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Wrestling with Doubt
Psalm 73
As we begin the third book of the Psalms there is an obvious distinction. The first eleven Psalms in this book are Psalms written by Asaph. Up until this point we have only seen one other Psalm written by him, Psalm 50. According to 1 Chronicles 6:39 Asaph was in charge of the songs in the house of the LORD. In 1 Chronicles 16:4-5 David appointed Asaph as the chief minister of worship. Asaph, from the tribe of Levi, is a skilled musician who has a heart for God. David himself was a skilled musician. We can trust that in appointing someone to the task of overseeing the music in the Tabernacle, David was qualified. He knew music and he knew worship.
This Psalm falls into the category of what we call wisdom literature. Other books that fall into this category are Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and Job. Wisdom literature deals with the questions often asked about life. These books help us live in a world that can be difficult to live in.
In this Psalm we see a frustrated man of God. He is wrestling with doubt. He is honest about his feelings. His main concern is that wicked people seem to be doing very well in this world. He admits that he is even envious of the wicked. It seems that he thinks the prosperity of the wicked is somehow an attack against his belief system. If God is good, then why does He allow the wicked to prosper? As we work through this Psalm, we will see a man who believes in God wrestle with his own doubts.
Here is how we will outline the Psalm:
A summary of the Psalm (1-3)
The Psalmists perception of the wicked (4-12)
The Psalmists testifies of his struggle (13-17)
The Psalmists certainty of God’s justice (18-20)
The Psalmists confession and comfort (21-28)
1. A summary of the Psalm (1-3).
A. God is good (1).
Notice that he begins the Psalm with a solid affirmation of faith. He knows that God is good. He knows that those who are pure in heart have nothing to fear. God is good to them. This is where all of our wresting must start. The middle of a trial is no place to develop your theology. Your understanding of who God is must be shaped by Scripture not by circumstance. If you are convinced through the testimony of Scripture that God is good you can win any battle. The Psalmist, before he begins revealing his doubts reveals what he knows about God. This Psalm begins and ends with the goodness of God. Wrestle with God if you need to, but make sure you begin and end with the truth Asaph began and ended with: God is good.
B. Asaph was struggling (2).
You’re going to see that in this Psalm. Look what he said in verse two. He says he nearly fell. He was in a slippery place. He’s not talking about physically falling. He’s talking about falling morally. He’s talking about embracing and living by ideas that contradict the Word of God. He was close to believing the lies of the devil. The devil will attack everything we believe about God. He will attack:
The existence of God.
The love of God.
The power of God.
The identity of God.
The judgment of God.
Whatever truth the Bible declares about God the devil will challenge it. Even the most seasoned of believers must be careful not to believe his lies.
C. Asaph was envious (3).
He was envious of the foolishly arrogant and the wicked. They seemed to have a better life than he did. He was comparing himself with them. For a moment he believed they had it better than he did. It’s this mindset that causes us to forsake the Lord.
We may think:
How will I ever find a person to marry me if I live for God? So few people live for God?
How will I ever make a decent living if I’m giving my money to the Lord?
How will I ever have friends if I have these Biblical convictions?
The reality is the devil will whisper, “You’d have so much more if you didn’t have God.” Sadly, we are sometimes prone to believe him. Asaph says in this Psalm what few believers would be willing to say. But the truth is most believers have felt this way at times in their journey with the Lord.
There we have a summary of the Psalm. Asaph knows that God is good, but he is tempted to believe the devils lies because the wicked prosper and he is envious.
2. The Psalmists perception of the wicked (4-12).
A. They are healthy (4-5).
Asaph says the wicked live long and healthy lives. He says they don’t get sick. They live healthily all the way up to the day they die. Asaph knows godly people who are older and are suffering in their bodies. They are weak and sick. They are confined to a home or even confined to a bed. It appears these wicked people never get sick. Even in old age they are strong and healthy.
There may be temptation in our day to envy the wicked who have the money in their old age to take care of themselves physically. They have no problem seeing a doctor or getting the drugs they need. Prosperity can make it easier to be healthy. The truth is that wicked people often do suffer as they get older. Asaph is simply thinking about some specific people he knows. It seems to him that the majority of wicked people live a better quality of life than the majority of godly people he knows.
B. They are proud and violent.
Their pride is what leads to their violence. They think themselves so much better than others. Others do not matter to them at all. Asaph says they are clothed in pride. They wear their pride like someone would wear jewelry. In other words, they are proud of their pride.
Look at verse eight. With their words they threaten others. If they don’t get their way, they will make life difficult for those who oppose them.
In verse nine we see they use their words against heaven and earth. They think themselves better than anyone in heaven or on earth. Notice the end of verse nine. Asaph says their tongue is strutting through the earth. Have you ever known someone who could strut standing still? We all know people who strut with their tongue. They want everyone know who they are, what they have and what they can do.
C. They are prosperous (7, 12).
Verse seven says their eyes swell out through fatness. They have far more than they need. When you look at them you can tell they are pampered. They lack for nothing.
There are wicked people in this world who have enough money to buy anything they want. If they want it, they get it. It’s difficult for the person who is serving God and struggling to make ends meet to understand that. Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was sick and poor. The rich man was wealthy & healthy. By God’s grace through the words of Jesus we can see those two men beyond the grave. But when we look at those type of people on this side of eternity it can be frustrating.
D. They are loved by people (10).
Even though these wicked people oppress others, people still flock to them. The reason being they want what these people have. They want a piece of the action. No matter how ungodly someone may be, if they are prosperous, many people will want to be just like them.
People overlook character if you have cash. Popularity is not dependent upon integrity. If you can make money you can make friends. This shows how shallow humanity really is.
E. They have no fear of God (11).
It’s interesting that these people do believe in God. They even call Him the Most High at the end of verse eleven. These are not atheists. These are people who think God doesn’t care about the way they live. They seem to be mocking God saying, “What God doesn’t know won’t hurt!” Asaph wonders why God would let people taunt Him in this way. Surely God could put an end to the foolishness of these people. I think this was probably what was so difficult for Asaph. He feared God. He walked humbly before the Lord. Yet these ungodly, proud men who taunted God seemed to do what they wanted without any repercussions.
People haven’t changed, have they? Asaph’s description of these wicked people is very similar to many people in our own day. I know I have wondered many times why God allows certain people in our world to continue to prosper.
3. The Psalmist confesses his sin (13-17).
A. He felt it was useless to live a righteous life (13-14).
He lived a life of purity only to be repaid with daily trials. To him it appears that the wicked who have hands stained with the blood of the innocent are blessed. But he has clean hands and is punished by God every morning. He is reasoning that it would be better not to live for God, maybe then he wouldn’t be punished by God.
The Christian can relate. Those who live for God have often found themselves asking the same types of questions:
Why am I tithing if those who don’t tithe have more money than me?
Why am I going to church if those who don’t go to church have more than me?
Why am I seeking to live a holy life if those who live in sin are happier than me?
These were sinful thoughts he was dwelling on.
B. He knew the danger these thoughts could cause others (15).
If he had told the people of God what he felt it could cause them to stumble. If he stood up during worship and said all the things he was dwelling upon others might agree with him.
There are those who say we should say what is on our mind. That isn’t always the case. Sometimes what’s on our mind should not be on our mind. It is best to keep sinful thoughts to yourself. Nothing spreads sin as easily as the tongue does. Wrestle with God in private, not in public.
C. He recognized his sin when he went to the house of God (16-17).
He tried understanding all the thoughts he had but it was a painful task. In verse sixteen we can see how burdened he was. If he acted on his feelings, he knew the damage he would cause. I’m sure no one knew the inner turmoil Asaph was experiencing. He would rise each Sabbath and lead worship as God had called him to. It was his job. There are many like Asaph. There are many who have never let on that they are wrestling with doubt. Thank God Asaph was a mature believer. He thought about more than himself. He knew that because of his position as a worship leader he had the potential to destroy the faith of others. Because of this he kept his thoughts to himself.
In verse seventeen we see where his problem was resolved. He said all this continued until he went to the house of God. What happened in the house of God?
He saw other faithful believers dealing with their own problems yet present at worship.
He heard the songs of the faith sung.
He saw the Tabernacle itself which contained the Holy of Holies. The presence of God dwelt in that place.
He heard the Word of God taught.
I think the most important thing he encountered in the house of God was the Word of God. He says when he went their he understood the end of the wicked. In other words, he learned something. What he learned was that God will punish the wicked and he learned this from the Word of God.
I can’t tell you how important it is to come to church. So much happens at church for the believer. If we remove ourselves from the presence of the saints and the teaching of the Word of God, we open ourselves up to many temptations. The Word of God will keep us from many sins. I find it interesting that this man who worked in the house of God found the answer to his problem in the house of God. Some might think he needed a break from his job. He spent a lot of time in the Tabernacle. But it was in the Tabernacle, a place he was very familiar with, that the Lord did a work in his life. Sometimes we allow church to become routine. We are not engaged. We are not seeking God. When those days happen, we can become worldly in our thinking. Simply being at church will not ensure victory in your life. Draw near to God when you are at church.
4. The Psalmist reminds himself of the fate of the wicked (18-20).
A. The wicked are standing in slippery places (18).
Notice the Lord put them in those places. They are not there by accident. Clearly the Lord is judging these wicked people. I don’t know if you have ever tried to stand on a slippery rock or walk on a slippery floor. But watching someone do this can be quiet entertaining. It is also dangerous to walk in slippery places. That’s why “Wet Floor” signs are required in public places. Slippery places lead to falls. The imagery here is of a person falling and dying as a result of the fall.
B. The wicked will be judged quickly (19).
By quickly I don’t mean that as soon as they act in wickedness they will be judged. By quickly I mean suddenly. When they are judged it will happen swiftly. They will have no time to plead their case. There will be no trial. There will be no appeals. When the judgment of God comes it comes quickly. No one falls slowly. The law of gravity ensures that. The law of God will ensure that these wicked men are judged very quickly.
They will suddenly find themselves in great terror. Verse nineteen says they will be consumed by terror. There is not a soul in hell who is not in eternal terror. The most powerful of men in hell are weak and afraid.
C. The patience of the Lord will be exhausted on these men (20).
In verse twenty we see God is roused or awakened. That doesn’t mean He was asleep. It means He was allowing evil to persist for some time. God’s patience is now exhausted, and He rises to judge.
One day the wicked will be like a dream or a fantasy. The wicked are so proud. They want to be known. They want to be remembered. But their entire existence one day will seem like it was just a dream. They will be forgotten. It will be as if all the accomplished was nothing at all. We see the word “image” at the end of verse twenty. The Hebrew word means “phantom”. A phantom is something that doesn’t actually exist.
Sometimes we wonder if we will remember lost people when we go to heaven. I don’t think we will. I don’t think we’ll remember our lost loved ones that go to hell. I think when God wipes away every tear that’s one of the tears He wipes away. The wicked will be forgotten.
5. The Psalmists hope (21-28).
A. He was grieved (21-22).
He admits how foolish he was acting toward the Lord in verse twenty-two. He says he was acting like an animal who has no sense of what right and wrong is.
In verse twenty-one we see how grieved he was over this entire ordeal. He was pricked in his heart by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The maturity of Asaph is evident. He doesn’t make excuses for himself. The thoughts he was dwelling upon were wrong. Were the wicked prospering? Yes, but that was no excuse for his sin.
B. He was held (23-24).
Even though Asaph had failed the Lord, the Lord was still holding onto Him. The Lord had Asaph by the hand and was guiding him through this world. Asaph took great comfort in this fact. He even said the Lord would lead him to glory. In glory Asaph would experience unparalleled prosperity. Why should he envy the wicked when he had far more than they did? There are those who believe the OT saints didn’t have an expectation of heaven. I don’t know how they get around verses like this one. Clearly Asaph’s hope of heaven played a part in his renewed understanding of the prosperity of the wicked on this earth.
If you are saved the Lord has you by the hand. He is holding you. He is carrying you. One of these days He’s going to carry you to glory.
C. He was satisfied (25-27).
He said the only thing he desired in heaven was God and the only thing he desired on earth was God. Therefore, he was satisfied. He already had everything he wanted. He had the Lord.
His flesh and his heart may fail. In other words, he might die. But if they did fail God is his strength. God is his eternal portion. No matter what happens to him he will be ok. You see, after going through this trial Asaph is better prepared to live life and face adversity. He has worked through his doubt. The Lord has strengthened him.
Look at verse twenty-seven. Now he knew not to envy the wicked. The wicked will perish. They will be destroyed. How could you be satisfied living in wickedness with that knowledge? You couldn’t. Asaph is satisfied in the Lord because he knows what happens in eternity for the lost and the saved.
D. He was near God (28).
When the Psalm opened it appeared he was moving away from God. As it ends, we see Asaph drawing near to God.
He admitted in verse one that God is good. In the final verse he admits it is good to be near God. He saw himself drifting from the Lord. By God’s grace he returned to the Lord. He would continue to trust in the Lord. He would continue to testify of the Lord’s goodness.
Let me ask you a question. Is the phrase “God is good!” just a cliché to you? Many people say that phrase, but I don’t know if they mean it. It’s easy to say God is good when you:
Get the job
Recover from the surgery
Are rescued from disaster
The question is can we say, “God is good!” during an awful trial. Asaph was able to say that and that is one of the reasons he came out of this trial close to God. If you’re going to survive doubt and trials in this world you must be convinced now that God is good. Regardless of what happens in your life, God is good. When you are convinced of that truth you can make it through any trial and handle any doubt the devil brings your way.