Besides You, I Desire Nothing (Psalm 73)

Transcript

AR 4
Besides You I Desire Nothing
Psalm 73
1/25/2026
Austin Rugh

Good evening. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 73, a Psalm of Asaph. This is the first Psalm of “Book 3” of the Psalter. So, if you are in your Bible you see above chapter heading for Psalm 73, at least in my Bible it says Book 3. Book 3 as it’s called, is the shortest of the five books in Psalms. This Palm deals heavily with negative circumstances, the destruction of the sanctuary, and just questions related to God’s involvement with Israel.

In the case of Psalm 73 and many of the chapters to follow, we have a Psalm from Asaph. Asaph was a seer as described in II Chronicles and was in charge of the musicians both during the time of David and the time of Solomon and he’s also described as a prophet under the direction of the king, those kings being David and Solomon. Just like the rest of Scripture, the words we’re going to read are God’s words. Asaph wasn’t just a musical artist, though he was one. But he was also a prophet used by God to write music. So, as we read through this Psalm 73, it’s a reminder that our ultimate desire should be for the Lord. There were a couple of songs that we sang tonight that really laid up well into this. I’m wondering how much foresight Andrew had or if I had just gotten fortunate with God’s providence there. But it really teed up nicely for us, the message. Maintaining that desire for God can be difficult, especially when the people that seem to behave wickedly lived those sinful lives. They can satisfy every earthly desire that you can imagine. But you and I, we’re told to remain faithful to God and our desire is supposed to be for Him, not for the world.

In the beginning though of Psalm 73, Asaph is going to describe how he came close to going after the things that the world has to offer. Watching people that keep getting away with wicked acts. Seeing the easy life that sinners get to live. Being able to indulge in anything that you could ever want. All that starts to weigh on Asaph. He starts to question and consider what he has to show for all his efforts to follow God. So, he’ll begin to doubt the meaning behind any of it. Why have I been up to this service to God if I don’t have anything to show for it compared to all my wicked peers. But God grabs hold of Asaph and draws Asaph back to Himself. Then only by being near to God can Asaph see the pleasures of this world for what they are, and we know them to be temporary. They are fleeting and how all of the people who are of the world are also going to perish with it. The conclusion that God ultimately brings Asaph to isn’t that, oh one day you’ll be rich and healthy just like these people. Just wait and see. But the conclusion, the ultimate realization for Asaph is that our wants, and our desires, are to be for God.

Let’s start with verse 1 of Psalm 73. It says, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart!” Asaph is a Believer and that point needs to be remembered as we go through this because the first portion of the passage is bleak. But he is a Believer and that continues through this whole Psalm. He starts off by acknowledging what he knows about God to be true regardless of the way that he will perceive the situation in the verse to follow. So, this is just like how our own faith and trust in God work. We know certain things about God to be true. No matter how things may look on the outside or the surface to us. We know as our foundation that God will and always will keep His promises to us. God never changes and He will and always will keep His Word. That’s the way Asaph starts off this Psalm and that’s going to be in the back of his mind as he goes through the rest of this. And that’s what Asaph starts by acknowledging and we move into verse 2. (verse 1) Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart! Specifically, before we go on, God is good to Israel and more specifically, to those who are good and pure in heart.

For the Jews, this was a very core understanding especially if you are a student of the Old Testament, to those who lived in Israel, the Jews go through these cycles where they are blessed as a direct result to their obedience to God. But then they will rebel against God and as a result, God will punish them, bring them under some form of oppression by God, and then the Israelites will recommit themselves to God. But each time they find themselves in prosperity, it’s because they are living faithful lives to God. So, Asaph starts off, I know that’s true. I know that God is faithful and He’s just and He will always keep His promises. But just like us, even though we know what God says to be true, is true, that might not be reflected in how we perceive the world from time to time. To borrow a line from Mike Little, the way he shared it to me, was “Sometimes my heart has trouble keeping keep up with my theology.” I know something to be true, but I’m having a hard time wrapping my emotions around that. I like that. In other words, I might find myself to be emotional about something, but ultimately, I know the truth. God is in control and nothing I can do or anyone else can do can thwart God’s plans. It’s the way you feel when tragedy strikes. It can be sad; it can be scary or frustrating and while you’re working through that tragedy, you still know that God is sovereign.

Here we get into Asaph’s confession. Even though Asaph knows God’s words to be true, what’s the problem? Look at verse 2, “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had almost slipped.” Asaph recognizes that he’s the problem. God is good, but as for me, I almost stumbled and slipped.

So, what does it look like to almost stumble and slip? In verses 3 through 12 of Psalm 73, Asaph will focus on a group of people that he characterizes as wicked and boastful and his observation of these people just by perceiving the way they get to live their lives, is what almost causes him to lose his footing, to slip. Maybe to use terms that we’re more familiar with, Asaph admits that he had almost walked away from the faith. He had almost gone the way of the world. Why? Asaph confesses that he had taken his eyes off God, and he’ll explain that though he knows that God is good to him, those who are pure in heart, that the wicked, they seem to have it good, even without God. Verse 3, (Psalm 73:3-5) Asaph says, “For I was envious of the boastful, I saw the peace of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, and their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, and they are not stricken along with the rest of mankind.” These wicked people, they have no relationship with God. They don’t honor God. They don’t have pure hearts before God. Yet it still looks like God is good to these people. Asaph says that these wicked people, they are boastful, they have peace, they don’t suffer in death. All the way to the grave, life is good. They are well-nourished, fat even. They’re not in trouble. And the word for trouble refers to the way you toil, the way you labor, the way you work. And that goes right into Asaph’s comparison of them compared to the rest of the world. Verse 5, “They are not laboring, toiling. They are not in trouble as other men. And they are not stricken along with the rest of mankind.” Asaph, he says to God, “these wicked and boastful people they seem to have it pretty nice compared to everyone else” and Asaph wanted that! He says, “I was envious of them.” That life looks pretty nice. I could get used to that.

Here in verse 6, Asaph talks about just how hard these people are to miss. These days, people can promote virtually every single aspect of their life. It makes it pretty easy to observe just how illustrious the way these wicked people live their lives. You’ll be on social media or in the kids’ pickup line and that other person who DOESN’T go to Sunday night service, just got a new car. Meanwhile, you’re here on a Sunday night with nothing to show for it. We read all the time about dishonest people who have got rich off their schemes, maybe only to pay a small fine, if any fine at all. We can begin to wonder, when will all of my work pay off? When will the sacrifices that I make amount to something? We can find ourselves in a position like Asaph. Asaph wonders, doesn’t God know how hard it’s been for me to keep my heart pure? Meanwhile, these other people seem just to flaunt how easy and prosperous their wicked lives have made them.
Verse 6, “Therefore, lofty pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The delusions of their heart overflow. They scoff and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue goes through the earth.

If I were to summarize this section it is that these wicked people, they’re just loud. Everything about them is very loud. It’s out there, it’s in your face. You can’t miss them. There’s no questioning, no doubting these people are wicked. Their lives are easy and their lives are prosperous. So, these wicked people are loud about everything. It says these people make no efforts to hide how easy it’s been, it’s worn like clothing. Like a necklace. What you wear is often what you represent or what’s been representing on you and pride and violence are evidently what these people represent. They’re proud of their lifestyle. They’re walking evidence that wickedness can pay, does pay in fact. And if you’d like to be successful like them, then follow their example. You know in verse 7 he uses words like bulges of fatness, overflow of the heart, just to demonstrate the sheer amount of their excess. There is not a limit to how much they can consume. They can take it in with their eyes and anything that you could possibly want, they can take and they can keep taking and keep taking. These people have the means to go on and on and on. Their resources, they are never exhausted. Anything they want, they can get. Asaph says there’s no mistaking the sinful nature of these people.

Psalm 73:8-9, “They scoff and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue goes through the earth.” When Asaph speaks of oppression, it’s very serious stuff. I think the term is used a lot today, but these wicked people, they are extorting the less fortunate. They are defrauding people, they are robbing, and simply put, it’s just injustice. It is injustice that goes completely unchecked. There is no punishment, there’s no police to follow, there’s no court. These people keep getting to treat people unjustly, oppressing people and getting away with it and it’s making them filthy rich; there’s no shame in their methods or intentions. In fact, they’re all proud of it. They won’t shut up about it. When no justice seems to be done, then you and I, we’re just missing out by not participating in it ourselves. Why wouldn’t I indulge with them in their wicked activities? It reminds me of the end of Romans 1 where Paul says that the ungodly, they’re so unashamed of their sinful acts, that they give hearty approval to anyone else that participates in them. We are all getting away with it and if you don’t participate in it, it just makes me feel guilty so how about you come along and join me as well. And here’s Asaph, looking on and wondering, maybe it doesn’t even matter that these people are wicked. There’s no justice to follow. Maybe it doesn’t matter. In verse 10, we see that these people, the many “theys” of this passage, it all starts off with they this, they that. The many days that Asaph refers to, they garner a lot of attention. Why? Well, it seems like a pretty nice life, having everything you could ever want and more.

Even today, when you see someone that’s able to live a very indulgent lifestyle, we might ask ourselves how this might be possible. How could someone like me aspire to have what they have? You see a person wearing an expensive item or driving a nice car and you approach and say, “What do you do for a living?” Or maybe it’s less about materials and more about experiences for you. These people seem to go on vacation a lot. Or their life seems perfect. The outward life of these people is attractive. So attractive that these people always seem to have an audience around them. Like James 2 warns us here in the church. If somebody rich with bright clothes and a ring walk in the building, we’re not to give them special attention. What use is the warning? Because we’re prone to give those people attention. There’s an allure about prosperity and in our case in Psalm 73, especially because all of it seems to come at no personal cost to them. Asaph makes note of that in verse 10, “Therefore his people return here, to his place, and waters of fullness are drunk by them. They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High? These people, they openly mock God. Their lavish lifestyle has attracted others, and they can all indulge in it with each other. Then amongst each other, even these people, they begin to question themselves, how do we keep getting away with it. Does God even know? Outside looking in, that’s the question we have all the time. How do they keep getting away with it. But Asaph’s saying even they’re wondering is God even paying attention?

These are the wicked. Verse 12, “Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. You can hear Asaph’s bitterness in this Psalm beginning in verse 3. Asaph describes the wicked as, boastful, at peace, they’re healthy their entire lives, fat, trouble-free, lax, and indulgent and never facing any form of justice. They get to say whatever they want, even bragging about their sinful lifestyles, instead of hiding it in shame like you and I might, even sharing in sin with others. They attract plenty of friends, they live an easy life, and all the while they’re increasing in wealth with a complete disregard for God. You might think, I thought God was a just God. God, why don’t you take care of me, someone who has denied themselves for Your sake, like you seem to take care of the wicked? These are all the thoughts, you can tell these are not great healthy thoughts, but these are all the thoughts that begin to deeply bother Asaph. Yes, he knows God is good to Him. But he’s having trouble making sense of what he sees out there in the world. These thoughts, they almost get the best of Asaph, and he looks out at these wicked people who seem to have achieved a far better life than his own and he falls on himself.

Verse 13, “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence; for I have been stricken all day long and reproved every morning.” I think it’s appropriate really quick in this part, to just draw attention to Asaph’s maybe original intentions here and how it might relate to us. Asaph is a Jew contrary to a Gentile. God made very clear promises to the Jews that if they were obedient, if they acted faithfully, then He would bless them, even physically. But this does not carry over to you and me today. We don’t act faithfully to God so that He blesses us today. Even though we might catch ourselves thinking that way from time to time. That’s the health and wealth Gospel and this very well might be a passage that that preacher might go to to twist and make their point. But for us, and even as Asaph will find out later, physical blessings aren’t our motivation to be faithful. As Asaph will find out in a few verses, just knowing God is enough, as we were saying about a few minutes ago. But where he’s right now, before he can come to that conclusion, Asaph is fixated on why his good works have not resulted in blessings. Asaph says that his heart is pure, his hands are innocent. He’s lived faithfully to the Lord. If there is anyone that is deserving of Your blessings God, it’s me. So, he’s undergoing trials all day long and is put through even more trials the moment he wakes up. So, he asks, God has all this faithfulness been in vain? Asaph has spent all this time making efforts to please and worship God. But the experience that he has on earth is just the opposite of the experience that the wicked get to have. He questions that in vain, in other words for nothing, he kept his heart pure. Because what’s been the outcome? He says that he’s been stricken all day long. Look at verse 14 again. For I have been stricken all day long. Meanwhile, back in verse 5, the wicked appear to experience the exact opposite. Look at verse 5. (Psalm 73:5) “The wicked are not stricken along with the rest of mankind.”

What is the truth? What’s to become of all of Asaph’s faithfulness? The pure in heart? Is it all a waste of time? Does God even notice? There’s a lot of people even in here that have been in service to God much longer than me. 10 years, 20 years, 50 years or more. And you know you might ask similar questions. I seem to be getting a long a whole lot worse than some of these other people. We just finished reading; these are very depressing thoughts. But we need to remember the bigger picture. While Asaph is working through these thoughts, ultimately what does he know to be true? What is the result of having a pure heart. Does Asaph really question whether faithfully following God has been worth it? Remember how this Psalm started off in verse 1. Asaph says that God is good to Israel, to those who are (what?) pure in heart! That’s the truth, regardless of how things appear, that’s the truth. Although he may feel that “in vain I have kept my heart pure,” Asaph knows the truth that it hasn’t been for nothing. That God is good to the pure in heart! His faith remains firm in the midst of these circumstances and trials. But these thoughts, they’re all still racing through his mind.

What does Asaph do when these thoughts of envy and doubt start to creep in. When he finds himself in this miserable spiral of questioning whether or not God is going to notice, reward his faith. What does he do? Does he start writing music for the world? Remember he was the musician in charge of other musicians. As the Seer and effective worship leader of God’s people, his influence would have been tremendous. What if Asaph had gone on to write a Psalm about how useless it was to keep a pure heart before God? What if instead he wrote music about maybe you should just live a wicked life because they seem to be prosperous and happy and God doesn’t even seem to mind about their doings. All the things that he recounted in the first 12 verses here.

This is when real faith in what God says is true. It overcomes the way we might feel about a situation. Verse 15 (Psalm 73:15,16) He asks himself this. If I had said “I will recount thus, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. When I gave thought to know this, it was trouble in my sight.” So, Asaph says that if he had gone on to recount for all of God’s people, that keeping a pure heart, waste of time. That innocence, it’s vanity, that he has nothing to show for it but tribulation, then he would have betrayed the people that God has given him responsible to lead. When he thought about it, he couldn’t even bear it. Verse 16, “When I gave thought to know this, it was trouble in my sight.”
Asaph is trying to figure out what is true here. He’s trying to figure out what to do. He has all of these thoughts, and he needs to do something with them. He knows that he shouldn’t dwell on them. He knows that he shouldn’t envy the wicked. It’s troublesome what he does. But he can’t seem to understand things on his own. What does he do? What are we to do when we lack understanding? We take it to God.

Then we arrive at the tipping point here in Psalm 73 with verse 17. Up until now, we’ve been dealing with the questions Asaph has about the good lives the wicked seem to live, that do live. It seems like a life lived for God accounts for nothing if the wicked live a good life and in a lot of cases, even a better life than mine. But Asaph knows that the truth is God is good to him and that becomes crystal clear when he finally goes to God. When he takes his mind off of himself and his own circumstances, and he makes his way over to God. Verse 17, “Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.” So finally, Asaph goes to God. The house of God either being the tabernacle or the temple depending on when this Psalm was written, and there he understands the truth. Finally, when Asaph is in the presence of God, he realizes what the end of the wicked is. These people, these wicked people, while today life is good, it will ultimately end in turmoil. One pastor put it this way. For me, for us, the worst day on earth will be the worst day you ever experienced. But for the unbeliever, the best day on earth will be the best day you ever experience. What would you rather have?

God reveals their end to Asaph, and it’s laid out for us in verses 18–20 here. Verse 18, the reality is “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction.” This is now the reality of the situation that Asaph has been perceiving. First, Asaph is trying to make sense of what he’s seeing, and it seemed to him like God was indifferent to the deeds of the wicked. So even the wicked thought that God didn’t care or know. But God reveals it’s just the opposite. Verse 18. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction. God, He’s been active this whole time. Asaph might not observe what God’s doing, but that doesn’t mean that God is oblivious to these peoples’ wicked deeds. Something I enjoyed doing when I’m working through this Psalm is finding all the ways that Asaph talked about something and then talked about it again later in maybe an opposite context where opposites results had the least.

In verse 1 Asaph proclaims that God is good to those who are pure in heart and then we saw how he just questions the need for his pure heart in verse 13. Then when Asaph begins stating how the wicked are not stricken in verse 5, and he follows it up with he’s been stricken all day long in verse 14. Now here in verse 18, we’re talking about footing again. We started off the Psalm with Asaph almost stumbling and almost slipping. Look at verse 2. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had almost slipped. Now, we see God not only putting the wicked people in these slippery places but also causing them to fall. Verse 18, “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction.” Remember when these people, they first questioned if God even knew what they were up to? Let alone if God was involved? In verse 11 they say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?” God is right there the whole time. He is active in that situation. Although the wicked, they might prosper for a moment, maybe all the while that they’re here on earth, no pains until death, in an instant it does come to an end. Whenever God decides that enough is enough, their prosperity will come to a very abrupt end.

Look at Psalm 73:19-20, “How they become desolate in a moment! They are completely swept away by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.” The wicked, who were or are at one point, drowning in abundance, who wore their pride like a necklace, who indulged in all they set their mind on, eventually they’ll be left with absolutely nothing. How they become desolate in a moment! The people who once questioned whether or not God was even aware of what they were doing, will make no mistake that every act was accounted for.

Whenever relevant, I like to look at Biblical examples of people that match or fit the description of what we’re studying. So, we’re going to take a break and look at one now. I tried phrasing this to someone, I wasn’t as clear and we will see if any of you are on the same page as I am. Does a particular rich and successful Old Testament ruler come to mind from Scripture when you read verses 19 and 20? So just read it real quick. “How they become desolate in a moment! They are completely swept away by terrors! Like a dream (there’s a little hint) when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.” Can you think of anyone that was violent, oppressive, so proud of their ways that maybe they made a statue to commemorate themselves. Someone who woke up terrified from a dream only then to have their human form literally despised by God? Nebuchadnezzar is who I thought of.

Turn to Daniel chapter 3. I like to wonder if Daniel thought about Asaph’s Psalm when he was dealing with Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar, he’s an excellent example of what the wicked can appear to be, as Asaph puts it, at ease and always increasing in wealth and he was the king. He was THE politician. I know it’s a far-fetched concept for us to have a wicked politician at ease and always increasing in wealth but bear with me.

Daniel 3:1, “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of which was sixty cubits and its width six cubits; he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Later on in Chapter 3, we have the story of the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and how they refused to worship the statue and Nebuchadnezzar attempts to incinerate them as a result. But he is an exceptionally proud individual, in case that hasn’t already been established. I wanted to start in this passage just to illustrate that not only is he proud, but he’s extremely rich. In today’s value of gold, which is at an all-time high, but even if the statue was just plated in gold, it is worth a $500,000,000, a half billion dollars. So, this guy has money. You’re just sticking it on the ground to look at. He has plenty to spare.

Turn in Daniel 4:5, Nebuchadnezzar says “I saw a dream, it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my head kept alarming me. So, he has this dream about what’s to, he doesn’t really know what it is yet until Daniel reveals it to him. But this is not the first time Nebuchadnezzar has had a dream revealed to him or that he’s been called to follow the one true God. Daniel warns him that this is about him and what’s to become if he doesn’t turn and worship God. But even after Daniel after he warns the king to repent and humble himself, what does Nebuchadnezzar do? Look at verses 27–30, “Therefore, O king, may my advice seem good to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’ “All this reached Nebuchadnezzar the king.” Verse 29. “At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. “The king answered and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal house by the strength of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ Daniel pleads with him to repent of his ways. Many of his ways are mentioned in Psalm 73. The king, he is oppressive, he is wicked yet always increasing in wealth. Daniel tells him look, if you would like to continue increasing in wealth, then it’s time to give credit to God instead of himself. But what does Nebuchadnezzar do? He boasts. Look at verse 30 again, “The king answered and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal house by the strength of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’”

Psalm 73 says that Asaph was envious of people like this. “I was envious of the boastful.” But then what does Asaph say? Once he came into the sanctuary of God, then he understood their end. How what? They become desolate in a moment, and then how God despises their form. The word for “form” here is the same word that’s used in Genesis at the creation of man. So, what happens in a moment to Nebuchadnezzar’s form? Verses 31-33, “While the word was in the king’s mouth, before he finishes his sentence, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is said, the kingdom has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your place of habitation will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you know that the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes. Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was accomplished; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

Just like Psalm 73 read, almost word-for-word. You can turn back to Psalm 73. Just pick up in verse 18–20, “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction. How they become desolate in a moment! They are completely swept away by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”
Nebuchadnezzar is a very literal example of the end of the wicked. Although, worth mentioning, the king is graciously restored by God. Daniel 4, it concludes with Nebuchadnezzar admitting in fact, that God is able to humble those who walk in pride. Here in Psalm 73, the way that God will deal with the wicked isn’t to cause each one of them to go mad and act like an animal. While some wicked may suffer on earth, what Asaph is describing is the moment of death and the judgment that awaits the wicked. We know that now with Revelation as the Great White Throne.

Turn to Revelation chapter 20. One day, those that have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ, they will answer for every single wicked deed they ever committed. Their actions, their thoughts, and everything in between and in that moment, it will be too late to repent. Their portion will have been completely spent on earthly pleasures. We’ll start in verse 11, we’ll read this section. Revelation 20:11-15, John said, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sits upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” The ocean, hades, and everything in between, will give up their dead and every single one of them will have all of their acts meticulously listed. Unless your name is found in the book of life, at this time mentioned here, you will have every sinful corner of your life exposed. And the result of that will be eternal death, spent in the lake of fire. So, God enlightens Asaph to understand that one day, (back to Psalm 73) these people will be violently shaken awake from the dream that they live today, only to find themselves in complete terror. So just like Nebuchadnezzar’s life was changed even before he finished his sentence, the wicked will be dealt with in an instant.

In Psalm 73 we’ll continue with verse 21 where Asaph focuses further on his own relationship with God. But just to review, in the first 12 verses of Psalm 73, it’s virtually all about “them.” All about those wicked people. They are wicked. They experience no pain. They’re proud. They scoff. Then in verses 13-16, Asaph shifts the focus to himself. In vain I’ve kept my heart pure. I have been stricken. If I had said, then I would have betrayed your children. But then in verse 17, Asaph begins to see God’s involvement in both of these areas. God, it’s You that setting them in slippering places. You cause them to fall. You will despise their form. Then verse 21 to pretty much the end, Asaph reflects on his relationship with God.

In light of Asaph’s relationship with God, how is he to make himself in how he behaved before. It says in verse 21, “When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within; then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like an animal before You.” Asaph acknowledges that the way he responded to what he observed in the first part of the Psalm was foolish. He starts by admitting again that he had a really hard time watching these wicked people seemingly get away with everything. He says in 21, “When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within.” It was very hard for Asaph to wrap his mind around why the wicked lived such pleasant lives. But he doesn’t excuse himself. Instead, he sees just how ridiculous his behavior was. So, he was bitter and envious, and while he kept his mind on the wicked and not on God, he started to slip. Now that God has drawn Asaph back to Himself, what does he make of the way he perceived the wicked? That was senseless. I became like an animal before God. And that can be a similar ride that we may go on from time to time. For a moment, I can get caught up comparing my situation to that of somebody else’s. I might start to weigh my trials against someone else’s seemingly trial-free life. I can say with a clear conscience before God that I have made every possible effort to please Him in the midst of my trials. Meanwhile, I watch this other person live a completely peaceful life in spite of their outward rebellion, complete disregard for God.

God, you seem to be taking special care of them while I don’t know how I’m supposed to make it to tomorrow. But when I think like that, when I start to question how my circumstances compare to the wicked’s, Asaph says that I look like a stupid animal. Because that is short-sighted and that’s not a way to perceive reality. Asaph confesses that he envied the wicked’s easy way of life. But even though Asaph acted senselessly, God still kept him. Look at verse 23, “Nevertheless (even in light of all that) I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. God wouldn’t let Asaph slip away. This is true for every single Believer, and it should give you peace and courage to endure in the faith. If you’re truly a Believer, you can’t walk away from God and slip completely into the world because He has hold of you. This physical life might be a lot easier in some senses if we stopped trying to please God and instead just indulged in our own greed. But for the Believer, that’s just not possible.
And that’s true of Asaph. If it were up to me, if it were up to you, we would slip and fall. But praise God it’s not! Asaph at the beginning almost stumbled. He almost slipped and would have betrayed God’s people. He was envious of the boastful and the wicked and almost walked away. But God is faithful. It’s God that’s taken hold of us, not that we’ve taken hold of Him. Otherwise, we would fall.

But since He has hold of us, even though the world has appeal from time to time, in one area for me and maybe another area for you, ultimately, we know the truth. That God is good to us. That God is just and God will keep His children from slipping. God doesn’t leave His children even when we take our eyes off Him. The Believer whether we notice it or not. Whether we remember God or not, God is completely and always with us. When we almost slip, God’s hand is there to catch us and keep us from falling. God is the one that finally opened Asaph’s eyes to see just how foolish his desires were. God is the one who kept Asaph on his feet. Look back at verse 2. “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had almost slipped.” So why didn’t he stumble completely? Why didn’t he slip and fall? Did he catch his balance. No. Verse 23, “You have taken hold of my right hand. It’s like a child when they first begin walking and a parent is holding onto their hand. You’ll see this in the parking lot or in the hallways around here. The child will be walking, and they’ll trip over themselves and the parent can keep them suspended by taking hold of their right hand. The child is senseless, ignorant, like an animal. Nevertheless, they are continually looked after. The same goes for the child of God. We can never completely fall away because God won’t allow it. What else does God say when He takes us by the hand? What else does he do?

“Nevertheless” verse 23, “I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will lead me and afterward take me in glory.” Asaph just said look, I am senseless and ignorant. So, if he needs some wisdom and understanding, where did he go? To God. With Your counsel You will lead me. So earlier, when Asaph was just dealing with his own thoughts when he was trying to sort through the situation, he said I was disturbed. But God’s way is wisdom and understanding. Contrast that to the delusions of the heart that describe the wicked. Look at verse 7. “Their eye bulges from fatness; The delusions of their heart overflow.” You and I, we have God’s counsel delivered to us in God’s Word. While the wicked are left to their own delusions. After God, He takes our right hand to the end of that narrow path, He will take us into glory. That’s our end. That’s what you and I have to look forward to. Not terror or destruction. But glory and that’s the presence of God.

As long as we can keep the eternal perspective, the wickedness of this world, it wouldn’t have any appeal. That’s easier said than done. But now is a good time to evaluate what we desire and ask ourselves if God is truly enough. Would I rather have a trouble-free life? Trial free life? Would I rather be rich? Would I rather be known? Would I rather have friends in this world? What does God reveal to Asaph? Verse 25, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.” Is there anything on this earth that I long to experience before my relationship with God, before being in eternity with God? If the answer is yes, then you look like a senseless and ignorant animal before God. Even in this present day, before we enter into eternity, we are to desire our relationship to God above and before everything else.

The fact that I have a relationship with God today is better than any alternative the world can offer. Because unlike everything else here on earth that can be taken away in a moment, like a dream when one awakes, Asaph said earlier, our relationship with God, it can’t be taken away. It will last forever. We should all be able to say, that’s what I want. I want God and by comparison, I want nothing else. That comparison part is key. You think about Jesus saying, you’re going to love me and compare to your love for me, you’re going to hate your mom, your dad, your brother, your sister, your child, everyone else. If you don’t you can’t be my disciple and here in Psalm 73 we have that same principle.

Verse 25, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.” In all of heaven, everything it has to offer, Asaph considers God to be his ultimate desire and that goes for anything this world could offer him. That’s not to say that there isn’t maybe the occasional appeal. Just moments ago, Asaph found himself in envy of the wicked’s easy life and prosperity. But when God takes hold of Asaph, takes his right hand, he is reminded of the truth, that nothing compares to having a relationship with God.

This should be the conclusion we arrive at every single time that we are tempted by something in this world. God, apart from You, I don’t want anything else. Because Asaph has an eternal relationship with God, Asaph no longer covets prosperity or demands an easy life as a result of a faithful life towards God. He has replaced the temporal good that he was expecting with the ultimate good, which is the presence of God. Earthly pleasures, they don't have the same appeal anymore. You can keep them.
That’s quite a transformation. That’s a place that we must bring ourselves back to quite often, or at least I do. Health and prosperity, if you were to make a mathematical equation, that’s usually what constitutes a good life. But Asaph has completely removed it. What equals a good life has nothing to do with health or prosperity. But worldly speaking, those are the two things, maybe the only two ingredients, that most people think of when they think of a good life. But now, all Asaph desires is to be near to God. Of course, we would all prefer to be near to God and have a healthy and a prosperous life. But that’s not his dependency. Those things are just temporal anyways. Here in verse 26, we’re reminded of just how temporal these things are. “My flesh and my heart fail, But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.” If you have an ESV or a NASB, it reads, “My flesh and my heart may fail.” May is added. It doesn’t exist in the Hebrew. I think that removing it gives this verse a bit is a more honest translation, because as we all know, my flesh and my heart will fail. It’s just a matter of when.

I was just reminded of this, this last week. As far as the flesh goes, I heard news that a member of our body is having all the toes one of their feet amputated. Every single one of them. All five of them are being taken off. Consider that for a moment. And with regards to the heart, we just saw Asaph’s heart fail. The heart here is referring to the inner man, your mind, your intentions, and it just failed. Rich or poor, healthy or ridden with illness, my flesh and heart will fail. But while all of me might wither away, God is mine forever. My flesh and my heart fail, But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.

Turn to Psalm 18. We’ll take a look at some instances of a rock being used to describe God. The significance of a rock is its stability, its strength, its safety among many other things that we’re going to read here. Psalm 18:1-2, “I love You, O Yahweh, my strength. Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Look at Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer.”

Now turn to Psalm 62. God is my rock and my fortress; God is my rock and my Redeemer. God is stable. God is my protector. God in verse 1, (Psalm 62:1-2) Surely my soul waits in silence for God; From Him is my salvation. Surely, He is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.” Verse 5, (Psalm 62:5-7) “Surely wait in silence for God, O my soul, for my hope is from Him. Surely, He is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.”

Is God your rock? Is your security in God or is your security in something else on earth? If God is your rock, it just says here, then you can’t be shaken by any trials that come your way. It becomes obvious if God isn’t your rock when a trial throws you off your feet. If suddenly your health or the health of someone you love takes a bad turn, is God your rock? Or are you crushed with doubt during the trial? If you’re not comfortable unless that emergency fund is fully funded, is God your rock? What could be taken away from you that would cause you to slip and fall? If the answer is something, then that thing is your rock. If that goes away, my world falls apart. But if God is your rock, and God is immovable, then I’ll never fall. Everything I have, everyone I know, will wither and fade away. Same goes for all of you and that’s ok, because I’ll always have God. There is never a reason to envy people that only have this life to look forward to. When the wicked are blessed in this life to indulge in all that it has to offer, I need to remember that it is nothing compared to the blessings that I have in God.

Turn back to Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.” Forever. Today, and into eternity. The wicked, they might be enjoying their portion today. But is that what you want? Do you want to receive your gift from God here on earth, in today’s dying world? Or later? In Asaph’s case, I think it’s an interesting note to make what portion meant for him. Asaph, he was a Levite. So, of the Israelite tribes he was a Levite and God had very specific words for what the portion ought to be for the Levites. It wasn’t land, like the rest of the tribes of Israel. God told Aaron that the Levites would have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion like the other tribes. Why? God says I will be your portion and your inheritance. So Asaph, he’s thinking back to what he knows about God’s Word. He knows that what God says in his Word is true and that God would be his portion. That God is Asaph’s entire inheritance. He has God waiting for him. Who cares about what else is on the earth.

So where is your portion kept? Do you have a relationship with God today that could last you for all of eternity? If you do, God says well that’s all you need. Or is your portion here on earth? Eventually, sooner than you think, it will go the way of everything else before it.

Verse 27, “For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed everyone who is unfaithful to You. Here we have the fate of the wicked. They will perish. They will be destroyed. The wicked are those that are unfaithful to God. Unfaithfulness in the Old Testament especially is likened to the harlot most frequently. Remember our time in Hosea. The act of unfaithfulness is like a harlot. The wicked, they turn their back on God, their creator, and pursue other pleasures. For those that run after the world, something that all of us did at one point, their end is destruction. What joy they found in this life will ultimately be forgotten. Just like you can barely remember a dream when you’ve woken up, just the way Asaph says it. Those that do not have God as their rock, whose feet are supported by all the things that are blowing away in this life, will ultimately perish. Wickedness will see justice. Today, to you and me, maybe to them, justice seems far away. But the day comes quicker than anyone realizes. In a moment, it is over. Maybe there is peace in their death, but there won’t be when they wake up. In this world is it all you have, is it all the good that you will experience? Or is God your portion?

Psalm 73:28, “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have set Lord Yahweh as my refuge, That I may recount all Your works.” Asaph, who was once a guy that looked longingly into the world, is now just fine without it.

Turn to Philippians 3. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians that “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” While I’m here on earth, it’s to be obedient to God. And then when I finally die, it will be even better. Verse 8-9 says more than that,” I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Just like in Psalm 73, what does Paul assign value to? Knowing Christ. Look at verse 8, “More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ (verse 10) that I may know Him. Knowing God. That’s my ultimate desire.” Or it’s supposed to be at least.

Often, we have to be reminded of what's important and we have to know what those reminders are called? Trials. God uses these trials to strengthen our faith. To draw specific attention to an area that might be my rock. Philippians 3:8, “I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

You can go back to Psalm 73. Remember back there when Asaph was questioning how he spent his life. Surely in vain, verse 13, “I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence.” Who is Asaph drawing attention to? His works or God’s? Well, his own and for us Christ is the fulfillment of the Law, and we place our faith in Him as our means of salvation. Just by placing my faith in that fact, that Christ work on the Cross is sufficient for my sin debt, God will take my right hand and take me into glory.

So just to review a few things and then we’ll close here. First, we must remember the truth about God regardless of how things may appear on the outside. That’s the way Asaph starts this Psalm off, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart!” We must know what’s true. We have to know God’s Word. Second, don’t be fooled by worldly prosperity. While at times it may look like the good life, and their lives are trouble-free. It can and will all be swept away in an instant. Third, God is our ultimate good. Not just in eternity, but even today. It’s not that I’m just waiting to get to heaven. Today you can be content in your desire for Him. Israel, they did receive physical blessings from God when they were obedient. That’s not the way things work for you and I. You and I will receive spiritual blessings in heaven, but that’s later. And last, remember that the security we have as a Believer is sure. Despite feelings of envy or doubt, God will not let His children slip into destruction. He takes hold of my right hand, He guides with His counsel and ultimately will take me in glory. Let’s pray.