said, heated up seven times hotter than it normally gets heated up. The men, the soldiers who threw these three Hebrews into the furnace died. It was so hot. The heat was so intense. And there they are inside the furnace. When the king looks in, he sees four men instead of three. There’s Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo. And they’re walking around in the furnace. and the fourth he says is like the son of God. Christ was with them. Was he not? And isn’t that all that mattered at that point? So when he gets them out of the fiery furnace, he calls them forth out of the fiery furnace. They’re not even singed with regard to their clothing. If you’re far from God, nothing can be right with your life. Being estranged from God takes the enjoyment of even the prosperity and riches that you may have away from you. What show a prophet of the man? If he gained the whole world and ended up losing his soul in the end, have you come to realize this important truth? So Asaph’s resolution should be yours as well. Notice your happiness doesn’t depend upon things. Your happiness depends upon a relationship with God. Now, we all tend to think somehow or other if we have the right things, I guess we would be happy. Most people believe that happiness ultimately comes down the possessions and riches, maybe position in life. And it’s just because Asaph had been thinking along these lines that it got himself in such a miserable state. Because God didn’t give him all the things he thought he needed to be happy. The very sight of the wicked, the very prosperity they enjoyed upset him. He was angry with God. He got upset with God because of it. But the secret to happiness, Asaph has found, was being near God. When you move away from God, everything goes wrong. I remind you of Jonah, who fled from the presence of the Lord. How did things go for him? Well, we got the shipwreck, we got him swallowed by the great fish. We have him. him in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, and he was miserable. Like Asaph, we have to realize the one thing we truly needed life is to be near God. Peace and joy and happiness is found in God alone, in a right relationship with him, not in material possessions. We could even say that even material possessions cannot be properly enjoyed unless you have a right relationship with God. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter 24, verse 13, 14. I want to mention a sermon that was preached by Jonathan Edwards, Edwards, on this text of scripture. Proverbs 24, 13, and 14. My son, eat thou honey because it is good in the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste. So shall the knowledge of wisdom be under the thy soul. When thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward and the expectation shall not be cut off. The sweet things, the sweetness of life is connected with a right relationship with God, knowing the wisdom of God’s truth, which of course, is to know the wisdom of God’s truth, which of course, of course, and have a right relationship with him. Jonathan would once preach on this text on the pleasure and happiness of knowing God. That was his text, his title. He said, it would be worth the while to be religious if only for the pleasantness of it. He said one reason that religion does not, that this is true, is that religion doesn’t deny you a moderate, earthly enjoyment of pleasures. They allows legitimate ones. God has given us richly all things to enjoy. So there’s not what we can’t enjoy the things of life, but it requires moderation, which in the end heightens the pleasure of having the things that God has given us. rather than destroying it. Secondly, he said, religion sweetens pleasures because it pursues them in connection with a conscience that is right with God. So that there’s a sense in which if we have a clear conscience with God, we can enjoy these things to their maximum. There’s no guilt involved in that. Unlike that. the wicked, finally, the righteous and joy, their pleasures assured of God’s blessing. Well, the ungodly do not have such satisfaction. God’s wrath hangs over them. God’s wrath isn’t hanging over you, if you know the Lord. A little religion with a clear conscience brings more joy, he said, than a great deal with trepidation of mind. The true religion brings spiritual joy, which is far superior to the carnal joys that this world offers. There’s no comparison. And so I think Edwards hit on something here that is true and that we should recognize. But one thing it really matters then, ultimately, is your relationship with God because even if you had riches and all the pleasures and so forth, you wouldn’t be happy in that situation, ultimately, outside of a relationship with God. Secondly, why you should continue to pursue fellowship with God. Verse 27, he tells us here that we need to contemplate the fate of those who don’t seek the Lord. For though, for they that are, far from thee shall perish thou hast destroyed all them that go hoaring from thee. Asaph here is anxious to safeguard himself from ever falling into this problem that he had, the trap of being envious of the wicked. He’s concerned that he doesn’t fall back into that again. And he realized, even though the ungodly may prosper in this world and increase in riches as verse 12 tells us, the end is they shall perish. And this is what he reiterates here in verse 27. If you’re far from the Lord, you’re going to perish. No question about it. Aesaf knows that God has set their feet in slippery places. They’re going to be utterly consumed. This is the way it’s always going to be with those who are far from God. When I use this phrase far from God, there are really two categories of people we could fit in this situation. One is the heathen, who really have no knowledge of God in his ways. But the second group of people are those who we might call religious hypocrites, who Jesus said, according to Isaiah, as he quotes him, they will draw near to God with their mouth, but their hearts are far from the Lord. And so those who are married to the Lord by because they’re brought to salvation have this close union with God. But he talks about those who, in verse 27, go a hoaring from God. this means being unfaithful. The language is used as of those who would engage in following the world or following the wicked ways, but professing to know the Lord. And of course, they prostitute themselves to others. As James calls them, adulterous, adulterers and adulterers, altruces who make their peace with the world and follow the world. We have Judas who went a whoring away from God because of money. We have Simon Magis who went a whoring away from the Lord because of power that he wished to possess and so forth. You remember the story of Abraham of L. lot back in the book of genesis you recall that abraham and lot split apart because of their such great herds and flocks and so forth they just couldn’t stay together the land couldn’t bear that much and so they separated and it seemed like Abraham was the loser said a lot you you choose first and I’ll just take the other part you choose one way I I’ll go the other way. Well, Lot chose the well-watered plains of Sodom and Gomorrah. Very lush, very fruitful place. Abraham wandered about the mountains with his sheep. Law had a prosperous position in the cities of the plain. Because we find him as a judge in the gate of Sodom, he flourished materially. He flourished in position. He was honored and exalted in that position. But Sodom and Gomorrah were filled with vileness and immorality. The people were far from God. And my friends, it troubled the righteous soul of law. It vexed his righteous soul every day. It was a dangerous place. for a child of God to be in. So you might ask yourself, well, does it pay to be godly? Seems like Abraham got shortchanged in this situation. Wasn’t he the loser? Well, how did this story end? Who is classified as the friend of God? Who is the one that God confided in when he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? It wasn’t a lot. It was Abraham. It was Abraham. And there came a point at which those who were far from God were going to perish. For God sent his two angels over to Sodom of God to destroy it. And it wasn’t for Abraham’s intercession. You wonder what would have happened a lot. God indeed destroyed those who turned their backs upon the truth and lived profanely. And righteous law, escape by the scheme. of his teeth. And how does he end up in the end? As a Herman in a cave, that’s what happens when we compromise with the ungodly. We’ll begin to drift from God. As you read your newspapers, as you perhaps listen to the news, you may see that there are those in this world who are very wicked, and yet they seem to prosper. They seem to somehow or other be getting ahead with regard to this world’s goods and so forth. The glory, the wealth, the esteem is all theirs, but it’s only temporary. It’s only fleeting. It’s going to come to an end. In the end, they are the losers. And God promises destruction is going to be their end. The wicked are under the condemnation of God, under his wrath, under his curse, you, must see through the vanity and emptiness of the wicked and their prosperity. Resolved to be like ASAP. I’m going to stay near God. I’m going to keep near God. Don’t let your faith be shaken by what you see around you. Their earthly goods really are only temporary. There was an old minister who once taught an important lesson to a farmer in his community in years past. This farmer decided on one particular wet summer that he was going to harvest his crops on the Lord’s Day. He was going to harvest his crops during the Christian Sabbath. This despite the fact that the minister warned him and others warned him against doing this. The farmer decided he was going to do it anyways. And he had a marvelous crop. The barns that he had were bulging with all the produce. And he ran into the minister. Told the minister where your preaching must be wrong. Sudden calamity has not fallen upon me. My barns have not caught fire. God has not taken away any of my children. from me or robbed me of my wife and yet I have done the very thing you told me and warned me not to do because there were consequences to follow. Nothing happened. What has become of your preaching now? The minister looked at him and replied, God does not always settle his accounts in the all. You must always keep that in mind when we see the prosperity of the wicked. God does not always send destruction at once. It may be a while before he does some. The message of God is this. flee from the wrath to come. It is sure and certain to come. Unless we know the Lord, he is our refuge and our protection. Contemplate the fate of those who do not seek God contemplate also the character of your God. Why is it good to draw near to God because God is good to his people? Verse 1. The key to the whole Psalm is there. Surely God is good to Israel such as are of a clean heart. And we talk about good. We’re talking about his grace, his love, his favor, rest upon the people of God. Sadly, I’m afraid that this whole idea of contemplating the character of God is often lost in worship today. One of the reasons is we don’t sing the Psalms, which is full of the character of God and talks much about it. We’ve gotten away from that. But the Scriptures would have us contemplate. And this shouldn’t be overlooked by believers. If we don’t contemplate the character of God as we should, then we don’t appreciate who God really is. And why we should be drawing near to him. At times, I’m afraid people loathe to draw near to God at the throne of grace and in prayer. We’re always quick to ask God for a favor. Asaph here seems to be emphasizing the greatness and the majesty of his God. He calls him here the Lord God. I will put my trust in the Lord God. Adonai Jehovah here. This is the sovereign God. The Almighty God. The Creator of heaven and earth. And Jehovah indicates to us this idea of Him being the covenant God. The idea that he has entered into a covenant relationship with his people. And indeed, he is a God who has a bond of friendship with us. He is our God, and we are his servant friends. Who serve him in this life. This is the one we put our trust in. He has a gracious purpose for us as believers as we go through this life. He is a God who has planned your salvation from all eternity and he’s working it out right now. In fact, he’s working within you both the will and the do of his good pleasure to bring about our salvation ultimately. He has pledged himself to your well-being, to your eternal happiness, He has given you Christ as a surety that this will come to pass. What is eternal life? This is eternal life. That they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. This is why we need to draw near to God. We should ponder his promises. We should promise his power, his majesty, his mercy, keep our minds on the character. of the Lord God. Contemplate the character of God. Contemplate the benefits which come in knowing this God. Being near to God is the place of salvation. This is why Asaph wants to remain there. You’ll recall the misery and pain he experienced when he began to drift away from God. But when he went to the house of God, he understood the end of the wicked, and now his joy has been restored to him. He rejoices in God. While the wicked are headed for hell and destruction, why God has a place reserved for him in glory. You’ll guide me by thy counsel in this life and you’ll take me to glory when it comes time to die. God is the God of salvation. What a priceless peace this gives us. us to know that God is working all these things to our good to the end that we would be with him ultimately. Being near to God is the place of safety. As you look into the unknown future, you don’t know what awaits you. You don’t know what’s going to happen in your life. Certainly, we all crave to have security and satisfaction. But who or what are you going to trust in? The only hope we have for that is God. Like Asaph, we should say, I have put my trust in the Lord God, Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God. He is my confidence as I go through this life. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they’re safe. The psalmist tells us, or the writer of Proverbs 1810. When you find yourself in the midst of trials, the best thing to know, is that the Lord stands by you, that he’s with you. I like what Paul says as he finishes the last chapter, the last verses of chapter 8 of Romans. He says, I am persuaded. It’s a good thing to be persuaded on. That neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now that is a wonderful thing. Whatever happens, God loves you, and God’s concerned about you, and He’s good to you. And He’s his favor rest upon you. Surely, that’s which we should take the heart. And then contemplate the privilege you have of glorifying the Lord. the last phrase, I should say, of the last verse of the chapter. I have put my trust in the Lord, God, that I may declare all his works. He says, I’m determined to keep near God, and I am also determined to declare who this great God is to the world around me. I have learned great lessons from this God, and I want others to know the same thing. that God has taught me. When you keep near to God, you’re blessed. And when you’re blessed, you have a desire to testify about God to others. This is the point which we must all arrive at. What is our chief end in this life? But to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. To glorify His name. Your task is to tell others about this great God, about the person of the person Jesus Christ. You can’t glorify God unless you draw near Him. Unless you know Him. Let me conclude with this brief statement about how you might ask, do I keep near God? How’s that possible? Well, one thing is you need a life of prayer. Truly, we should realize who God is and once we realize who God is, and once we realize who God is, God is that we want to talk with him. We want to lay out our burdens before him, knowing he, as I said this morning, that he cares for us. That’s how you draw near to God. You should read the Scriptures. Isn’t the Scriptures God’s voice to us? Are they not God’s voice to us? Does He not speak to us through the Scriptures? Therefore, why wouldn’t we want to communicate with God and have Him speak to us. So prayer and scripture reading, it’s drawing near, it’s the way to draw near to God. Public worship. It was when Asaph went to the House of God, he got understanding, that he got insight. He wanted to draw near to God. Worship the Lord God. For the Bible tells us about Christ being with his people, even when they’re just two or three, or gathered together. He’ll be there in the midst. There’s a special sense. There’s a special sense in which God meets with his people in worship. You read about one of those songs where the scripture talks about at Jerusalem. There’s a specialness about it that’s not found in all the houses of Israel. It’s because there God meets with his people in a special way. Oh yeah, he’s in your house if you’re a believer. But there’s a special way he needs when his people come together and worship him. We need to meditate upon this God. Another way to draw near him. It is we have to think about him. One of the Psalms talks about counting up the blessings that God has given us because there were so many. And we shouldn’t forget all his benefits that he’s granted us. And then, of course, obedience to God. what is some way that our fellowship can be broken? Isn’t it when we go astray? Then we’re not drawing near to God. Where our fellowship is, there’s a separation. Your sins are separated between you and God. Therefore, drawing near to God means obeying His Word in our daily life and seeking God’s forgiveness when we fail that we may not be far from God. We may get right back to where we were. May God bless to us this Psalm as we’ve studied it. I hope it was a blessing. It was a blessing to me to study this Psalm. and I think it’s something we all always keep in mind as we go through this life. can be misled but what we see around us we’re not thinking spiritually. us think’s thoughts after us has he revealed them. to ASAP so that our thinking may be clear and right and realize how important it is to be near to the Lord our God. Let’s close with a word of prayer tonight.