Text: Psalm 73:1-28 (ESV)
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicaked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
GOD IS MY STRENGTH AND PORTION FOREVER
Asaph, the psalmist, has confessed his envious heart, and it almost stumbled him.[v.1-3] He said,
“Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
His envy happened because of observing their prosperous lives in comparison to the righteous.[v.4-12]
It is said that ignorance is bliss. But, the wicked pompous, and arrogant lifestyle is too prominent to ignore. Our attitudes and behaviors are affected by what we see around us, are they not? The posts in social media[fb, instagram, tiktok] are too much to incite us to envy.
He was deeply bothered or disturbed. He can’t take it out from his mind and heart. It was brewing and churning within. [v.13-16] But, this confusion is soon to end. In what way? He went into the sanctuary of God.[v.17-20]
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
His meeting with God had prompted him towards repentance.[v.21-22]
He realized he was more blessed than the wicked. What were his realizations? [v.23-26]
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Jeremiah warned us not to rejoice in our riches but in our relationship with God. [Jer 9
Finally, having understood, the plight of the wicked, he resolved to stay close to His God and serve Him alone.[v.27-28] He says;
“27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.”
Having realized and resolved that God as his all, his cherished treasure, has made all other things not appealing anymore. In Jesus’parable, we should treasure Him as our pearl of great prize to let go of all other treasures in life. [see Matt 13]
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