Psalm 73:1-22
A Psalm of Asaph. 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. For there are no bands in their death: 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 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 doth God know? And is there 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 they children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
THE DAY OF SALVATION
Perhaps God has moved you to cry out for mercy; and perhaps the Lord has even granted you endurance to wait upon Him for that wonderful gift of grace that He alone can grant unto sinners.
Finally, there comes a day when God speaks the word and takes out your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh. Finally, the day that you have been increasingly more desirous of comes: the day in which you are translated out of the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son (Col 1:13).
Now, spiritually speaking, you are no longer blind. Now you are no longer deaf; you are no longer dead in your sins. But you can see; you can hear; and you now possess spiritual life.
Truly, truly, it is a wonderful experience. At the moment of salvation you have been given eternal life. You are no longer a cursed man. You are no longer under the wrath of God: God’s wrath does not abide upon you. Therefore, you are no longer subject to eternal destruction.
Blessings follow blessings to the child of God. God has given you a new spirit; and has also placed the Spirit of Christ within you. God Himself indwells the child of God. As a result, fruits of the Spirit begin to manifest themselves: love, joy, peace, etc.
All is wonderful. All is well with my soul. But...
...on the other hand, some drastic changes take place at the moment of salvation that can be troubling to the child of God.
FLESH LUSTETH AGAINST THE SPIRIT
First of all, at the moment of salvation a change does take place within the sinner. Previous to salvation his body and soul were in complete agreement in their desire to sin. Both were dead in sin and contrary to God.
But now, God has resurrected the soul of the one He has chosen to save; but has not yet saved the body. God has wisely decided to save the body of an individual on the last day, when He will return and equip all believers (those who have not as yet received their resurrected body) with new eternal resurrected bodies.
At the moment of salvation a sword (the word of God) cuts through an individuals very being and causes a separation to occur between their physical body (which still lusts after sin) and their soul (which is perfect and sinless; and desires intensely to do the will of God). This rift within a person’s own being can be shocking to a newly born again believer. Especially, when we consider just how opposite the flesh and spirit actually are: let’s take a look at a couple of verse, first in Galatians, chapter 5:
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are CONTRARY the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
How contrary is the flesh against the Spirit? Turn over to the book of 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, and we will find out:
...and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who OPPOSETH and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
The Greek word translated as "contrary" in Galatians 5:17: is the same Greek word translated as "opposeth" here in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. This means that the flesh of an believer is set in opposition against the child of God’s spirit-----in the same way that Satan is set to oppose eternal God Himself. From the moment of salvation; and for the rest of their time in the flesh, the child of God will have trouble within, as he struggles with the internal warfare between the flesh and the spirit.
HATED OF ALL MEN
Immediately after being saved troubles begin within the individual believer; but also they will immediately begin to experience troubles without-- in the world around them. Let’s look at some verses that clearly teach how the world responds to the child of God: In Matthew 10, we read:
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Also, in the gospel of John, chapter 15:
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
How does the world show its hatred for the child of God? In various ways, but Luke, chapter 6 tells us some of the main ways the world will demonstrate its abhorrence towards the believer: (Luke 6):
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
The glorious day of salvation has come, and now you are saved. But as a result, the world has a totally different attitude towards you. The child of God might suddenly begin to experience trouble in their home. They might begin to experience trouble in their neighborhood, or in their work place. Troubles within (flesh); and now troubles without (the world). Can anything else be against the child of God?
SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR
In Ephesians, chapter 6, God tells us that even though we struggle with the world and the peoples of the world: that their is a deeper dimension to that struggle: let’s read how God describes this spiritual battle:
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
At the moment of salvation, the flesh becomes contrary to the spirit: at the moment of salvation, the world is contrary to the believer: at the moment of salvation, Satan and his fallen angels are also active in resisting the child of God. Remember what we read about Satan in 1 Peter 5:8
...because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may DEVOUR:
The word "devour" is interesting: it is also found in Hebrews, chapter 11, where it is translated as "drowned":
By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do WERE DROWNED.
The Red sea, in the Bible typifies hell. When Moses led the Israelites across the sea as by dry land this was a beautiful picture of salvation: as the Lord Jesus Christ leads the whole company of believers to the promised land of heaven.
The Egyptians, led by Pharaoh, are a type of the world which is ruled over by Satan. So, just as Pharaoh led his chariots and army into the depths of the Red sea so that they ended up being drowned: likewise, Satan leads his followers to destruction in the pit of hell. Satan is the enemy that desired to sift Peter as though he were wheat. He also desires to destroy every believer in the same way.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CHURCH
Yes it’s true that their will be trouble within. And yes their will be struggles with the world; and with the evil god of this world; but surely the child of God can find some comfort in the corporate church. Surely, as believers seek some fellowship with other like minded souls, as the child of God flees the hostile world------surely the church will be a place of comfort for those cast out by the world?
No my friend, sadly we are living in a day when the church is completely apostate. A day in which every evil that we hope to flee from in the world will be found in the church. The churches (with no exceptions) are not being led by the Spirit of God; but the churches are being led by the man of sin himself (Satan). The churches are not standing for truth and as a result being hated by the world; but the churches are seeking to please the world. The churches are seeking to make friends with the world.
The poor child of God goes to church in order to worship God-----------AND INSTEAD FINDS THAT SATAN HIMSELF IS BEING EXALTED IN THE CHURCHES.
Everything that the believer had hoped to avoid in his struggles with the flesh, the world, and Satan, is found in congregation after congregation in our day.
GOD
What is left for the born again believer but God. God is our comforter. God is our help. God is everything to the child of God.
However, at times, the flesh gets the best of us and we fall into sin. This is the most grievous time for any true believer. Turn to Hebrews, chapter 12:
5)...My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Troubled within, troubled without. Your flesh is even against you. The world is against you. The spiritual forces of this world are against you. The church that ought to be for you, even they in what they teach are against you. And on top of this, at times God chastens you. For a short period of time you do not experience His blessing; but rather you feel the hand of God upon you as a rod.
The child of God cannot live very long without God’s favour. Therefore, the child of God will not continue on in sin; but will turn away from sin (as the Lord moves him to do so).
A BLEAK PICTURE?
What kind of picture of salvation am I painting? Who will be attracted to this type of salvation?
Why people will not want salvation: people will look at those in the world and envy them that they have not experienced these terrible things.
Yes, that is true. And that is what we find in our text: turn over to Psalm 73, notice that the believer mentioned in this Psalm begins by telling us how envious he was of the wicked:
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.
The unsaved do not struggle with their flesh, because their flesh and spirit have made an agreement with sin (and hell). The unsaved do not struggle with the course of this world; but they follow along its evil pathways. The unsaved do not strive with Satan; but do his bidding. The unsaved are not bothered by an apostate church; but fit right in on Sunday. The unsaved are not chastened by God, in fact, it appears that they are not in trouble like other men at all.
Yes, we could envy them their houses, their jobs, their friends, their status, etc. But for the most part the child of God is not bothered too much by these things. But the fact that they are not troubled in soul is most appealing. Let’s read on to see how this sin of envy gnaws away at the child of God:
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. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
Are you cast down my friend? Yes you are thankful that God has saved you; but , O how burdened you are. Especially as the trials and tests of the world have increased so greatly as we go through the time of the greatest tribulation that the world has ever known. Are you cast down dear friend, tired of the chastening hand of God upon you: then, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet (Heb 12: 12,13). Let’s read what corrected the believer’s thinking in Psalm 73, Remember, he was greatly disturbed and pained, until:
Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
Their end. Not their present. Not the current moment. But their end. Once we get our eyes on the fact that an eternal destruction awaits mankind, then all envy of the wicked ought to quickly cease.
Yes, we will experience some troubles for a brief short moment during this life; but let us remember how the situation will one day soon be reversed: go to Luke 16: where we find the parable of the rich man and Lazarus:
But Abraham said, son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
FLOWERY BEDS OF EASE?
Here we are experiencing a "momentary affliction": and shall we faint? As that appropriate hymn says: must we be carried to the sky on flowery beds of ease?
Dear friends, if you are saved then you are guaranteed eternal life. Shall a child of God feel sorry for himself?
Poor me, my flesh...
God will give victory over the flesh more and more as sin will not have dominion over you (read Romans 6).
Poor me, the world is against me...
God knows this. He tells us in 1 John 3:13 not to marvel that the world hate you. He also tells us in John 16 that in the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. We also will overcome the world in the person of Christ. God will be exalted amongst the heathen (Psalm 46:10).
Poor me, Satan and the fallen angels are against me...
Yes. But God says that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Remember, Satan goes about as a roaring lion--------but God shuts the lion’s mouth where the believers are concerned (Daniel chapter 6); also, 2 Timothy 4:20b reveals to us that believers will be delivered "out of the mouth of the lion."
Do you find it hard to endure your lot this day? Then consider the end of the wicked. Consider that except it be for God’s grace that should be your end also. Consider how light and easy then your burden has truly become. Our burden has become light because Christ took the awful burden of eternal destruction away from us; and in its place we have the commission to get the gospel out to this sin cursed world; and endure hardness longsufferingly for the elect’s sake.
May the Lord richly bless you.