Psalm 73 — Eli Brayley

Good evening, everyone. I've been told that I've preached too long, so I'll shorten it a bit tonight. Tonight we're going to be looking at Psalm 73, which is a psalm of a man by the name of Asaph. King David wrote many psalms, and he's called the sweet psalmist of Israel.

But when we read in the Book of Chronicles, there's another psalmist, and his name is Asaph, and both David and him would make psalms and sing them. And it says they would be glad in the Lord when they made these psalms.

Psalms is actually divided up into five books. So, usually when we talk about the books of the Bible, we say that there are 66 books in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Sometimes I like to say, no, no, there's not 66, there's actually 70.

It sort of throws people for a loop. They think I've got a crazy weird Bible, but I'm just thinking because the psalms are divided up into five. So if you take it that way, you can say there's 70 books in the Bible and not 66.

I think 70 is a bit nicer of a number than 66. But the psalm we're going to be looking at, Psalm 73, is the first psalm of the third book in psalms. I don't know if you have a heading on it, but mine says a psalm of Asaph.

A friend of David. So, let us pray before we tackle this tonight. We thank you for this evening, God. Lord, we thank you for all the blessings that you give to us. We're thankful, people. We're thankful to you, God.

We thank you for everyone who's come tonight, Lord. And I pray that you bless them especially tonight, God. Each and every one of us, God. Refresh and renew our hearts tonight, Lord. I pray that you take us to a place, Lord, tonight where we see you as you are.

And we see the truth of the word. Lord, put aside anything in us that hinders.

Take it out, God. Anything in us that keeps us from you.

And keeps us from hearing what you truly want to say to us. I pray that you would take it far from us, Lord. And I pray that the heavens would be open tonight. That you would look down upon us in favor.

And we would look up to you in expectation. And learn from you. We thank you, Jesus. I thought maybe, and Cameron mentioned, we should pray the Lord's Prayer together. Our Father in Heaven. So, if you just want to say it with me if you know it.

Asaph’s Temptation: Envying the Prosperity of the Wicked

The temptation. Well, tonight we're going to look at a temptation. There's many temptations that our study will apply to. But we're going to look at a specific temptation. Now, Cameron already read it.

So, but I don't know if you might remember some of the things that were said. So, we might look at it again. But it starts out like this. Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as are of pure heart.

Now, here's where the temptation begins. This psalm is divided up into three sections. We're going to look first at the temptation that Asaph entered into. Asaph almost falling into this temptation. He fell into it and he's struggling.

Secondly, we're going to look at how Asaph got out of this temptation. And thirdly, the results of coming out of this temptation. And this is a temptation that many people have gone through. If you haven't, I'm sure you have.

I have gone through this kind of a temptation. And the temptation is, as we're going to find out, it is thinking that following after God is vain. And thinking that sacrificing this life for God. And so, you know, we sing a song about surrender and following after God.

The world behind me, the cross before me. And the temptation Asaph had was he looked at the wicked. He looked at evil men who didn't fall after God. And he saw that they prospered in the earth. He saw that evil men had a good in life.

Whereas godly men had a bad in life. And he struggled with this. His temptation was to say, what's all this, Lord? Why does the ungodly have a good life and the godly seem to have all the struggles and all the trials in life?

Why are the godly prospering while the ungodly... Why are the ungodly prospering while the godly suffer? This is the temptation that he had. So let's look together at verse 2. He says here, As for me, my feet were almost gone, and my steps had well nigh slipped.

Almost slipped. For I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And if you look over at verse 18, talking about the ungodly, You see that it says, Surely thou didst set them in slippery places.

Now slippery places, we might go up in Canada. I don't know about Victoria. I'm not a local here. Do you get ice here? Snow and ice? Well, where I'm from in New Brunswick, you get ice everywhere. As a matter of fact, there's a lot of car accidents because of the icy roads.

It actually says that God sets the ungodly in a slippery place. And what it means in the Bible, when it says he sets them in a slippery place, Elsewhere in the Bible, in Jeremiah, it defines it a little better.

It says a dark and slippery place. So basically it's a place where you can't see where you're going,. And the place that you're walking is hazardous. Any moment you can step and fall and hurt yourself.

I don't know if you've ever stumbled around in the dark. It's dangerous. How much more dangerous is stumbling around in the dark in a hazardous environment? Say, walking across a rickety bridge or something like that, Where you need to very carefully watch your steps.

God set the wicked in slippery places, or in dangerous places. And it's inevitable, Scripture makes it clear, that the wicked will be destroyed. It's inevitable that the wicked will fall. When? We don't know.

Maybe soon, maybe sooner or later, we don't know. But they will. They will fall. And Asaph is saying, I almost stepped in a slippery place meant for the ungodly. Asaph, because of this temptation, because he was struggling, He said, I almost stepped onto bare ground.

I almost left my security in God. You see, in God there's no worry, as we'll soon find out. In God you don't have to worry about slipping. Your feet are on the solid rock. That's what he's saying. On Christ the solid rock I stand.

There's no slipping when you're in Christ. See, God is light, there's no darkness when you're in Christ. And Asaph said, because of this temptation, because I saw the prosperity of the wicked, I was envious.

This is all in vain, I ought to live it up, and indulge myself, like they do, onto their territory. He describes the wicked like this. In their death, but their strength is firm, they're not in trouble as other men, neither are they playing like other men.

One thing that Jesus promised the disciples was trouble. He said, in this world, you will have trouble. That's what he promised.

We're not going to lie to you.

If you want to follow Jesus, guess what you'll promise?

You're not promised an easy life.

No Christian is promised an easy life. If you're familiar with the late George Whitefield of the 1700s, who was a friend of John Wesley, a famous preacher, he said, on this side of eternity, basically while I'm alive, all I expect is trouble, and to carry a cross on this side of eternity.

Now, the opposite of the ungodly. The ungodly, on this side of eternity, they don't carry a cross, and they'll do everything they can to avoid trouble. And basically, the life of the ungodly is, at first, very pleasurable indeed.

And it's just the opposite. They have it well in this life, but in the next life, not so well. And Jesus himself said that. He said, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. If you laugh now, you'll weep later.

He didn't mean it's bad to laugh. He's talking about a certain type of laughing. An evil laughing. A laughing and a scoffing at God, and living it up for yourself now. And so Asab is saying, they have no trouble, but I'm wracked with trouble all the time.

This is crazy. This is not worth it. Their pride, verse 6, above is a chain. Elias covers them in a garment. I think of some of these great, well, I wouldn't call them great, but they certainly called themselves great.

Great leaders of the past supposed Stalin of Russia, Stalin of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin lived in luxury, while all of Russia lived in poverty. Stalin, a wicked man, was prospering. And I think that, you know, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, there's nothing new under the sun.

Asab would have probably had the same struggle in 1950 that he did back in his day. You see, he would have looked at men like Stalin. There was men like Stalin back in these days too. Evil men. Israel was surrounded by evil nations.

And basically, Israel was trying to serve God and follow the law, all the while they're looking out at all these other nations who are living it up. And saying, well, we have so much struggle. So a bloody man, killing millions, lives up in a palace, and he's looking up to God and saying, God, what is this?

Where is the justice? And this isn't fair. This isn't right. And so he began to get envious and thought, well, maybe God doesn't hear us. We'll see in just a moment. Because in verse, they say, and is their knowledge in the most high.

I've talked to many non-believers on my travels. I've traveled and preached. And they think they can get away with it. And these men, these evil men, they say, I can live all in the sin I want, and God doesn't know.

And see, this is the struggle Asaph was experiencing. He was stepping into their territory, and he was saying, God doesn't know. God doesn't see a difference between the ungodly and the godly. I might as well just eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I die.

He was stepping into their territory, and he was seeing the world as they see the world. You see, there's different ways to see the world. Your world view and how you see things is going to make a difference on how you live, for certain.

And so we find in verse 6, they're full of violence, and yet they prosper. Verse 7, their eyes stand out with gladness, and they have more than the heart could wish. More than the heart could wish. Now, I want to talk about that.

The Deception of the Heart and the False Promise of Possessions

More than the heart could wish is a very deceptive statement. In the Bible it says this, the heart is deceptive above all things. You know what the most deceptive thing in the whole world is? The most fleeting and vaporous thing in the whole world that doesn't, like a mirage.

Your heart, the most deceptive thing. And wicked above all else. Who can trust it? You can know it. So basically, he says, they have all that the heart could wish. You know what? That's not true. Having stuff, having pleasure, having prospering in this life is not all that the heart could wish.

Don't ever let the devil fool you, or let your own heart fool you. Your own heart sometimes crosses and says, Oh, if you only had that new sports car, you would be so satisfied. You'd never want anything else.

All you need is that new sports car. All you need is that new television. All you need is this, or all you need is that. And your heart can really fool you to make you think that. You make you think that, yeah, I wouldn't want anything else after I got that.

And I beg of it and say, Dad, if I get this, I wouldn't want anything else anymore. This is all I want. I'm just going to have that toy, and I'll be satisfied. I won't want any other toys. You know what?

You really believe it. And so you get it, and you play with it, and all of a sudden you realize your heart was deceptive of all else. They have all of their hearts. They think they have all of their hearts.

See, when God changes your heart, when God opens your eyes, you realize how foolish all that stuff is. And, as we'll find out later in the psalm and in other places, David says, One thing, the desire of my heart, that's a proper, that's a desire that's not deceptive.

The things of God and God Himself, the desires for Him, that's the thing that's not deceptive. The wicked man thinks he has all of these desires, but you know what? He doesn't, because he needs to do it again and again and again and again.

Young people these days, my age, they go to the bars and they get drunk, and then they sleep around without someone who's not even their wife or their husband. And they think that they're satisfying their heart, but they're not satisfying their heart, because next week they have to get drunk again, and the week after that, and the week after that, and they're never satisfied unless they're doing those things.

When they stop doing those things, they have a great emptiness in their heart. When I come to God, my heart is no longer deceptive. My heart has found its place in God, and my heart rests in the life of God.

That's what Jesus meant when He said, I'll give you water and you'll never thirst again. He's offering to us this beautiful living water. He says, if you drink this water, you'll thirst. But if you drink the water I give you, you'll never thirst ever again.

Now, one other comment on the heart. Jesus says in Mark 7, and I'll turn there, Mark 7, 21. He says, from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.

All these things come from within and defile the man. So certainly, yes, the ungodly are basically indulging all the pleasures and all the deceitful lusts that come out of the heart. They're indulging it.

So Asaph is correct in seeing that they're indulging in the pleasures of their heart, but it's always big deception. And if we be honest with ourselves, we do know that within our heart we do have the sinful desires.

It comes from within. It manifests in our actions, but it comes from within. And the wicked men just indulge and indulge. And Asaph says, where's the justice gone? Why do they have an easy and the unadulterated?

They are corrupt, verse 8, and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth. Basically, it just means they speak blasphemies.

They speak high things against God. And God seems to be silent. If you go downtown today, a common word on the street is the name of the Lord, Lord Jesus. Are men worshipping the Lord when they say it?

Are they just saying it and they replace it with the Lord's holy name? Because they're ungodly and they're not worshipping God. It's all a big reversal. Asaph's saying, God, these men are speaking blasphemies.

They're speaking against your name. And he says, they prosper in the world. They increase with riches. They prosper in the world. Why? Because the world is in the hands of Satan. And if you remember that Jesus in the desert was tempted for 40 days.

The Devil’s Offer and the Cost of Worldly Prosperity

And when the devil came to him, says in Luke, Then he took him up on a high mountain and said, All the kingdoms of the world, I'll give to you. Because I've got the authority to give it to whomever I want.

I'm in control of this world and can give you the kingdoms, can give you all the authority, can give you the prestige, can give you the power, can give you everything you want. You just bow down and worship me.

So it's in the power of the devil, it is, it's in the authority of the devil, to give riches, honor, power, authority in this life. To whomever he wants. To whomever bows down and worships him. And the sad thing is, many, many, many people are doing just that.

And that is why they're prospering in the world. Why do the Christians not prosper in this world? Because this is the world of Satan and we do not belong here. That's why we got trouble. It's like, there's a great reaction.

There's a great reaction. When a person says, like Jesus said, No Satan, it is written, worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. There's a great reaction that takes place. Because Satan wants your worship.

Satan is out to get your worship. And many people worship him and so they prosper. And so they prosper. And it's so easy, my friends, to be like Asaph and look at the situation and be fooled by your heart and give in to Satan and worship the things of this life and he'll give you everything you want.

It's so easy. Because it's hard. Because it is hard to follow God. So Asaph is in this temptation. Now how did he get out of it? What's the key? What is the key? He says, I've cleansed my heart in vain.

I've washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.

Entering God’s Sanctuary to See Reality Clearly

See, now he says in verse 15 and 16, he's considering stepping into their territory. He's considering saying, hmm, my heart wants to prosper. My heart wants to live it up. Nothing seems to be good over here except pain.

He says in verse 15 and 16, when I thought of this, it was painful. There was something in him and it caused him pain. He thought of the children of Israel in verse 15. When I say I will be like them, I will speak thus, I'll offend the children of Israel.

What about all the children of Israel? And something pained him. And you know what? If you remember in verse 1, he says, truly God is good to Israel, even to such as have a pure heart. And you know, Asaph had a pure heart.

And don't get me wrong, you can have a pure heart and suffer temptation. Jesus did. Jesus was tempted. But he never sinned. And it's because of Asaph's pure heart that he was grieved. That he felt pain at even the thought of going along with the wicked.

And verse 17, we find the great release. The great key to coming out of this temptation. Out of this mindset. We find in verse 17 a new mindset. Until I went into the sanctuary of God and then understood I therein.

And you see, there's a place of ultimate seeing. When you see things as they truly are. When you're no longer deceived. And you see things as they are not. As like a barrage or as an image. As a deception.

There's a place of seeing things as they are not. And then there is a place of seeing things as they are. Truly. It's the place. The sanctuary is not the physical sanctuary. The sanctuary is God himself.

The sanctuary is when you come to God. And his presence fills you. And you come before him. And you come before his word. And he fills you with the place of ultimate seeing. When you see things as they truly are.

In the light of his word. In the light of his spirit. In the light of the truth. For Jesus said, I am the truth. And you come to Jesus and you partake of that truth. And you see things as they truly are.

And when Atos stepped into the sanctuary of God. And understood things as they truly are. In his mind there was now a distinction. Between the ungodly and the godly. There was a distinction. What was it?

It was in their end. It was not in this life. It was in their end. He saw that the ungodly. They live as they do. They prosper. They have all they want. But it is their end. It is their ultimate end. That is what is destruction.

Where God sets them in a slippery place. Where they think they are doing well. But they are really in darkness.

And any moment they will fall. And he sees the destruction of the ungodly. In verse 18. Surely God has set them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. In a moment. You see. It is all a deception.

Because when you die. You don't take any of your prosperity with you. And you go into the place of destruction that God has promised. And God cannot lie. You see. It is what he said. I was envious of their foolishness.

It is totally foolish. Ignorant. Ridiculous. It is idiotic. To live a life. For yourself.

And for pleasure. And for money. And for gain. And for Satan. And it is all taken from you when you die. It is the absolute. It is the only place in the whole Bible where God calls someone a fool. Is someone who lived like that.

The Dreamlike Vanity of Worldly Riches

And I like in verse 20. It says as a dream. When one awakens. And I want to just. This really. This is a wonderful truth. This is a wonderful thing. The inspiration that the Bible has given us. As one awakens from a dream.

And. Have you ever had a dream? I just believe this illustrates it so well. Have you ever had a dream. Where. In your dream. You obtain something. And the dream is so real. That when you wake up you think you have it.

Have you ever had that? I remember having a dream like that once. I am a musician. I like to play instruments. I don't like to isolate myself to one instrument. And. You know. I have my heart to play the drums.

I really like the drums. And so I had a dream. And I went to bed. And I had a dream. And I had a dream. And somehow I got a drum set. And it was in my room. And it was right there. And I was playing it.

And it was wonderful. And it was so real. That when I woke up. I am going to go into the next room and play it. And I was just like. Something was not right. But I was like. Do I have it? It was just so real.

You know. So I got up. And went into the next room. And looked in the door. It was gone. It was. There was no drum set there. And that's how the Bible likens the ungodly in all their riches. It's there like a dream.

It's not even there. You think it's there. And then when you die. You wake up. And you realize. It's not. It was not there. It was all in your imagination. It was all a dream. It was all vanity. It's a wonderful illustration.

If God can put this in your hearts and your minds tonight. My job has been accomplished. If you can see the foolishness of living for the ungodly gain. And for this life. And not for God. It's as fleeting as a dream.

It's as fleeting as a dream. When you think that you have something. And you really don't. And it's taken from you when you wake up. As a dream in one awakening. It's gone. If he gains the whole world.

And yet forfeits his own soul. Jesus asked the question. He doesn't even answer it. Because we should know the answer. It doesn't prompt him any. It's the most foolish thing to do. To live a life without God.

Your whole life is taken from you as a dream. When you die. If you live a life without God. But you know. In the place of ultimate seeing. Where God wants to take us. He doesn't only see the end of the wicked.

The Firm Hope and Eternal Inheritance of the Righteous

I believe he sees the end of the righteous. And the end of the righteous my friends. Is not like a dream. The end of the righteous. Is not like you think you have a drum set. And you wake up and it's not there.

It's not a slippery place. The righteous stand firm on Jesus. And his words. Jesus said the storms come. The wind blow but the house stands. And the wonderful thing about the end of the righteous. Is it's not taken from you.

And you live for God. You have faith in Christ. You were redeemed from this world. The world that Satan has. You're taken out of it and put in a new kingdom. A kingdom that lasts forever. It's a kingdom that will not pass away.

It never will pass away like a dream. And that's what Asaph saw. He said I saw the end of the wicked. I saw the end of the righteous. And look at his next thing he said. Verse 21 -22 says my heart was green.

I was pricked in my reign. And so foolish was I. I can just see him sort of beating himself up a little bit. And saying how foolish I was to even consider. This temptation. How foolish I was. How foolish I was to think that.

I should build up my riches in this earth. I should build up my wealth in this earth. But forfeit my very soul. How foolish. He said I was like the beasts. He said a life. An attitude like that is no different than the animals.

Animals just live. Animals eat. Animals build their home. Animals die. And he said how foolish. I love the ending of this psalm in conclusion. First part we talked about was. Asaph's temptation. Which many of us can experience.

The second part in verse 17. Was how to come out of that temptation. And how to come out of that temptation. Is to come to the sanctuary of God. To the place of ultimate seeing. When you see things as they truly are.

And the result. Of coming out of that temptation. The result of being in the sanctuary of God. And seeing things as they are. You realize how foolish. Things are. But not only that.

Rejoicing in God Alone

You rejoice in the Lord. And your hope is found in Him. He says nevertheless. I am continually with thee.

I love the whole attitude change of this psalm. There's a great shift in this psalm. The first part of the psalm. He's lamenting. He's woeing. He's bemoaning. The last part of the psalm he says. I am continually with thee Lord.

I'm not going to their territory. I'm staying right here. In your territory. I'm continually with thee. God has held me by my right hand. And that's a wonderful thing. You know. Even within that temptation.

All along God was there holding him. All along. Verse 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel. With thy counsel. Not the world's counsel. Who wants to be guided by God's counsel? I want to be guided by the counsel of God.

Not by the counsel of this world. Not by the lies of the devil. And the wonderful thing is. And afterwards. Receive me. The picture is. God has his hand all along. Why? Because he has a pure heart. God is continually with him.

God will guide him with his counsel. If he's willing to listen. And afterwards. Receive him to glory. Receive him to glory. Hallelujah. Who have I in the heavens but thee. And there is none beside thee.

Upon the earth that I desire. There is none that I desire but thee. Foolish envying. The foolish desire of the heart is gone. Who does Asaph desire? Who must he desire? God. God alone. God. The final bit of the song here.

Because it's so wonderful. But let's bow our heads. Lord Jesus. I pray that you would take us to the place of ultimate seeing. Lord when we see things as they truly are. Lord I pray that you take every single one of us tonight.

To the place. When all deception. All images. All mirages. All dreams. Pop Lord. And you show us the state of man. The state of ourselves. That things truly are God. Lord we give you praise. We rejoice in you.

We want to be continually with you Lord. Who have we in the heavens but you oh God. That is our goal Lord. Heaven. And Father. There is none upon the earth that we desire but thee. Lord we give up all this foolishness God.

All the fleeting vanities of this earth that the ungodly chase after Lord. All the things that come out of our hearts. The lusts Lord. The adulteries. The blasphemies. The murder that proceed from the heart Lord.

Lord we willingly lay all that down. All of it down at your feet God. Just to desire you. Because you are the thing that is worth all things Lord. You are the pearl of great price that we sell all things God.

We long to be with you Lord. And for you to receive us to glory. God I pray that you make yourself known here tonight Lord. And may every one of us tonight Lord. Truly make you the one thing that we desire God.

Listen now. Be thou my vision.