WEBVTT 00:00:02.310 --> 00:00:06.750 and he will make it plain. We open the Word of 00:00:06.750 --> 00:00:12.130 God today to Psalm 73, as we think about the 00:00:12.130 --> 00:00:18.870 troubled one, the troubled one. Life is not always 00:00:18.870 --> 00:00:24.030 fair. Ask the single mother who must seek to 00:00:24.030 --> 00:00:28.550 support her child on a meager income, while perhaps 00:00:28.550 --> 00:00:31.649 her ex -husband refuses to pay child support. 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:36.759 and lives without much of a burden. Life is not 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:41.939 always fair. Ask the student who is equally qualified 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:46.520 with another for some honor, but in the end is 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:50.000 overlooked because the other student's family 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:55.280 had influence in the school administration. Life 00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:00.460 is not always fair. Ask the athlete who works 00:01:00.460 --> 00:01:03.240 hard and disciplines herself to compete in the 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:07.379 Olympics but then falls in the final competition 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:13.459 and loses her Olympic bid forever. Life is not 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:18.920 always fair. Ask the married spouse who is faithful 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:22.939 to the vows taken at the altar only later to 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:25.620 discover that his or her partner did not take 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:31.840 them so seriously. Life is not always fair. And 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.859 the list could go on and on and on. I have purposely 00:01:35.859 --> 00:01:41.200 selected some examples this morning that are 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.439 beyond what I know of within the congregation. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:47.599 I could give you examples out of this congregation 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:51.040 that I know about this morning that would illustrate 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:56.450 the same fact that life is not always fair. And 00:01:56.450 --> 00:01:59.290 even we Christians can become troubled by the 00:01:59.290 --> 00:02:04.689 inequities and injustices of life's course of 00:02:04.689 --> 00:02:09.349 experiences. Some have become so troubled that 00:02:09.349 --> 00:02:12.469 they've allowed their faith to be undermined 00:02:12.469 --> 00:02:17.669 and they've turned their back on God. Others 00:02:17.669 --> 00:02:19.990 live with a tortured question mark over their 00:02:19.990 --> 00:02:23.509 lives that asks, why live for what is right? 00:02:24.350 --> 00:02:27.050 Those who don't concern themselves with what 00:02:27.050 --> 00:02:29.629 is right seem to come out better in the end anyway. 00:02:30.650 --> 00:02:38.069 Do you ever feel that way? Asaph, the writer 00:02:38.069 --> 00:02:42.110 of Psalm 73, expresses the fact that that was 00:02:42.110 --> 00:02:46.250 exactly how he felt. He confesses his troubled 00:02:46.250 --> 00:02:51.430 heart, but then proceeds to tell us how he came 00:02:51.430 --> 00:02:56.699 to tranquility. in his heart. The difference 00:02:56.699 --> 00:03:00.780 was how he came to view life's circumstances, 00:03:02.699 --> 00:03:07.259 the way that he came to evaluate the things that 00:03:07.259 --> 00:03:13.400 he saw and experienced. Viewing life's circumstances 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:21.500 with eternal values dispels heart trouble and 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:27.520 develops heart tranquility. The secret is viewing 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:33.939 life's circumstances with eternal values. When 00:03:33.939 --> 00:03:37.020 you and I pick up the lens of eternal values 00:03:37.020 --> 00:03:41.259 and we begin to look through them, it brings 00:03:41.259 --> 00:03:46.180 life into sharp focus. The lens that we're talking 00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:51.389 about are found in the Word of God. It became 00:03:51.389 --> 00:03:53.650 apparent to me over the last little while that 00:03:53.650 --> 00:03:58.069 my arms, though exceedingly long, beyond the 00:03:58.069 --> 00:04:02.610 average 38 inches here. Try to find a shirt on 00:04:02.610 --> 00:04:08.449 sale for that, will you? That though my arms 00:04:08.449 --> 00:04:10.889 are very long, they were becoming too short for 00:04:10.889 --> 00:04:13.189 the focal distance that I needed to read something. 00:04:15.210 --> 00:04:18.870 And so I went to a doctor and found that I needed 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:23.149 a prescription for bifocals. And about a month 00:04:23.149 --> 00:04:26.329 ago, I got into bifocals for the very first time. 00:04:27.529 --> 00:04:29.889 As the old story says, I needed a stepladder 00:04:29.889 --> 00:04:32.810 to get up the curb when I first got them. It 00:04:32.810 --> 00:04:35.829 wasn't really quite that bad. But I have been 00:04:35.829 --> 00:04:38.529 amazed at the new lease on life that I feel since 00:04:38.529 --> 00:04:41.829 I've gotten them. I can now see again. And I'm 00:04:41.829 --> 00:04:45.649 able to read at a comfortable distance. All the 00:04:45.649 --> 00:04:47.610 difference was made in the lenses that I put 00:04:47.610 --> 00:04:51.230 before my eyes. Apart from those lenses, things 00:04:51.230 --> 00:04:55.529 were distorted and out of focus. But now I am 00:04:55.529 --> 00:05:00.810 able to see and see well. And so it is with life's 00:05:00.810 --> 00:05:04.250 circumstances. If we don't have the right lenses 00:05:04.250 --> 00:05:10.329 on, things get out of focus and twisted. But 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:13.769 when we get the right lenses in place, lenses 00:05:13.769 --> 00:05:17.470 that are found in the Word of God, then we began 00:05:17.470 --> 00:05:21.509 to see sharply and clearly what life is all about. 00:05:22.589 --> 00:05:25.670 We need to learn to view life's circumstances 00:05:25.670 --> 00:05:30.750 with eternal values so that then our heart trouble 00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:35.410 at the injustices and inequities of life will 00:05:35.410 --> 00:05:39.470 be set aside and we will have heart tranquility. 00:05:40.780 --> 00:05:46.079 despite the unfairness of life. I want you to 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.399 notice that the psalmist, first of all, talks 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:52.439 about the source of his trouble. It was, he says 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:57.959 very clearly, a false perception. He talks about 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:00.579 this beginning especially in verse 2. Verse 1 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:03.680 is sort of a statement that introduces the positive 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:06.519 side. He says, surely God is good to Israel, 00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:11.000 to those who are pure in heart, but But as for 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:15.439 me, and now he begins to open up himself so that 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:17.920 we might see what he was experiencing. It was 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.180 heart trouble. And he tells us the source of 00:06:21.180 --> 00:06:25.439 it, a false perception of things. It seemed very 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.399 real to him, but it was a false perception. You 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:31.639 know, the general instinct of most people is 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.040 that God should and does reward good people with 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:39.920 tangible evidence of good things. and at the 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:44.259 same time that God punishes the wicked by withholding 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:48.199 good things and giving them trouble. That's the 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:51.420 general instinct of most people. Is that true? 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:56.720 If you take that idea and apply it to life, it 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:59.939 can cause you to become troubled. It did the 00:06:59.939 --> 00:07:05.439 psalmist. His observation was that in fact the 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:11.399 wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. And 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:14.420 that ran counter to what he thought his theology 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:20.139 ought to be. And so he tells us about how the 00:07:20.139 --> 00:07:23.379 wicked prosper. Now the fact is that the wicked 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:28.079 don't always prosper, but it's also a fact that 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.379 they prosper more often than we might care to 00:07:30.379 --> 00:07:38.079 admit. He says in verse 3, I was envious of the 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:42.079 arrogant. I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.420 Then he begins to describe the prosperity. No 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:49.740 pains in their death. He says their death comes 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:54.899 easily. It is basically painless. They are protected. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:57.560 They can afford the medicine. They can afford 00:07:57.560 --> 00:07:59.879 the anesthetic. They can afford the hospital. 00:08:03.050 --> 00:08:07.769 He says their body is fat. I hear that's a complimentary 00:08:07.769 --> 00:08:11.569 statement. He is saying that the condition of 00:08:11.569 --> 00:08:14.009 their bodies was that they were like well -fed, 00:08:14.310 --> 00:08:19.310 sleek animals. They were not starving. In verse 00:08:19.310 --> 00:08:22.529 5, they are not in trouble as other men, nor 00:08:22.529 --> 00:08:25.810 are they plagued like mankind. He says basically 00:08:25.810 --> 00:08:28.970 they're just fewer troubles for those who are 00:08:28.970 --> 00:08:33.460 prosperous and rich. Their troubles are fewer, 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:39.740 their advantages are greater. In verse 6, pride 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:44.279 is their necklace. Instead of pride being seen 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:49.799 as a character defect, in fact they wear it as 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:54.720 an ornament of their lives. Their pride is worn 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:59.759 with boasting. He says the garment of violence 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:03.700 covers them. In other words, they employ violence 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:08.159 to get their way, and they get by with it. Their 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:11.240 method of operation is to oppress others that 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.700 might threaten their position of prosperity. 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:17.399 And because of the power of their prosperity, 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:26.080 they get by with it. Their eye bulges from fatness, 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:29.620 he says. The imaginations of their heart run 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:33.240 riot. The idea is here that they are bold in 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:36.179 their countenance and in their imagination of 00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:39.539 what they want to do. They see few limits on 00:09:39.539 --> 00:09:44.480 what they can accomplish. They mock and wickedly 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:48.100 speak of oppression. They speak from on high. 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:51.399 They set their mouth against the heavens and 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:53.440 their tongue parades through the earth. What 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.320 a picture of a tongue marching throughout the 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:59.169 earth. Can you just see that picture? of a tongue 00:09:59.169 --> 00:10:02.830 walking around. Their mouth they've set against 00:10:02.830 --> 00:10:06.169 the heavens, he says. In other words, the way 00:10:06.169 --> 00:10:10.169 they speak, their verbiage, their language, reflects 00:10:10.169 --> 00:10:15.669 their disdain for other people, and also for 00:10:15.669 --> 00:10:21.750 God himself. They are self -assertive, self -promoting. 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:27.809 And they get by with it. Therefore, his people 00:10:27.809 --> 00:10:30.350 return to this place, and waters of abundance 00:10:30.350 --> 00:10:34.289 are drunk by them." The idea is here that their 00:10:34.289 --> 00:10:39.570 followers acclaim them. The crowds that come 00:10:39.570 --> 00:10:43.230 around, their fan clubs that applaud flatter 00:10:43.230 --> 00:10:47.210 them. Literally this says, the people turn to 00:10:47.210 --> 00:10:50.070 them. Water and abundance is drained by them. 00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:52.750 A very difficult phrase to try to understand. 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:56.549 Some think it has to do with camels coming to 00:10:56.549 --> 00:11:00.570 an oasis and drinking all of the water so that 00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:03.090 there's none left for others who might have needs. 00:11:03.950 --> 00:11:06.769 The point is they squandered all upon themselves 00:11:06.769 --> 00:11:10.590 without a single thought. It reminds me of a 00:11:10.590 --> 00:11:13.730 story that one of the men told me of a man out 00:11:13.730 --> 00:11:18.950 in California who lives in an area where water 00:11:18.950 --> 00:11:23.450 has to be very tightly rationed. But he is very 00:11:23.450 --> 00:11:26.490 wealthy, and so he was not afraid to water his 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:31.509 whole estate every day while others had to ration. 00:11:31.549 --> 00:11:33.649 He was willing to pay the fines, and he did to 00:11:33.649 --> 00:11:36.110 the tune of thirty -some thousand dollars a month 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:43.370 for water for his estate. Some of the civic leaders 00:11:43.370 --> 00:11:45.649 went to him and appealed to him. Well, he could 00:11:45.649 --> 00:11:47.649 afford to pay any kind of fine they would levy 00:11:47.649 --> 00:11:53.870 against him. When I think of the water in abundance 00:11:53.870 --> 00:11:56.789 being drained by them, he came to mind because 00:11:56.789 --> 00:11:58.610 that's what he was doing, draining the water 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:00.730 from everybody else to keep his grass green. 00:12:01.830 --> 00:12:03.769 Well eventually they figured out a compromise 00:12:03.769 --> 00:12:06.789 plan and he's getting now recycled sewage water 00:12:06.789 --> 00:12:10.590 trucked in to his estate and that's what he's 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:12.970 using. I imagine his grass is very green now. 00:12:17.110 --> 00:12:19.950 You see he's describing the wealthy, the prosperous 00:12:19.950 --> 00:12:23.139 here as having crowds that follow them around 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:27.159 and adore them and applaud them. And they squander 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:30.919 everything that they have and leave others with 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:36.799 nothing. Verse 11. And they say, How does God 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:40.299 know? And is there knowledge with the most high? 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.700 Interference from God. No interference from God. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:49.899 So it seems to them, causes them to mock the 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:53.539 idea of God's existence. They say, what does 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:57.299 God know? Does he really have any concern with 00:12:57.299 --> 00:13:00.759 human affairs? Now remember, he's describing 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:04.279 what he sees the wicked like, those who are prosperous. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.360 He says, behold, these are the wicked, and always 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.200 at ease they have increased in wealth. That's 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:15.700 the final summation of it, verse 12. Or as we 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:18.639 say, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:23.279 And the psalmist was troubled by this, because 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.879 these who were prosperous and who were wicked 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:32.340 seemed to have no problems in life. What really 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:36.419 got him was the next part of the psalm, verses 00:13:36.419 --> 00:13:40.460 13 and 14, that while the wicked were prospering, 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:44.259 the righteous suffered. He says, surely in vain 00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:49.450 I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands 00:13:49.450 --> 00:13:53.710 in innocence. For I have been stricken all day 00:13:53.710 --> 00:13:58.149 long and chastened every morning." The psalm 00:13:58.149 --> 00:14:01.149 says, in contrast to the wicked I'm talking about, 00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:05.909 I have tried to lead a clean life. I have maintained 00:14:05.909 --> 00:14:10.169 my integrity. My actions have been righteous. 00:14:10.230 --> 00:14:12.330 I have been innocent from doing the things that 00:14:12.330 --> 00:14:18.080 the wicked have. And yet God has failed to reward 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:23.440 me, and my troubles seem to multiply while the 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:27.000 wicked get away with everything." And so he has 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:30.740 a lot of heart trouble. And if there's a person 00:14:30.740 --> 00:14:32.860 here this morning who hasn't faced that same 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:35.919 kind of heart trouble at some time in life, he 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:38.960 hasn't thought very much about what life is about. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:44.639 And so we have his pouring out of his trouble. 00:14:45.509 --> 00:14:49.289 His heart was agitated with what he saw But that 00:14:49.289 --> 00:14:51.330 brings us now to the second part of the psalm 00:14:51.330 --> 00:14:54.450 and a happier part as he talks about the solution 00:14:54.450 --> 00:15:01.129 to trouble He had a false Perception of things 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:04.049 actually as he looked at the wicked he didn't 00:15:04.049 --> 00:15:07.730 realize it But that false perception gave him 00:15:07.730 --> 00:15:10.309 that heart trouble now. He gets a right perspective 00:15:10.309 --> 00:15:16.120 on things He says in verse 15, if I had said, 00:15:16.419 --> 00:15:20.220 I will speak thus, behold, I should have betrayed 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:23.940 the generation of thy children. Interesting comment 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:28.299 by the psalmist. He says, I have restrained myself 00:15:28.299 --> 00:15:32.179 from speaking this way among the people of God. 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:35.919 Because had I done that, I would have betrayed 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:40.080 them. He expresses here self -restraint rather 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:44.320 than complete uninhibited transparency with others. 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:49.659 Folks, sometimes that is appropriate. In some 00:15:49.659 --> 00:15:54.000 contexts, an expression of what we're struggling 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.340 with, a careless expression of that, can lead 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:03.779 others to sin. Now, I strongly believe in transparency. 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:06.419 I believe that we ought to be open with other 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:10.149 people. But the fact is that we have to exercise 00:16:10.149 --> 00:16:14.450 caution in selecting the sphere where we air 00:16:14.450 --> 00:16:17.210 our troubled thoughts. That's what the psalmist 00:16:17.210 --> 00:16:21.669 is saying. He says, if I had said these things 00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:24.450 among the people, then I would have betrayed 00:16:24.450 --> 00:16:29.029 them. So what did he do? He did what all of us 00:16:29.029 --> 00:16:32.549 must do. He poured out his complaint before God. 00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:37.899 The psalmist found recovery. He found a solution 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:40.860 for his heart troubles. It was gaining the right 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:43.940 perspective and laying aside that false perception 00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:47.419 that he had regarding the prosperity of the wicked. 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:50.700 Now where did he get this right perspective? 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:54.879 From God. He says, when I pondered to understand 00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:01.519 this, it was troublesome in my sight until I 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:09.500 came into the sanctuary of God. Oh, what peace 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:14.619 we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear, 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:22.140 all because we do not, what? Carry it to the 00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:25.960 Lord in prayer. And that's exactly what the psalmist 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:28.700 did. His heart was so agitated that he went before 00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:32.119 God finally. And he poured out his complaint 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:35.599 to the Lord. How often our hearts are troubled. 00:17:35.980 --> 00:17:39.720 because we fail to take our concerns to the Lord. 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:43.460 And there to examine them in the light of his 00:17:43.460 --> 00:17:46.859 word, put the lenses on that are right so that 00:17:46.859 --> 00:17:49.500 we can see the issue that's troubling us with 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:54.460 eternal values. It may be that this morning you 00:17:54.460 --> 00:17:58.680 are deeply embroiled in some kind of bewilderment. 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:02.230 There's a question mark that's eating up your 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:05.109 life. You are wondering about something that's 00:18:05.109 --> 00:18:07.470 giving you heart trouble. What do you do about 00:18:07.470 --> 00:18:12.170 it? The fact is you can't share that with everybody. 00:18:15.849 --> 00:18:17.690 Maybe there is someone you can share it with 00:18:17.690 --> 00:18:21.630 and ought to share it with. But there is one 00:18:21.630 --> 00:18:24.650 for whom you should, for sure with whom you should 00:18:24.650 --> 00:18:28.720 share it, and that is the Lord. The psalmist 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:31.400 said, it was troublesome in my sight until I 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:33.779 came into the sanctuary of God. There are some 00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:36.579 of us today that need to get to the sanctuary 00:18:36.579 --> 00:18:41.819 of God quick, because our hearts are troubled. 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:45.380 And if we don't deal with that, it is possible 00:18:45.380 --> 00:18:50.279 we will turn our backs on the faith. It's not 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:54.619 that there is no answer. It's that we haven't 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:57.359 yet sought the answer in the right place. or 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:02.539 maybe with the right attitude. He says, I went 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:04.920 into the sanctuary of God. Now he may have meant 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:08.339 the temple literally, or he may be using some 00:19:08.339 --> 00:19:10.779 poetic expression meaning that he got in touch 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:14.380 with the Lord. The point is for us that you and 00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:17.759 I need to bring our troubles to him and lay them 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:26.930 out. And notice what he came to grasp. He says, 00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:33.109 I came into the sanctuary of God, then I perceived 00:19:33.109 --> 00:19:40.349 their end. See what he's saying? He's saying, 00:19:40.390 --> 00:19:43.250 I went before God and I laid out my concerns 00:19:43.250 --> 00:19:46.430 and I told him what the wicked are like and how 00:19:46.430 --> 00:19:48.789 they prosper and how I've suffered as a righteous 00:19:48.789 --> 00:19:53.130 person. And then God gave me some new glasses. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.079 Then I began looking through lenses of eternal 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:05.700 values, and I saw the end, the destiny of the 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:10.619 wicked," he says. My friend, that brings it all 00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:17.880 into perspective real fast. If we examine only 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:22.079 the good times, yes, the wicked may seem to prosper. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:28.779 But the fact is that those times, lifetime, has 00:20:28.779 --> 00:20:34.500 an end. This almost goes on to say, surely thou 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:39.700 dost set them in slippery places. Thou dost cast 00:20:39.700 --> 00:20:44.259 them down to destruction, how they are destroyed 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:48.740 in a moment. They are utterly swept away by sudden 00:20:48.740 --> 00:20:54.650 terrors. And so it is. The wicked may boast. 00:20:54.730 --> 00:20:58.049 He may parade around the earth with his fan clubs, 00:20:58.470 --> 00:21:03.730 applauding him. He may live out his schemes and 00:21:03.730 --> 00:21:07.490 think, what does God know? But then the plane 00:21:07.490 --> 00:21:13.069 crashes. Then there's the car accident. Then 00:21:13.069 --> 00:21:17.410 there's the drug overdose. Then there's the shooting. 00:21:18.650 --> 00:21:26.119 And like that, it's over. It's all over. And 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:30.799 there is sudden terror. And there are slippery 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:36.119 places. And there is destruction. And the wicked 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:41.960 are utterly swept away by God. That's the end 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:48.440 of the wicked. So you see the psalmist began 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:52.480 to look at life Not just through his own eyes, 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.839 but through the lenses that God gave him in the 00:21:55.839 --> 00:22:02.539 sanctuary And he said I was troubled until I 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:07.960 saw the real destiny of the wicked And he said 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:11.559 that gave me the ability to evaluate properly 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:19.180 What I had falsely perceived before I may be 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:22.420 talking to someone today who would fall into 00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:26.079 the category of one who has mocked God. Do you 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:28.000 have felt that you can just go on your way? What 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.880 does God know anyway? He's never interfered up 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:38.059 till now. Let me tell you what a fool does. A 00:22:38.059 --> 00:22:42.680 fool says, God doesn't care. There is no God. 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:46.619 And I'll live the way I want to live. And I'll 00:22:46.619 --> 00:22:50.579 continue to prosper. and I'll double my accounts 00:22:50.579 --> 00:22:54.539 and I'll build bigger barns and I will get richer 00:22:54.539 --> 00:23:00.220 and more powerful and I will live long and then 00:23:00.220 --> 00:23:05.299 suddenly in the middle of the night life ends 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:14.339 and God says you fool now who will all those 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:18.380 things belong to because they're no longer yours. 00:23:21.180 --> 00:23:23.880 That's the destiny of the man who mocks God. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:28.599 My friend, if that's your destiny today, I plead 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:32.359 with you to no longer mock Him, but to repent 00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:38.380 of that, and to turn before it's too late, before 00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:44.119 the end comes, and receive Jesus Christ as the 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:47.710 Savior that you need. to deliver you from that 00:23:47.710 --> 00:23:54.589 destiny. The psalmist was tremendously affected 00:23:54.589 --> 00:23:58.730 by what happened in the sanctuary when he got 00:23:58.730 --> 00:24:04.170 alone with God. In the first place, it changed 00:24:04.170 --> 00:24:09.710 his own sense of security. Notice in verses 21 00:24:09.710 --> 00:24:17.390 through 24, When my heart was embittered, and 00:24:17.390 --> 00:24:20.890 I was pierced within, then I was senseless and 00:24:20.890 --> 00:24:25.230 ignorant. I was like a beast before thee." That's 00:24:25.230 --> 00:24:28.089 when he was still troubled. Nevertheless, he 00:24:28.089 --> 00:24:33.630 says, I am continually with thee. Thou hast taken 00:24:33.630 --> 00:24:38.349 hold of my right hand. With thy counsel thou 00:24:38.349 --> 00:24:46.059 wilt guide me, and afterward. receive me to glory." 00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:49.599 The psalmist had the right lenses on now. Eternal 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:53.799 values. And it changed his own sense of security. 00:24:54.500 --> 00:25:00.220 He says here in essence, I belong to God. Nothing 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:07.200 else matters. Can you say that today? In fact, 00:25:07.259 --> 00:25:10.339 it is he, not the wicked, who is truly prosperous. 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:14.799 as he says here. It is the wicked, not himself, 00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:18.259 who are on the slippery places. Earlier in the 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:21.079 psalm, he said in verse 2, my feet came close 00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:24.599 to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped. Now 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:27.319 he sees in fact it's not his steps that are about 00:25:27.319 --> 00:25:31.500 to slip, it's the wicked. His whole sense of 00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:35.000 security has changed. He sees himself as living 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:41.680 slottily, not slippery. He sees himself as having 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:46.180 security. He says, God has taken hold of my right 00:25:46.180 --> 00:25:49.880 hand. And he says, through my life, God will 00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:53.319 guide me with his counsel. That's the eternal 00:25:53.319 --> 00:25:57.900 values, the right lenses. God will guide me with 00:25:57.900 --> 00:26:00.559 his counsel so that I'll be delivered from this 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:03.640 kind of heart trouble in the future. And he says, 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:08.970 afterward, when the end comes for me, He says 00:26:08.970 --> 00:26:12.410 it's not destruction. It's not being swept away. 00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:15.730 It's not sudden terror. But he says afterward, 00:26:15.769 --> 00:26:21.089 God, you will receive me to glory. This word 00:26:21.089 --> 00:26:23.829 receive is the same word that's used of Enoch 00:26:23.829 --> 00:26:27.750 in Genesis. The same word used of Elijah when 00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:31.529 he was translated and taken by God. The very 00:26:31.529 --> 00:26:34.990 same Hebrew verb. He says, oh God, you will take 00:26:34.990 --> 00:26:39.920 me up to glory. when the end comes. Oh, what 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:43.599 a sense of security came over the psalmist when 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.279 he began to view life with eternal values. He 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:49.799 said, the most important thing is that I belong 00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:56.140 to God. Nothing else matters. But I notice also 00:26:56.140 --> 00:26:58.660 that there is a change in his sense of values. 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:03.839 Look at verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee? 00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:09.119 and besides thee I desire nothing on earth." 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:14.319 That really wasn't where he was before. He was 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:18.299 troubled because he had so little on earth, and 00:27:18.299 --> 00:27:22.160 the wicked seemed to have so much. But a change 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:27.059 has taken place in his values. He says, and besides 00:27:27.059 --> 00:27:32.690 thee I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and 00:27:32.690 --> 00:27:36.430 my heart may fail, but God is the strength of 00:27:36.430 --> 00:27:42.349 my heart and my portion forever." His change 00:27:42.349 --> 00:27:46.049 of values are these. He says, God belongs to 00:27:46.049 --> 00:27:51.910 me. Now, nothing else counts. His security is 00:27:51.910 --> 00:27:57.029 that he belongs to God, but his new value system 00:27:57.029 --> 00:28:01.089 is that God belongs to him. And because he has 00:28:01.089 --> 00:28:04.430 God, everything else is devalued around him. 00:28:05.670 --> 00:28:09.109 He is willing to lose prosperity. He is willing 00:28:09.109 --> 00:28:13.210 even to hand it over to the wicked. He still 00:28:13.210 --> 00:28:18.650 possesses God. And God is his portion, that is, 00:28:18.829 --> 00:28:24.029 his inheritance. And so I ask all of us the question, 00:28:25.390 --> 00:28:30.410 what things on earth have greater value to us 00:28:30.410 --> 00:28:37.269 than God. Oh, we reply, nothing. I agree with 00:28:37.269 --> 00:28:40.049 the psalmist. I desire nothing on earth besides 00:28:40.049 --> 00:28:43.349 God. Oh, what a noble statement that is from 00:28:43.349 --> 00:28:49.630 us. And yet there are tests. Tests like when 00:28:49.630 --> 00:28:54.609 I come to decide how I spend my time or what 00:28:54.609 --> 00:28:59.299 I'm going to do. Where does God fit into that? 00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:04.960 When it comes to how I use my money, where I 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.619 give it, how I spend it, where does God fit into 00:29:08.619 --> 00:29:13.460 that? When it comes to my career and what I'm 00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:17.500 going to do or the decisions I'm going to make 00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:21.220 about a promotion or an opportunity here or there, 00:29:22.460 --> 00:29:26.769 where does God fit into that? May we be able 00:29:26.769 --> 00:29:31.190 to say truly there is nothing on earth that I 00:29:31.190 --> 00:29:38.230 desire above God God is mine God is mine, and 00:29:38.230 --> 00:29:41.289 there is nothing else that counts besides that 00:29:41.289 --> 00:29:44.410 oh I want to make right decisions about my money 00:29:44.410 --> 00:29:47.289 about my time about my career about my family, 00:29:47.289 --> 00:29:52.369 but nothing before God Nothing before God He 00:29:52.369 --> 00:29:58.009 is my highest Most prized treasure. He is my 00:29:58.009 --> 00:30:03.509 greatest value. We might ask ourselves this question, 00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:07.670 what are we willing to sacrifice for? Because 00:30:07.670 --> 00:30:09.910 you see it is what we're willing to sacrifice 00:30:09.910 --> 00:30:15.650 for that determines what is most prized to us. 00:30:17.170 --> 00:30:20.029 We inevitably choose to give up what is less 00:30:20.029 --> 00:30:26.980 valuable. for that which is more valuable. Where 00:30:26.980 --> 00:30:29.599 does God fit into that picture in our decisions? 00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:35.859 Isn't it so easy because of the materialistic 00:30:35.859 --> 00:30:44.200 world we live in to give up God quick? And to 00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:47.480 choose instead of God other things that are of 00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:51.950 greater earthly advantage? that will satisfy 00:30:51.950 --> 00:31:01.410 our desires and our wants now? Oh, but folks, 00:31:01.410 --> 00:31:07.769 we need to get to the sanctuary of God and get 00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:12.289 some new glasses. We need to get some lenses 00:31:12.289 --> 00:31:19.400 of eternal values and realize that if we have 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:23.900 God, there's nothing else that counts above Him. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:30.559 The summation of the psalmist is in verses 27 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:34.660 and 28. Behold, those who are far from thee will 00:31:34.660 --> 00:31:38.960 perish. Thou hast destroyed all those who are 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:43.980 unfaithful to thee. The word for unfaithful there 00:31:43.980 --> 00:31:47.220 means unfaithfulness in the sense of marriage. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:53.339 adulterous to thee. Those who have gone a -whoring, 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:59.279 as it were, searching after other gods. Those 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:03.660 who are far from God, he says, are doomed. They 00:32:03.660 --> 00:32:05.740 are the ones who have turned their back on God. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:10.099 They have walked away from God. There are those 00:32:10.099 --> 00:32:12.799 who are unbelieving. He says they are doomed. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:17.490 They are damned. They will perish. That's the 00:32:17.490 --> 00:32:21.869 one summation. The other one is in verse 28, 00:32:22.109 --> 00:32:27.829 but as for me, the nearness of God is my good. 00:32:28.890 --> 00:32:32.490 I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may 00:32:32.490 --> 00:32:37.390 tell of all thy works. Those who are near to 00:32:37.390 --> 00:32:41.869 God are blessed, he says. Those who have made 00:32:41.869 --> 00:32:46.759 the Lord their refuge. who have come to Him in 00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:50.140 a time of need and have hidden themselves in 00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:53.700 Him, those who have believed in Him, who have 00:32:53.700 --> 00:32:56.660 turned to Him, who have found in Him a hiding 00:32:56.660 --> 00:33:01.240 place, a refuge, those who are therefore near 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:05.500 to God. Every person listening to me right now 00:33:05.500 --> 00:33:15.569 is either far from God or near to God. and eternity 00:33:15.569 --> 00:33:21.730 hangs in the balance. If you are one who is far 00:33:21.730 --> 00:33:26.109 from God, then listen to the warning of God's 00:33:26.109 --> 00:33:34.930 Word. The end is coming with sudden terror, and 00:33:34.930 --> 00:33:40.849 you will perish. Unless you turn around and come 00:33:40.849 --> 00:33:46.819 near to God in faith. and trust and repentance. 00:33:48.039 --> 00:33:51.339 And then you will be blessed. And then you will 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:53.779 have God to guide you through this life with 00:33:53.779 --> 00:33:57.799 His counsel. And afterward, when life is done, 00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:02.299 God will take you to glory, to heaven, to His 00:34:02.299 --> 00:34:13.489 presence. When you and I view life, With eternal 00:34:13.489 --> 00:34:21.349 values, it will dispel our heart trouble, and 00:34:21.349 --> 00:34:26.090 it will develop heart tranquility, even in the 00:34:26.090 --> 00:34:30.469 midst of the unfairness of life. This psalm is 00:34:30.469 --> 00:34:35.530 like a lovely necklace. The last verse attaches 00:34:35.530 --> 00:34:38.150 to the very first verse, really to make a complete 00:34:38.150 --> 00:34:42.480 chain. And what the psalmist says in this necklace 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:46.599 is that those who are wicked may appear to prosper 00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:53.039 in life, but in the end, they lose it all and 00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:58.420 die. Those who are righteous may experience suffering 00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:03.920 in life, but they have God, and God has them. 00:35:04.659 --> 00:35:09.409 And in the end, they gain everything. and live 00:35:09.409 --> 00:35:14.889 forever. So may we live with eternity's values 00:35:14.889 --> 00:35:25.610 in view. Would you bow with me, please? If you're 00:35:25.610 --> 00:35:29.530 struggling in your spiritual walk, if you sense 00:35:29.530 --> 00:35:34.050 that you are far off from God, please know that 00:35:34.050 --> 00:35:40.469 He loves you. God does not delight in the death 00:35:40.469 --> 00:35:45.849 of those who are lost. God has so loved you that 00:35:45.849 --> 00:35:50.650 He's given His Son for your sake. The Lord Jesus 00:35:50.650 --> 00:35:53.210 came into the world and died for you, that you 00:35:53.210 --> 00:35:57.730 might be reconciled to God. If you would like 00:35:57.730 --> 00:35:59.849 to know more about that and how you can come 00:35:59.849 --> 00:36:02.630 near to God, I want to encourage you to check 00:36:02.630 --> 00:36:06.880 on your registration form. That little box that 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:11.139 says I would like to talk with someone And someone 00:36:11.139 --> 00:36:13.400 will be in touch with you this week to talk about 00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:17.260 your own spiritual struggle The heart trouble 00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:21.619 that you're sensing within Give us that opportunity 00:36:21.619 --> 00:36:24.460 won't you to talk with you personally by checking 00:36:24.460 --> 00:36:32.260 that box? Oh Father I pray that today All of 00:36:32.260 --> 00:36:40.599 us will go to the heavenly and that we will obtain 00:36:40.599 --> 00:36:45.320 the kinds of lenses that will give us eternal 00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:51.320 values with which to view life. And may that 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:54.860 bring into sharp focus some of the issues that 00:36:54.860 --> 00:36:59.300 are now giving us heart trouble. May there be 00:36:59.300 --> 00:37:02.960 peace develop as we learn to look at life as 00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:06.519 you do. to see it from your perspective, the 00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:11.119 right perspective. Set our lives, I pray, upon 00:37:11.119 --> 00:37:15.000 the firm foundation of your word, that we may 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:20.900 not slip or stumble, but may testify with faith 00:37:20.900 --> 00:37:28.960 and certainty, the Lord is good to me. The Lord 00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:36.300 is good to His people. In Jesus' name, Amen.