"Righteous Living In a World Gone Mad" - Psalms 73 & 37 - 05/29/2022

Good morning. This morning, we're going to explore two Psalms, Psalms 73, and then I'm gonna read Psalm 37. But first, I want to go to the Word and Prayer and then read a couple of more scriptures. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day and thank you for the ability for us to reach out and meet with and touch people that are not able to be here this morning.

But we're extremely happy that we can be here and that we can join together because it is in the sanctuary of the Lord that we get strength from one another. Bless and keep us, go through the services today.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Okay, first two, three scriptures I want to read are in the New Testament. And the first one is 2 Timothy 3, 16. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.

Now, for us this morning, the passage we're gonna deal with is in the Old Testament. It is scripture, it is God breathed, just like Timothy was God breathed. And the idea for this particular psalm is for instruction in righteousness.

It's a righteous man that we're dealing with, but he needs some instruction. Then we have Luke 24, verse 27. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scripture the things concerning himself.

That's Jesus on the road to Emmaus telling the disciples who did not yet know who he was that the entire Old Testament was written about him. And then we have John 5, 39. And this is Jesus himself talking to the Pharisees.

And he tells them, search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. Now, I want you to keep these verses in mind as we proceed with our study of Psalm 73 and of the reading of Psalms 37.

The Five Sections of Psalm 73

Now, Psalm 73 can be divided into five sections. Section one, God is good. That's introduced in verse one. Section two, the struggle of a godly man. That's verses two through 14. Section three, the godly man finds deliverance.

That's verses 15 through 17. Section four, the godly man describes the fate of the ungodly. And that's in verses 18 through 20. And then section five, the godly man renews his allegiance to God, verses 21 through 24.

God's Goodness to the Clean in Heart

Section one, God is good. Verse one, this is Psalm 73, verse one. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such that are of a clean heart. God is good, but God is good not only to Israel, but to all of his chosen.

Now, Charles Spurgeon says this about verse one. Truly, or more corrected only. Did I say more corrected? More correctly, only God is good. So if you read it that way, it leads a little bit more bang to the problem.

Only God is good. And it says, God is good to Israel. He is only good, nothing else but good, to his own coveted ones. He cannot act unjustly or unkindly to them. His goodness to them is beyond dispute and without mixture.

And then he looks at the phrase, even to such as are of clean heart. These are the true Israel, not the ceremonial clean, but the really so. What he's saying is not just because you were born a Jew, doesn't mean that you were of Israel.

He is including in the of Israel year, not only those that are born a Jew and are clean of heart, but also those of us who were not born a Jew, but also are of a clean heart. He's talking about his chosen ones.

Those who are clean in the inward parts, pure in the vital mainstream of action. To such he is and must be goodness itself. The writer does not doubt this, but he lays it down as his firm conviction. It is well to make sure of what we do know, for this will be a good anchor to hold for us when we are molested by those mysterious storms, which arise from things which we do not understand.

Now, that was verse one. And it told us that the Psalm was written by Asaph, or at least was sung by Asaph. There is some dispute about whether it's David that wrote it or Asaph that wrote it. It really doesn't matter.

The next Psalm we're going to read is entitled a Psalm of David. And it talks about exactly the same things. As you'll see, it just doesn't group them all, all bad first and all better later. It kind of mixes them up.

And there's a more comfortable way for me. I can't stand this much bad news at the beginning. So he has started with the assumption that I know that God is good to all of his chosen people. That's the groundwork.

That's the rock upon which Asaph is going to put his foot for balance and for strength. And then verse two, and this will go through verse 14, is the struggle of a godly man. Asaph was a godly man, but he had a struggle.

Look how it starts verse two. But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. I highlighted or bold faced really the word almost. My feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped.

It didn't mean he had fallen. It didn't mean his feet were out from under him. It didn't mean he had fallen, but that he was on slippery ground and he needed something solid to put his foot on. Well, he had something solid to put his foot on.

He had the rock. What rock? He had the rock of Jesus Christ, although he didn't know Jesus Christ at the time. He had the rock. Even though Asaph had no doubt concerning the goodness of God, he had trouble coming to terms with the prosperity of the wicked.

That was his problem. He's looking around him and he is seeing good things happen to what he perceives as bad people and bad things happening to what he perceives as good people. And he's looking around and says, he can't quite come to terms with it.

He's clearly struggling. He says, my feet are almost gone. Charles Spurgeon says it this way. But as for me, he contrasts himself with his God who is ever good. He owns his personal want of good and then also compares himself with the clean of heart and goes on to confess his defilement.

The Lord is good to his saints, but as for me, am I one of them? Can I expect to share his grace? And then Spurgeon goes on to say, yes, I do share it, but I have acted an unworthy part, very unlike one who is truly pure in heart.

So that's his confession. I look around and I see bad things happening to good people and good things happening to bad people. And I am not sure anymore. Verse three, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

He could see the wicked prospering, but he couldn't quite make sense of it. So he found himself envying the wicked and the foolish, even though he knew that they were wrong and that he was wrong in envying them.

He saw the same troubling evidence that many people see every day in their own lives. Look around and be honest with yourself. And don't tell me, have you ever looked at somebody and said, I can't believe such an evil person has such an easy life.

Now, Asaph went a step further. He said, I wish I could trade places with them. Well, he won't stay that way forever. And if you are that way now, you won't stay that well forever as well. So he found himself envying the wicked and the foolish, even though he knew they were wrong and that he was wrong in envying them.

He saw the same troubling evidence that many people see every day in their own lives. They cannot deny that God is good to them, but it also seems that God is good, perhaps too good to the boastful and to the wicked.

It is then easy to envy the wicked and to envy their prosperity. Such deep questions cause one to question the moral order of the universe. After all, one asks, what good is there in being good? If the wicked enjoy prosperity, the same prosperity as the pure in heart, then what is the reward of godliness?

Well, I'm gonna again quote Charles Spurgeon. The foolish is the generic term for all the wicked. They are beyond all other fools. He must be a fool who envies fools. Some read it the proud, and indeed these by their ostentation invite envy and many a mind which is out of gear spiritually becomes infected with that wasting disease.

It is a pitiful thing that an heir of heaven should have to confess, I was envious. But it is worse still that he should have put it, I was envious at the foolish. Yet this acknowledgement is we fear due from most of us.

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked, his eyes was fixed too much on one thing. He saw their present and forgot their future. He saw their outward display and overlooked their soul's discomfort. That was Charles Spurgeon.

So they're looking too shallow. Verse four, for there are no bands in their desk, but their strength is firm. Here Asa develops his argument even further. Of course he is wrong about the evildoers, a conclusion he will reach a little later.

Now he seems to feel not only are the righteous, the wicked rewarded equally to the righteous, but they seem to be more blessed than the pure of heart. Their lives seem to have less trouble than the average man.

I was talking with my brother as we went over this last night. And for those of you who do know him, he was at one time a very high ranked official in the church. He was an official in what was Revco Drugs at the time.

He was the executive president. And he had dealings with some really rich, wealthy people. And there were two members on his board. One was extremely wealthy. He was a multimillionaire. Four to eight million, four to $800 million he had.

And there was another member on the board that had more money than he had and more power than he had. So there were two really, really, really wealthy guys. And they hated one another. You know why the less wealthy guy hated the more wealthy guy?

Because the more wealthy guy had more than he had. How can you have $400 million and not have enough? How can that not be enough? If somebody else has 800. And he said, as we went through this, he just totally lost focus and was recalling all of the turmoil that happened in the company as it wound down.

They were in the process of trying to sell it. And they passed out word to the shareholders that what was gonna happen. And they bought stock, which sold at $15 a share from poor people for a measly price of $1 a share.

Well, we'll get to that a little bit later, but I kinda wanted to lay that out right now. They seemed to have less trouble than the average man, but they weren't looking deep enough. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued as other men.

Asaph, as he looked at the prosperity of evil men, could see only the veneer. He could not look beneath the surface and see reality. Therefore, at this time, he was unable to recognize that indeed, trouble lay ahead of them.

Trouble that neither they nor he could see. But there was somebody who could see it. And who would that be? The Lord could see it. And Charles Spurgeon continues, while many saints are poor and afflicted, the prosperous sinner is neither.

He is worse than other men, and yet he is better off. We would say that he lives worse and he has more things. He plows the least and he has the most fodder. That's a term. He doesn't tend his fields, but he gets rich anyhow.

He deserves the hottest tail, and yet he has the warmest nest. I added this, or so it seems. I know that Spurgeon thought that, he just didn't write it. Therefore, pride compassed them about as a chain.

Violence covers them as a garment. And Charles Spurgeon also said this. As soon as you see them, you perceive that room must be made for them. You see them, you got to get out of the way. For regardless of the feeling and rights of the others, they intend to have their own way and achieve their own ends.

They brag and bully, bluster and browbeat, as if they had taken out a license to ride roughshod over all of mankind. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. That was verse 7.

Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. They seem to have everything. But they are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They're corrupt.

That means that they rot above the ground. Their heart and their life are depraved. They speak wickedly concerning oppression. The reek of the sepulcher rises through their mouth. The nature of the soul is revealed in their speech.

They choose opposition as their subject. I said opposition. I should have said oppression. They choose oppression as their subject. And they not only defend it, but they advocate it and glory in it and would make this the general rule among all nations.

And here's what I have quoted. Who are the poor? What are they made for? What indeed? But to toil and slave that men of education and good family may enjoy themselves. Out on the nave for pratting about their rights, a set of wily demagogues are stirring them up because they get a living by agitation.

Work them like horses and feed them like dogs. And if they dare complain, send them to the prison or let them die in the workhouse. You can look around today and you can see a lot of people in power behaving exactly that way.

Work them like dogs. Work them like horses and feed them like dogs. And if they dare complain, send them to prison. What are they here for? They're here to do the work for us so that we don't have to do anything.

They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore, his people return hither and waters of a full cup are wrung out of them. And they say, how does God know?

And is there knowledge in the most high? And again, I had to quote Spurgeon. And they say, how does God know? Thus dare the ungodly speak. They flatter themselves that their oppressions and persecutions are unobserved in heaven.

And if there be a God, is he not much too occupied with other matters to know what is going on upon this world? So they console themselves if judgments be threatened, boasting of their own knowledge. And yet they dare ask, is there knowledge in the most high?

Will they recall foolish a God and not know? This is a madness of thought. How can you be God and not know? They think they know more than God. Behold, this is verse 12. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world.

They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency. Paraphrased. What good has my virtuous life accomplished? It might have been better to have lived wickedly and prospered than to have lived virtuously and suffered.

That's what's going through Asaph's mind. Spurgeon says it this way. Poor Asaph. He questions the value of holiness when his wages are paid in the coin of affliction. With no effect has he been sincere.

No advantage has come to him through his purity. For the filthy hearted are exalted and fed on the fat of the land. Thus foolishly will the wisest men argue when faith is napping. What he's saying is Asaph was kind of asleep at the time and he was reasoning without light.

He's going to say that better than I can. Asaph was a seer. But he could not see when reason had left him in the dark. Even seers must have the sunlight of revealed truth to see by or they grope like the blind.

If you don't have the word of God with you and in you, you have nothing by which to illuminate your thoughts. So you can't see and you will have faulty conclusions. In the presence of temporal circumstances, the pure in heart may seem to have cleaned themselves altogether in vain.

But we must not judge after the sight of the eyes. So that was verse 13. Now verse 14. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning. Asaph was smitten from the time he woke in the morning and the time he went to bed at night.

His griefs were not only continued but renewed with every opening day. Every new day brought new pain. This was in vivid contrast to the lot of the ungodly. There were crowns for the reprobate and crosses for the elect.

Strange that the saints should sigh and the sinners should sing. Rest was given to the disturbers yet peace was denied to the peacemakers. The downcast seer was in amuse and in amaze. The affairs of mankind appeared to him to be a fearful tangle.

How could it be permitted by a just ruler that things should be turned so upside down? And so the whole course of justice is dislocated. So that's where he stands in verse 14. He is doubting. He is doubting.

I'll just leave it that way. And then we come to part three. The deliverance. Or the discovery of his deliverance which has already been delivered. Verse 15. If I say, I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.

So he's beginning to say, okay, this is what I feel but I can't say it. I can't say it because if I say it, I will pass all of this bitter feeling to everybody that views me as a proper person, as a godly person.

I will discredit my God. And so he's beginning to kind of have a little bit of a turnaround in his mind. He caught himself from sliding into despair over the perceived prosperity of the wicked. He did not want to be untrue to the generation of children in the sense that he did not want to promote this sense of injustice and despair that he felt.

He didn't want to cause that to be accepted by other people. Verse 16. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. He was caught in a trap. He couldn't deny the evidence that said the wicked and the ungodly often have good lives.

He could not deny his own life was often hard, leaving him feeling plagued and chastened by God. He felt all of this to be true but he also felt like he couldn't talk about it because it would be untrue to others.

Therefore, it was all too painful for him. And then verse 17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their ends. Okay, I've got a question. What happened in the sanctuary that caused this change from not understanding to understanding?

Well, first of all, being in the sanctuary refocused him. Being with fellow believers refocused him. He could see that they suffered the same as he did and yet they weren't slipping. And then God begins to reveal to him the fate, the fate, not faith, the fate of the ungodly.

Surely thou did set them in slippery places. Thou casteth them down into destruction. So the first thing he recognizes is the wealthy that seem to have everything going for them are on a slippery, slippery slope with no rock to put their foot on.

He was on a slippery slope but he had the rock to put his foot on to regain his balance. They don't have that. Charles Spurgeon said this. Sinner, you may fall now at once. The mountain yields beneath your feet.

The slippery ice is melting every moment. Look down and learn your speedy dune. Yonder yawning gulf must soon receive you. While we look after you with hopeless tears, our prayers cannot follow you. From your slippery standing place, you fall and you're gone forever.

Death makes the place where you stand slippery for it dissolves your life every hour. I want to pause a second. Every second that you live is less time that you have remaining. Every second that the godly has, the closer he is to his ultimate destiny.

And every second the rich man has, he is that much closer to his end place. One is good and one is evil. One is good and one is bad. Time makes it slippery for every instant it cuts the ground from under your feet.

The vanities which you enjoy make your place slippery for they are all like ice which shall melt before the sun. You have no foothold, sinner. You have no sure hope, no confidence. It is a melting thing that you trust to.

So he's comparing the standing ability of the righteous with the standing ability of the unrighteous. The unrighteous has no ability to stand because they have no rock upon which to stand. Verse 19, how they are brought into desolation as in a moment.

They are utterly consumed with terrors. Earlier in the psalm, we had the feeling that Asaph would have gladly traded places with the wicked man who seemed to be blessed. After gaining this eternal perspective, we see that Asaph would never trade places with them.

Who wants desolate destruction, desolation, and terrors. Verse 20, as a dream when one awaketh, so O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Spurgeon says, let them flaunt their little hour, poor unsubstantial sons of dreams.

They will soon be gone when the day breaketh and the Lord awakens as a mighty man out of his sleep. They will vanish away. Who cares for the wealth of dreamland? Who indeed befools? Thus was my heart grieved and I was pricked in my reins.

So foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. That's how he now views how he was just a few minutes ago. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory.

And now we're to part five, the renewal of Asaph. Verse 25, whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart felleth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For lo, they are far gone from thee that shall perish. Thou hast destroyed them all that go a-whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all of my works.

Now Charles Spurgeon says concerning the previous verse 27, it may seem good in the worldling's eyes to go his way to his wine cups and to make merry in the dance. It may seem good to yonder trust in the arm of the flesh to seek out his friends and his kinsmen and to entrust his case to their discretion.

It may seem good to the desponding to retire in melancholy to brood over his sorrows and to the dissipated to endeavor to drown all in care and vanity. But to me, says the psalmist, it is good, preeminently good, that I should draw near unto God.

And that's the end of Psalm 73. How much time do we have? Do we have time for me just to read? Okay, we got plenty of time to do it. So I'm going to read then just Psalm 37. Now you can find these two Psalms really easy.

The one is just the flip of the other one, 73 and 37. Now this is the Psalm of David. And he's going to mix good and evil as he goes. So this will be a much more comforting way to view it for me. Fret not thyself because of evil doers.

Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. So right away he says, don't worry about the bad people. Don't be envious about the workers of iniquity. For they shall be cut down like grass and wither as a green herb.

Trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. This is chapter 37 verse 3. 4, delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way to the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday sun. Rest in the Lord. Wait patiently for him.

Fret not thyself because of him who prospers in the way. Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Seek from anger. Forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For the evil doers shall be cut off.

But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. What he's saying was, don't you worry about the evil doers. God will take care of them. And don't worry about yourself. God will take care of you too.

For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be with thee. Thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be. You consider where he's going and understand that you won't be going there as well.

But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked have an appearance of peace but they don't have any. The wicked plot against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

The Lord shall laugh at him for he seeth that his day is coming. Whose day? The evil man's day. The wicked have drawn out the sword and have bent the bow to cast down the poor and the needy and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

Their swords shall enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

The Lord knoweth the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever. He also knows the day of the wicked and their inheritance shall be forever as well. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time and in the day of famine they shall be satisfied.

But the wicked shall perish and the enemy of the Lord shall be as the fat of the lambs. They shall consume into the smoke. They shall all consume away. The wicked borroweth and payeth not again but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth.

For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The good men are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in the way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

I have been young and now I am old yet I have not seen righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread. He is ever merciful and lendeth and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore.

For the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved forever but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom and his tongue talketh of judgment.

The law of his God is in his heart and none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watcheth the righteous seeking to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land.

When the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power and the spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away and lo he was not. Yea I sought him but he could not be found.

Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace. But transgressors shall be destroyed together. The end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.

He is their strength in time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him. That was the psalm of David over the same topic.

And if Asaph had been reading that psalm he would not have been so tied up in his concerns. Don't worry about the evil. The Lord knows and the Lord will take care of them. Just you be righteous as righteous as you can.

The Lord knoweth and he will take care of you as well. And that's it. Any comments or questions? It was for me and I'm now at a loss as to what to do next week. But I don't know I'll think about it. Most gracious heavenly father thank you for this day and thank you for all our many blessings.

Help us not to worry about the evil doers and their prosperity as we look at ourselves and see hardship cast upon us. We know that you know what we don't know and what we can not know. But we can know this.

We can trust in you. We can put our feet upon your rock. Your rock of salvation. Jesus Christ. And if our feet are on Jesus Christ he will support us. He will not allow us to fall. And he will not allow us ultimately to have bad things happen to us forever.

Only a short time. The time we have is fleeting. The time we have remaining is eternal. Help us to keep our eyes on the eternal life and not the present life. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.