and he will make it plain. We open the Word of
God today to Psalm 73, as we think about the
troubled one, the troubled one. Life is not always
fair. Ask the single mother who must seek to
support her child on a meager income, while perhaps
her ex -husband refuses to pay child support.
and lives without much of a burden. Life is not
always fair. Ask the student who is equally qualified
with another for some honor, but in the end is
overlooked because the other student's family
had influence in the school administration. Life
is not always fair. Ask the athlete who works
hard and disciplines herself to compete in the
Olympics but then falls in the final competition
and loses her Olympic bid forever. Life is not
always fair. Ask the married spouse who is faithful
to the vows taken at the altar only later to
discover that his or her partner did not take
them so seriously. Life is not always fair. And
the list could go on and on and on. I have purposely
selected some examples this morning that are
beyond what I know of within the congregation.
I could give you examples out of this congregation
that I know about this morning that would illustrate
the same fact that life is not always fair. And
even we Christians can become troubled by the
inequities and injustices of life's course of
experiences. Some have become so troubled that
they've allowed their faith to be undermined
and they've turned their back on God. Others
live with a tortured question mark over their
lives that asks, why live for what is right?
Those who don't concern themselves with what
is right seem to come out better in the end anyway.
Do you ever feel that way? Asaph, the writer
of Psalm 73, expresses the fact that that was
exactly how he felt. He confesses his troubled
heart, but then proceeds to tell us how he came
to tranquility. in his heart. The difference
was how he came to view life's circumstances,
the way that he came to evaluate the things that
he saw and experienced. Viewing life's circumstances
with eternal values dispels heart trouble and
develops heart tranquility. The secret is viewing
life's circumstances with eternal values. When
you and I pick up the lens of eternal values
and we begin to look through them, it brings
life into sharp focus. The lens that we're talking
about are found in the Word of God. It became
apparent to me over the last little while that
my arms, though exceedingly long, beyond the
average 38 inches here. Try to find a shirt on
sale for that, will you? That though my arms
are very long, they were becoming too short for
the focal distance that I needed to read something.
And so I went to a doctor and found that I needed
a prescription for bifocals. And about a month
ago, I got into bifocals for the very first time.
As the old story says, I needed a stepladder
to get up the curb when I first got them. It
wasn't really quite that bad. But I have been
amazed at the new lease on life that I feel since
I've gotten them. I can now see again. And I'm
able to read at a comfortable distance. All the
difference was made in the lenses that I put
before my eyes. Apart from those lenses, things
were distorted and out of focus. But now I am
able to see and see well. And so it is with life's
circumstances. If we don't have the right lenses
on, things get out of focus and twisted. But
when we get the right lenses in place, lenses
that are found in the Word of God, then we began
to see sharply and clearly what life is all about.
We need to learn to view life's circumstances
with eternal values so that then our heart trouble
at the injustices and inequities of life will
be set aside and we will have heart tranquility.
despite the unfairness of life. I want you to
notice that the psalmist, first of all, talks
about the source of his trouble. It was, he says
very clearly, a false perception. He talks about
this beginning especially in verse 2. Verse 1
is sort of a statement that introduces the positive
side. He says, surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart, but But as for
me, and now he begins to open up himself so that
we might see what he was experiencing. It was
heart trouble. And he tells us the source of
it, a false perception of things. It seemed very
real to him, but it was a false perception. You
know, the general instinct of most people is
that God should and does reward good people with
tangible evidence of good things. and at the
same time that God punishes the wicked by withholding
good things and giving them trouble. That's the
general instinct of most people. Is that true?
If you take that idea and apply it to life, it
can cause you to become troubled. It did the
psalmist. His observation was that in fact the
wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. And
that ran counter to what he thought his theology
ought to be. And so he tells us about how the
wicked prosper. Now the fact is that the wicked
don't always prosper, but it's also a fact that
they prosper more often than we might care to
admit. He says in verse 3, I was envious of the
arrogant. I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Then he begins to describe the prosperity. No
pains in their death. He says their death comes
easily. It is basically painless. They are protected.
They can afford the medicine. They can afford
the anesthetic. They can afford the hospital.
He says their body is fat. I hear that's a complimentary
statement. He is saying that the condition of
their bodies was that they were like well -fed,
sleek animals. They were not starving. In verse
5, they are not in trouble as other men, nor
are they plagued like mankind. He says basically
they're just fewer troubles for those who are
prosperous and rich. Their troubles are fewer,
their advantages are greater. In verse 6, pride
is their necklace. Instead of pride being seen
as a character defect, in fact they wear it as
an ornament of their lives. Their pride is worn
with boasting. He says the garment of violence
covers them. In other words, they employ violence
to get their way, and they get by with it. Their
method of operation is to oppress others that
might threaten their position of prosperity.
And because of the power of their prosperity,
they get by with it. Their eye bulges from fatness,
he says. The imaginations of their heart run
riot. The idea is here that they are bold in
their countenance and in their imagination of
what they want to do. They see few limits on
what they can accomplish. They mock and wickedly
speak of oppression. They speak from on high.
They set their mouth against the heavens and
their tongue parades through the earth. What
a picture of a tongue marching throughout the
earth. Can you just see that picture? of a tongue
walking around. Their mouth they've set against
the heavens, he says. In other words, the way
they speak, their verbiage, their language, reflects
their disdain for other people, and also for
God himself. They are self -assertive, self -promoting.
And they get by with it. Therefore, his people
return to this place, and waters of abundance
are drunk by them." The idea is here that their
followers acclaim them. The crowds that come
around, their fan clubs that applaud flatter
them. Literally this says, the people turn to
them. Water and abundance is drained by them.
A very difficult phrase to try to understand.
Some think it has to do with camels coming to
an oasis and drinking all of the water so that
there's none left for others who might have needs.
The point is they squandered all upon themselves
without a single thought. It reminds me of a
story that one of the men told me of a man out
in California who lives in an area where water
has to be very tightly rationed. But he is very
wealthy, and so he was not afraid to water his
whole estate every day while others had to ration.
He was willing to pay the fines, and he did to
the tune of thirty -some thousand dollars a month
for water for his estate. Some of the civic leaders
went to him and appealed to him. Well, he could
afford to pay any kind of fine they would levy
against him. When I think of the water in abundance
being drained by them, he came to mind because
that's what he was doing, draining the water
from everybody else to keep his grass green.
Well eventually they figured out a compromise
plan and he's getting now recycled sewage water
trucked in to his estate and that's what he's
using. I imagine his grass is very green now.
You see he's describing the wealthy, the prosperous
here as having crowds that follow them around
and adore them and applaud them. And they squander
everything that they have and leave others with
nothing. Verse 11. And they say, How does God
know? And is there knowledge with the most high?
Interference from God. No interference from God.
So it seems to them, causes them to mock the
idea of God's existence. They say, what does
God know? Does he really have any concern with
human affairs? Now remember, he's describing
what he sees the wicked like, those who are prosperous.
He says, behold, these are the wicked, and always
at ease they have increased in wealth. That's
the final summation of it, verse 12. Or as we
say, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
And the psalmist was troubled by this, because
these who were prosperous and who were wicked
seemed to have no problems in life. What really
got him was the next part of the psalm, verses
13 and 14, that while the wicked were prospering,
the righteous suffered. He says, surely in vain
I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands
in innocence. For I have been stricken all day
long and chastened every morning." The psalm
says, in contrast to the wicked I'm talking about,
I have tried to lead a clean life. I have maintained
my integrity. My actions have been righteous.
I have been innocent from doing the things that
the wicked have. And yet God has failed to reward
me, and my troubles seem to multiply while the
wicked get away with everything." And so he has
a lot of heart trouble. And if there's a person
here this morning who hasn't faced that same
kind of heart trouble at some time in life, he
hasn't thought very much about what life is about.
And so we have his pouring out of his trouble.
His heart was agitated with what he saw But that
brings us now to the second part of the psalm
and a happier part as he talks about the solution
to trouble He had a false Perception of things
actually as he looked at the wicked he didn't
realize it But that false perception gave him
that heart trouble now. He gets a right perspective
on things He says in verse 15, if I had said,
I will speak thus, behold, I should have betrayed
the generation of thy children. Interesting comment
by the psalmist. He says, I have restrained myself
from speaking this way among the people of God.
Because had I done that, I would have betrayed
them. He expresses here self -restraint rather
than complete uninhibited transparency with others.
Folks, sometimes that is appropriate. In some
contexts, an expression of what we're struggling
with, a careless expression of that, can lead
others to sin. Now, I strongly believe in transparency.
I believe that we ought to be open with other
people. But the fact is that we have to exercise
caution in selecting the sphere where we air
our troubled thoughts. That's what the psalmist
is saying. He says, if I had said these things
among the people, then I would have betrayed
them. So what did he do? He did what all of us
must do. He poured out his complaint before God.
The psalmist found recovery. He found a solution
for his heart troubles. It was gaining the right
perspective and laying aside that false perception
that he had regarding the prosperity of the wicked.
Now where did he get this right perspective?
From God. He says, when I pondered to understand
this, it was troublesome in my sight until I
came into the sanctuary of God. Oh, what peace
we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not, what? Carry it to the
Lord in prayer. And that's exactly what the psalmist
did. His heart was so agitated that he went before
God finally. And he poured out his complaint
to the Lord. How often our hearts are troubled.
because we fail to take our concerns to the Lord.
And there to examine them in the light of his
word, put the lenses on that are right so that
we can see the issue that's troubling us with
eternal values. It may be that this morning you
are deeply embroiled in some kind of bewilderment.
There's a question mark that's eating up your
life. You are wondering about something that's
giving you heart trouble. What do you do about
it? The fact is you can't share that with everybody.
Maybe there is someone you can share it with
and ought to share it with. But there is one
for whom you should, for sure with whom you should
share it, and that is the Lord. The psalmist
said, it was troublesome in my sight until I
came into the sanctuary of God. There are some
of us today that need to get to the sanctuary
of God quick, because our hearts are troubled.
And if we don't deal with that, it is possible
we will turn our backs on the faith. It's not
that there is no answer. It's that we haven't
yet sought the answer in the right place. or
maybe with the right attitude. He says, I went
into the sanctuary of God. Now he may have meant
the temple literally, or he may be using some
poetic expression meaning that he got in touch
with the Lord. The point is for us that you and
I need to bring our troubles to him and lay them
out. And notice what he came to grasp. He says,
I came into the sanctuary of God, then I perceived
their end. See what he's saying? He's saying,
I went before God and I laid out my concerns
and I told him what the wicked are like and how
they prosper and how I've suffered as a righteous
person. And then God gave me some new glasses.
Then I began looking through lenses of eternal
values, and I saw the end, the destiny of the
wicked," he says. My friend, that brings it all
into perspective real fast. If we examine only
the good times, yes, the wicked may seem to prosper.
But the fact is that those times, lifetime, has
an end. This almost goes on to say, surely thou
dost set them in slippery places. Thou dost cast
them down to destruction, how they are destroyed
in a moment. They are utterly swept away by sudden
terrors. And so it is. The wicked may boast.
He may parade around the earth with his fan clubs,
applauding him. He may live out his schemes and
think, what does God know? But then the plane
crashes. Then there's the car accident. Then
there's the drug overdose. Then there's the shooting.
And like that, it's over. It's all over. And
there is sudden terror. And there are slippery
places. And there is destruction. And the wicked
are utterly swept away by God. That's the end
of the wicked. So you see the psalmist began
to look at life Not just through his own eyes,
but through the lenses that God gave him in the
sanctuary And he said I was troubled until I
saw the real destiny of the wicked And he said
that gave me the ability to evaluate properly
What I had falsely perceived before I may be
talking to someone today who would fall into
the category of one who has mocked God. Do you
have felt that you can just go on your way? What
does God know anyway? He's never interfered up
till now. Let me tell you what a fool does. A
fool says, God doesn't care. There is no God.
And I'll live the way I want to live. And I'll
continue to prosper. and I'll double my accounts
and I'll build bigger barns and I will get richer
and more powerful and I will live long and then
suddenly in the middle of the night life ends
and God says you fool now who will all those
things belong to because they're no longer yours.
That's the destiny of the man who mocks God.
My friend, if that's your destiny today, I plead
with you to no longer mock Him, but to repent
of that, and to turn before it's too late, before
the end comes, and receive Jesus Christ as the
Savior that you need. to deliver you from that
destiny. The psalmist was tremendously affected
by what happened in the sanctuary when he got
alone with God. In the first place, it changed
his own sense of security. Notice in verses 21
through 24, When my heart was embittered, and
I was pierced within, then I was senseless and
ignorant. I was like a beast before thee." That's
when he was still troubled. Nevertheless, he
says, I am continually with thee. Thou hast taken
hold of my right hand. With thy counsel thou
wilt guide me, and afterward. receive me to glory."
The psalmist had the right lenses on now. Eternal
values. And it changed his own sense of security.
He says here in essence, I belong to God. Nothing
else matters. Can you say that today? In fact,
it is he, not the wicked, who is truly prosperous.
as he says here. It is the wicked, not himself,
who are on the slippery places. Earlier in the
psalm, he said in verse 2, my feet came close
to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped. Now
he sees in fact it's not his steps that are about
to slip, it's the wicked. His whole sense of
security has changed. He sees himself as living
slottily, not slippery. He sees himself as having
security. He says, God has taken hold of my right
hand. And he says, through my life, God will
guide me with his counsel. That's the eternal
values, the right lenses. God will guide me with
his counsel so that I'll be delivered from this
kind of heart trouble in the future. And he says,
afterward, when the end comes for me, He says
it's not destruction. It's not being swept away.
It's not sudden terror. But he says afterward,
God, you will receive me to glory. This word
receive is the same word that's used of Enoch
in Genesis. The same word used of Elijah when
he was translated and taken by God. The very
same Hebrew verb. He says, oh God, you will take
me up to glory. when the end comes. Oh, what
a sense of security came over the psalmist when
he began to view life with eternal values. He
said, the most important thing is that I belong
to God. Nothing else matters. But I notice also
that there is a change in his sense of values.
Look at verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee?
and besides thee I desire nothing on earth."
That really wasn't where he was before. He was
troubled because he had so little on earth, and
the wicked seemed to have so much. But a change
has taken place in his values. He says, and besides
thee I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and
my heart may fail, but God is the strength of
my heart and my portion forever." His change
of values are these. He says, God belongs to
me. Now, nothing else counts. His security is
that he belongs to God, but his new value system
is that God belongs to him. And because he has
God, everything else is devalued around him.
He is willing to lose prosperity. He is willing
even to hand it over to the wicked. He still
possesses God. And God is his portion, that is,
his inheritance. And so I ask all of us the question,
what things on earth have greater value to us
than God. Oh, we reply, nothing. I agree with
the psalmist. I desire nothing on earth besides
God. Oh, what a noble statement that is from
us. And yet there are tests. Tests like when
I come to decide how I spend my time or what
I'm going to do. Where does God fit into that?
When it comes to how I use my money, where I
give it, how I spend it, where does God fit into
that? When it comes to my career and what I'm
going to do or the decisions I'm going to make
about a promotion or an opportunity here or there,
where does God fit into that? May we be able
to say truly there is nothing on earth that I
desire above God God is mine God is mine, and
there is nothing else that counts besides that
oh I want to make right decisions about my money
about my time about my career about my family,
but nothing before God Nothing before God He
is my highest Most prized treasure. He is my
greatest value. We might ask ourselves this question,
what are we willing to sacrifice for? Because
you see it is what we're willing to sacrifice
for that determines what is most prized to us.
We inevitably choose to give up what is less
valuable. for that which is more valuable. Where
does God fit into that picture in our decisions?
Isn't it so easy because of the materialistic
world we live in to give up God quick? And to
choose instead of God other things that are of
greater earthly advantage? that will satisfy
our desires and our wants now? Oh, but folks,
we need to get to the sanctuary of God and get
some new glasses. We need to get some lenses
of eternal values and realize that if we have
God, there's nothing else that counts above Him.
The summation of the psalmist is in verses 27
and 28. Behold, those who are far from thee will
perish. Thou hast destroyed all those who are
unfaithful to thee. The word for unfaithful there
means unfaithfulness in the sense of marriage.
adulterous to thee. Those who have gone a -whoring,
as it were, searching after other gods. Those
who are far from God, he says, are doomed. They
are the ones who have turned their back on God.
They have walked away from God. There are those
who are unbelieving. He says they are doomed.
They are damned. They will perish. That's the
one summation. The other one is in verse 28,
but as for me, the nearness of God is my good.
I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may
tell of all thy works. Those who are near to
God are blessed, he says. Those who have made
the Lord their refuge. who have come to Him in
a time of need and have hidden themselves in
Him, those who have believed in Him, who have
turned to Him, who have found in Him a hiding
place, a refuge, those who are therefore near
to God. Every person listening to me right now
is either far from God or near to God. and eternity
hangs in the balance. If you are one who is far
from God, then listen to the warning of God's
Word. The end is coming with sudden terror, and
you will perish. Unless you turn around and come
near to God in faith. and trust and repentance.
And then you will be blessed. And then you will
have God to guide you through this life with
His counsel. And afterward, when life is done,
God will take you to glory, to heaven, to His
presence. When you and I view life, With eternal
values, it will dispel our heart trouble, and
it will develop heart tranquility, even in the
midst of the unfairness of life. This psalm is
like a lovely necklace. The last verse attaches
to the very first verse, really to make a complete
chain. And what the psalmist says in this necklace
is that those who are wicked may appear to prosper
in life, but in the end, they lose it all and
die. Those who are righteous may experience suffering
in life, but they have God, and God has them.
And in the end, they gain everything. and live
forever. So may we live with eternity's values
in view. Would you bow with me, please? If you're
struggling in your spiritual walk, if you sense
that you are far off from God, please know that
He loves you. God does not delight in the death
of those who are lost. God has so loved you that
He's given His Son for your sake. The Lord Jesus
came into the world and died for you, that you
might be reconciled to God. If you would like
to know more about that and how you can come
near to God, I want to encourage you to check
on your registration form. That little box that
says I would like to talk with someone And someone
will be in touch with you this week to talk about
your own spiritual struggle The heart trouble
that you're sensing within Give us that opportunity
won't you to talk with you personally by checking
that box? Oh Father I pray that today All of
us will go to the heavenly and that we will obtain
the kinds of lenses that will give us eternal
values with which to view life. And may that
bring into sharp focus some of the issues that
are now giving us heart trouble. May there be
peace develop as we learn to look at life as
you do. to see it from your perspective, the
right perspective. Set our lives, I pray, upon
the firm foundation of your word, that we may
not slip or stumble, but may testify with faith
and certainty, the Lord is good to me. The Lord
is good to His people. In Jesus' name, Amen.