Read Psalm 73Man, I love the Psalms! I love the brutal honesty the psalmists use when crying out to God. They put into words many things that I have thought myself but would never think about saying to God. The Psalms show us that there is never a time when we can't cry out to God. Whether, we're joyful, devastated, worried, lonely, or broken, we can always go to our Father and pour out our hearts to Him. There will be ups and downs in every Christian's life, but we can give all of our disappointments, bitterness, and frustrations over to Him. In Psalm 73, the psalmist explores one of the age-old questions that Christians have asked for generations. Why do the wicked prosper? I love getting to see the struggle this man goes through as he wrestles with this difficult question, and the sweet conclusion he comes to at the end of the psalm.
The psalm starts out with a truth that the psalmist (a man named Asaph) knows to be true, "Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart" (1). However, though he knows this is true, he looks around him and seems to see the exact opposite going on. Instead of the Israelites reigning, he sees their enemies prospering. The pagans are growing rich, experiencing no pain, encountering no trouble, and growing fat (a sign that they have more than enough) (3-5). These people blatantly mock God and His people, and they arrogantly live their lives in rebellion and wickedness. What is Asaph's response to this? He's jealous and deeply troubled (3, 16). He begins to think that he has followed God in vain (13). He has been obedient, but what reward has it gotten him? His reward for righteousness has been constant suffering (14)!
Have you ever felt this way before? I remember feeling this way as a teenager. My family followed God. My dad was a full-time pastor and had devoted his life to the ministry. However, we were constantly broke, rode around in a beat-up station wagon, and I suffered greatly from my health. I would look around at my peers and notice that the meanest girls were the most popular. They were so arrogant and rude to those around them, but this only made people want to be just like them! These same girls were given new convertibles from their wealthy parents, were naturally athletic and talented, and never seemed to have a care in the world. Why should they live the good life while I suffered? Why do they get to shop at Coach while I'm shopping at Ross? Is poverty and suffering the reward for a life devoted to Christ and His kingdom? Yes, I could certainly empathize with Asaph at that time...
What has happened since then? Have I finally been rewarded for my devotion to Christ, especially now that I work at a church full-time? If you see the car I drive or the tiny apartment that I live in, you would probably not think so. Though I haven't been rewarded with wealth, great health, or an easy stress-free life, I've been rewarded in countless other ways. I've been rewarded with salvation, hope, peace, joy, fulfillment, unconditional love, and so many other things.
The turning point in this psalm comes in verse 17, when Asaph says, "Until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end." Asaph was troubled and distressed until He came into the presence of his God. When you are reminded of God's presence in your life, everything changes. Asaph began to see things from a kingdom perspective and remembered that this world was not his home. Though the wicked seem to prosper in this world, the rewards of the righteous are built up in heaven. The riches of the wicked are perishable, but the riches earned in the kingdom are imperishable. The non-believers' seemingly perfect lives here on earth will end in eternal suffering in the lake of fire, while our lives will be spent reigning with Christ in heaven. When you are reminded of this, you can no longer be jealous of the wicked. Instead, you feel sorry for them, and hopefully have compassion on these people who are headed for destruction.
Though Asaph admits he was embittered about the prosperity of the wicked, his heart changes as his perspective becomes aligned with God's. You see, God never promised His people that they would live a life free of suffering or pain. In fact, He guarantees that we will face hardship, trouble, and persecution. Being a Christian doesn't make us immune from disappointment and trials. The difference between us and non-Christians is that we don't have to face that suffering alone. We have hope and the assurance that God has never left us or forsaken us. I absolutely love verses 23-26 which state:
"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
What amazing and powerful words. In the midst of his suffering and hardship, Asaph is comforted and strengthened by the assurance of God's presence and the fact that he is resting in God's hand. He realizes that all of the things the wicked were receiving on earth (which he had been jealous of) were meaningless. He realizes that there is nothing on this earth that He could ever want. All he wants is God. No matter what happens in his life, God is enough for him. Asaph closes in verse 28 by saying, "But as for me, the nearness of God is my good." We are not going to have easy lives of leisure on this earth. However, the difference between our lives and the wicked is that God is near to us, and He is all we could ever need.
Do you look around you and see the wicked people prospering? The meanest girls in school have the cutest boyfriends, the coolest cars, the nicest clothes. Maybe they cheat on their schoolwork and get better grades than you, or they are given the spot on student council that you deserve. Remember, that while they may be living it up in this life, they will eventually get judged. You just worry about your own life, remaining faithfully devoted to God in the midst of suffering and hardship. Keep your eyes focused on the kingdom, where you are storing up eternal rewards, and cling to your Father in heaven, who loves you desperately and is always near to you. Your faith in Him gives you something that no non-believer could ever experience elsewhere...a loving relationship with the King of the Universe.
