On Wednesday, December 21, 1988, Pan American flight 103 began its scheduled flight from London’s Heathrow Airport on its way to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. There were 243 passengers and sixteen crew members aboard the Boeing 747 when it lifted off the runaway at 6:25 pm. It was flying north over Scotland at altitude of 31,000 feet at around 580 mph
An explosion just under the letter “P” of the words “Pan Am” on the plan punched a twenty-inch hole in the left side of the fuselage. The nose of the plane quickly separated from the fuselage after detonation. Investigators discovered that the explosion was so rapid that the pilots did not have time put on their oxygen masks nor did they communicate any distress signal. The plane’s wing section descended on Lockerbie, Scotland at more than 500 mph, creating a crater 155 feet long. It was there that a fireball scorched both cars and homes killing an additional eleven people on the ground due to debris from the plane. In all, 270 people died from the Lockerbie Bombing.
As tragic as all of this is, the recent news that the former Libyan Intelligence Officer, who was found guilty of these crimes, was recently released makes the injustice even more appalling. He was released on compassionate grounds as a prison doctor has claimed that he had but three months to live due to prostrate cancer. He served but eight years of his sentence or as someone has noted but eleven days for each victim he was responsible for. Yet, in today’s London’s Telegraph there are allegations that his release had more to do with Great Briton’s interests in securing oil rather than a compassionate release for his cancer.
Injustice.
We’re in series, God Talk: A Conversation in the Psalms. And this morning, we’re focusing on Psalm 73.
Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.?2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.?3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.?5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.?6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.?7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.?8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.?9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.?10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.?11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”?12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.?13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.?14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.?15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,?17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.?19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!?20 Like a dream when one awakes,?O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.?21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,?22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.?24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.?25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.?26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.?28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. (Psalm 73:1-28)
This is a psalm that deals with our raw emotions when life isn’t fair and clean and neat as we think it should be. When our hearts and minds believe in a just God and we look around at our world and see anything but fair, we are confused. This is a psalm that deals with the complex matters of life as they really are. Not as it is pretended to be.
The word “psalm” means songs or poems. With more than 150 chapters of poetry and praise to God, this book will transform your life. This book is filled with songs meant to be sung and cherished. Each Psalm is intentionally written to engage your emotions.
We discover that a person named “Asaph” is the author of these words in Psalm 73. Asaph is the one who is struggling with injustice in His day. If you were to simply flip through the next few chapters in the Psalms, you would notice Asaph’s name appears above the titles of Psalm 73-83 as well as Psalm 50. Asaph is a Levite, part of the priesthood of ancient Israel. He was also the musical leader in David’s day (1 Chronicles 15-16).
Do you know any of the injustice that Asaph is dealing with? Have you experienced the pain of your mate walking out on you? Or, the betrayal of a business partner? Perhaps you have given the best years of your life to raising your children, only to see them indifferent and ungrateful for all you have done for them? Have you experienced the shock and bewilderment at being cut out of your inheritance? Or perhaps you have worked harder and longer in your job, only to watch others get a promotion? Perhaps your child is twice as good as the children starting the Little League game while your child sits on the bench? Whether it is politics at the ball field, the church, or at the office, life hurts when you get a raw deal. Some have seriously questioned God as they have seen their hard work and sacrifice rewarded with injustice and pain.
Some who are angry with God go so far as to deny His existence. Here’s a question to ponder: How can you be mad at someone who doesn’t exist? If you do not believe that there is a God at all, then you have no right to mad about injustice. For there is no such thing as justice or injustice without God. All you have is Darwinian evolution where the strong eat the weak. And who can raise questions about justice with blind chance directed events?
Still others are confused by their anger and are not sure what to believe about God. Some doubt not because of any evidence they have examined but because of their emotions. Your doubt stems from your anger. You are angry at the way God is running the world.
Others of you church going people are too pious and too “Christian” to become mad at God. You think that anger at God has no place among the stain glass and pews of a church. If someone were to ask you, “If you are mad at God?,” you would reply, “Mad at God? How could I be? How could anyone be mad at God?” Against the backdrop of such supposed “piousness”, it’s the realism of the Bible I love. Here in this refreshingly honest psalm is Asaph’s honest emotions toward God Himself. If you are angry with God, I invite you to join the Psalmist and be realistic about your true feelings. If the injustice of life appears to you as unfair and random, and you are angry with God, be realistic. Don’t deny it because you are too pious.
1. My Belief: God is Good.
“Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” (Psalm 73:1)
This is a proverb in Hebrew culture. It was something that every child would have learned in school. It was something that every person in Hebrew synagogues would have repeated often. Much like our modern day proverbs such as “practice makes perfect,” everyone knew verse one. Each person throughout Israel would affirm that God is good. We even see evidence of this in the New Testament as Jesus said: “…No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:19) Or, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)
As I was preparing last week’s sermon and charting out the Psalms I wanted to study with you, I noticed the words at the end of Psalm 1:3:“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)
As I read those words at the end of verse three, I thought, “There are many of us who, when we are honest, can think of people who have lived right but received a raw deal.” What about those people? If God is in control of all things, shouldn’t the plans of the wicked flounder? Shouldn’t the mafia be punished openly before everyone to see? I see the criminals get rich by selling their crime stories? Shouldn’t the godly prosper only? And if these things don’t happen, does this mean that the Bible is wrong? Should I conclude that God is neither good nor sovereign?
Verse one both creates a crisis of faith for Asaph but it also marks a returning point for him. His faith will be severely doubted in the verses to come. Yet, verse one, the belief in God’s goodness, acts like a boomerang. Asaph’s faith will return here.
2. My Experience: When Life & Faith Conflict.
In this moving autobiographical reflection, Asaph is honest with us. This Psalm represents a crisis of our faith. He shares with everyone his personal dilemma. Here our deepest problem is no longer the boss, the Little League coach, or the spouse that has left us… Our biggest problem is God. And for many of you, the pain of injustice is a personal problem – a problem where the character of God is called into question. Can He be trusted? He has seemingly failed us and we are left with despondency.
Asaph is the author of these words. He speaks of these doubts as he says that his “feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.” (Psalm 73:2) The words “nearly slipped” literally mean “poured out.” Asaph is saying that he began to question God’s goodness and he almost lost his faith. Many of you believe it is wrong to question God. If you believe that you are both right and wrong. There is a questioning that is proud and boastful.
Some people think it is clever of them to raise questions that godly people cannot answer. This is certainly the wrong kind of questioning. Yet there is another type of questioning… What I am calling faith honestly doubting. Watch how this happens in Asaph:
“But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.?3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.?5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.?6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.?7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.?8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.?9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.?10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.?11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”?12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.”? (Psalm 73:2-13)
Asaph uses word pictures that communicate down through the corridors of time to intricately describe the wicked. He describes what they are wearing as they wear pride and arrogance for jewelry in verse six. Instead of a shirt and pants, they wear violence to cover themselves in verse seven. They may believe in a God but God is not examining carefully the details and days of men’s lives (see verse eleven). God is a remote deity that has better things to do than to care what the wicked are doing.
Notice carefully how God confronts each of Asaph’s doubts.
Doubt #1: I’m Being Punished for Being Good.
“All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” (Psalm 73:13)
Asaph not only sees the prosperity of the wicked, but he sees those committed to God openly experience great distress in life. What is the advantage of being a Christian if those who are not Christians get what I want and I don’t get anything? I’m being punished for being good. Yet, note the contrast in verses two and twenty three:
“But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.” (Psalm 73:2)
“Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.” (Psalm 73:23)
In the beginning his envy almost caused his faith to slip. In the end, it was God’s grip on Him that kept him upright.
Doubt #2: I Don’t Understand How God Can Reward the Ungodly
“For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.” Psalm 73:14
Asaph began this Psalm by talking about God’s goodness. Yet, when he reflects on this he sees the misery of people all around him. He experiences this on a daily basis. This is spiritual and mental torment for him. His faith is not a source of comfort for him but it is a source of perplexity. It is easy for us to think of faith only as a “problem solver.” There are times that our faith in God poses greater problems for us. Yet, in Asaph’s near tumble from a firm faith (verse two) is later matched by a conviction that the wicked would slip and fall fatally at God’s hands (verse eighteen): “Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.” (Psalm 73:18)
A wordplay reinforces a reversal that would incur. The prosperity of the wicked (verse three) would be turned to ruin: “For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Psalm 73:3)
“How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!” (Psalm 73:19)
Lurking around the corner for the wicked is terror.
Doubt #3: I Can’t Let Anyone Hear Me Talk Like This
If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children. (Psalm 73:15)
Asaph had to reign in his emotions. Notice that even at this low point, Asaph is still a believer in God. One way he shows this is by what he says in verse fifteen: he doesn’t want to harm other people’s faith. Asaph begins to realize that if he voices his deep concerns, the he will be seen as a traitor to the faith. He looks around at the people who have taught him and nurtured him in his faith. He doesn’t want to hurt them nor does he wants his friendship with them disrupted. Perhaps he also begins to draw strength from their faith. They have no doubt had doubts this like this. They have not given up even though they have experienced deep distress. When the going gets tough, we can draw strength from others.
This is a very good reason to belong to a church. Having doubts like Asaph doesn’t mean I am not a Christian. Doubt does not have to lead to denial. In actuality, it is having such doubts that my Christian faith can grow.
Doubt #4: God is a Mystery
“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task...” (Psalm 73:16)
God was clouded in mystery. He was unable to comprehend any order out of life. Yet, everything begins to change in verse seventeen. Whereas, everything until now has been a rollercoaster ride downhill, verse seventeen marks the ride of life is about to go up.
“But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,?17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” (Psalms 73:16-17)
Verse seventeen turns the corner for us. His faith has been vulnerable and grasp on God is weak. Yet, when he is in presence of God, he realizes that God’s grasp on him is strong: “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.” (Psalm 73:23) Once he is in God’s presence, he realizes how foolish envy has been. He compares himself to a brute beast: “I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.” (Psalm 73:22)
Our problems with God are often not intellectual problems. Though we often express our unhappiness with God in this way. It is safer. Instead, our problem is that God is not treating us the way we think He should treat us. Look closely as Asaph’s problem as it is found in verse three: “For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” (Psalm 73:3) And in verse 12: “Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.” (Psalm 73:12)
We see other people seemingly doing better than we are and we struggle. The wicked often enjoy more of the blessings of this life in this life than those committed to God We struggle for a living and they are coasting without any obvious trouble. Our problem is envy. Our envy is criticizing God. This is sin. The problem for Asaph and the problem for American is that our measuring God’s goodness by the wrong ruler. You are using the ruler of luxury and riches and success in order to test God’s faithfulness.
“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.” (Proverbs 23:17)
3. My Desire: Faith Makes a Comeback
“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,?22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. 23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.?24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.?25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.?26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.?28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works” (Psalm 73:21-28).
His desires were wrong. He desired to get rich, thinking that money would solve his problems (see 1 Timothy 6:9-10). In the first half of the psalm, Asaph went astray because the Lord had not given him the things that he wanted. He wanted enough money to enjoy the good life that he saw the wicked enjoying.
You need to realize that when you are mad and angry at God, it’s because there is something you want more than God Himself. You are angry because you are single and alone. You are angry because of your health. You are angry because you bad career.
Imagine your son calling home from college only when he needs money. Or, imagine you are engaged to be married when you discover that you have a huge trust fund coming your way. You and your finance begin to dream about all the places you’ll travel and all the things you’ll do because of the money you’re about to receive. When you and your spouse discover the trust fund has vanished, he calls off the engagement.
In both of these stories, you and I can easily see what is wrong with such an attitude. Watch how Asaph comes back to the right attitude. Although Asaph has doubted God because of his envy of the wicked. He now comes full circle. His faith boomerangs. And when his faith has fully come around, Asaph points us to us to very reason God has created us.
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.?26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)
A diving accident in 1967 left 17-year-old Joni Eareckson a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, unable to use her hands. I quote her when she says: “60 years of inconvenience has served me to know Christ better and give God glory.”
Godly people arrive at verses 25 and 26 for their life’s aim. When you have God, you have it all. When you have everything else and don’t have God, you have nothing. You’ll prefer God above anything else in heaven. The main reason heaven is so attractive is because God is there. If Jesus Christ were not in heaven, there is no reason to seek heaven. There is no reason to long to go there. If heaven were empty of God, would you still want it? If you could live on earth in riches and in great luxury forever, yet you would be without the presence of God, would you? Offer a believer whatever you wish, but if he doesn’t have God, he is miserable. If heaven were empty of God and still had streets of gold and gates of pearl, it would be a miserable place. We enjoy but a little bit of God in this world. Yet, we will have an eternity to enjoy Him if we are in Christ. The Gospel contains greater treasures than the wealth of Arabian palaces. The Bible wants you to be infinitely happy. This is what the Psalms are about. There are about your emotions. Your affections… God wants you to be infinitely happy. To make you happy, God doesn’t offer you treasure. He doesn’t offer you sex. He offers you Himself.
“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
“As a deer pants for flowing streams,?so pants my soul for you, O God.?2 My soul thirsts for God,?for the living God.?When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2)
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;?my soul thirsts for you;?my flesh faints for you,?as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.?2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,?beholding your power and glory.?3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,?my lips will praise you.” (Psalm 63:1-3)
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psalm 84:10)
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)
The person who sincerely prefers God above all things knows there is competition in his heart. There is competition for his love… For his loyalty… For when God and all other things come in competition, this is the test of our sincere love and devotion for him.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
