Almost Slipped: Finding Your Footing In A World That Isn't Fair

Introduction: The Unfairness of It All

Good morning. It’s a feeling we all know, a question that burns in our hearts from a young age: "That's not fair!" We see it everywhere in our world. Someone who cuts corners gets the promotion. A dishonest person gets richer. We try to live with integrity, to work hard, to follow God, and yet we struggle. It's easy to look at the world and ask, "Does it even pay to be good?"

This is not a new question. Psalm 73 is the story of a man named Asaph—a worship leader, a man of God—who almost lost his faith completely over this very issue. His story is one of the most honest, vulnerable, and ultimately helpful accounts in the entire Bible. It’s a roadmap for what to do when the seeming injustice of life causes our own faith to slip.

I. The Crisis: When Righteousness Feels Pointless

Asaph begins his psalm with the "right answer," the conclusion of faith: "Truly God is good to Israel." But then he immediately confesses his personal crisis.

He says in verse 2, "But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped." He was on the verge of abandoning his faith. Why? Verse 3: "For I was envious... when I saw the prosperity of the wicked."

Envy is the spiritual vertigo that makes us lose our balance. Asaph became obsessed with observing the wicked. He saw their seemingly problem-free lives: they were healthy, proud, wealthy, and powerful. Worse, they openly mocked God and appeared to get away with it completely (v. 11).

This constant, painful observation led him to a devastating conclusion in verse 13: "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency." In other words, "What was the point? All my efforts to live a pure and righteous life have been a complete waste of time. All I get for it is pain, while they get pleasure." This is the depth of a faith crisis, when doing good feels utterly foolish.

II. The Turning Point: When Perspective Changes Everything

Asaph was trapped in this cycle of envy and despair, analyzing the problem from every human angle, and it was, in his own words, "too painful for me" (v. 16). He was stuck.

Then comes the most important word in the entire psalm: "Until..."

Verse 17: "Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end."

The sanctuary was the place of worship, the place of God's presence. His answer was not found by analyzing the world more closely; it was found by drawing nearer to God. In the sanctuary, his perspective was radically altered. God gave him a new set of eyes—eternal eyes.

In God's presence, his focus shifted from their present prosperity to their ultimate destiny. He saw that for all their pride, they were standing on "slippery places" (v. 18), poised for a sudden and terrifying fall into destruction. He realized their entire prosperous life was like a fleeting dream from which they would awaken to the horrifying reality of being without God.

The solution to our struggle with the world's injustice is not to get better at arguing with its logic. The solution is to get into God's presence, where our vision is corrected from a short-term, temporal view to a long-term, eternal one.

III. The Conclusion: When God is Your Greatest Treasure

With his new eternal perspective, Asaph is horrified by his previous envy. He repents, saying, "So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee" (v. 22). He realizes his envy was irrational, like an animal that can only see the food in front of it, with no concept of the future.

This humble repentance leads him to one of the most beautiful and profound declarations of faith in all of Scripture.

Verses 25-26: "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

This is the ultimate realization. Asaph was envying the wicked for their "portion" in this life—their money, their ease, their health. But in the sanctuary, he realized he already possessed the greatest portion of all: God Himself. The presence of God is an infinitely more valuable, secure, and lasting treasure than anything the world can offer.

He ends where he should have begun. His final verdict is not about the wicked at all; it's about himself. Verse 28: "But it is good for me to draw near to God." The ultimate good in life is not comfort, health, or wealth. The ultimate good is proximity to God.

Conclusion: Finding Your Footing

We all have moments where the ground of our faith feels slippery. Asaph’s honest journey shows us the way back to solid ground.