May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to the book
of Psalms, Psalm 73, and we'll read verses 22, 23, and 24. Psalm
73, verses 21, 22, and 23. So foolish was I and ignorant, I
was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt
guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
I meant, of course, verses 22, 23, and 24. These are wonderful words that
Asaph, the psalmist, was constrained by the spirit of God to write.
And he explains really the concerns he had, the fears he had, the
temptations he had as he viewed the wicked and as he viewed their
life. And this directed him to consider
himself and consider his situation and as to what his real concern
and desires were. And in fact, it's very similar
to the Psalm of David, which was Psalm 37. And easy to remember
because it was Psalm 37 and Asaph is Psalm 73, so the two numbers
just reversed. And in Psalm 37, David starts
by saying, fret not thyself, because of evil doers, neither
be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon
be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb." Quite
clearly, David had been in that state where he was fretting because
of what he saw, evildoers, perhaps indeed, prospering in their way
and appeared to have nothing against them, but David is brought
by the Spirit of God to tell us, fret not, not because of
evil doers, and neither be envious. It's very easy, isn't it, to
be envious of people when we see them prosperous, especially
when they appear to be walking contrary to the ways of God,
walking in an evil and wrong way, and appear to be prospering. Well, says David, don't fret,
don't be envious. And so, in a similar way, We
read in this psalm of Asaph, how he directs us to realise
the position that he was in. And he starts off of course in
a very different way really. He says, truly God is good to
Israel. even to such as are of a clean
heart." Well, of course, naturally, none of us have a clean heart.
Our old nature is not clean, but God gives to his people a
new heart, which is a clean heart. And so, therefore, we do possess
a clean heart. And he tells us, therefore, truly
God is good to Israel. And we can believe, then, that
he is good to us if we have the evidence of divine life in our
souls. But although this is true of
God's people, and it was true of Asaph, yet he draws our attention
to what he found in his heart, how he was moved when he saw
the wicked. And he tells us, but as for me,
my feet were almost gone. They weren't gone. They were
almost. My steps had well nigh slipped.
They hadn't, but they had almost. almost gone, almost been left
but no he wasn't. He tells us the reason, for I
was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Now we need to be careful in
our lives as we look around we may perhaps view other people
and we may say foolishly we may say in our heart or I wish I
was like that person or I wish I was able to do that. We are
told very clearly to be content with such things as we have. Sometimes there's a temptation
in a spiritual sense that we desire wonderful revelations
and wonderful appearances of our God. In truth there's nothing
wrong of course in desiring that, but let's be clear there are
very few occasions in the lives of the Church of God when these
things appear. It is really a little here and
a little there, and therefore we should desire that we may
be content with such things as we have. Remember a little that
a righteous man hath is better than the treasures of many wicked.
And as the Spirit of God may direct us to see that, if he's
given us a little, a little of his grace, a little of his mercy,
what a blessing that is, because it's the evidence of eternal
life. And there's no greater blessing,
there's no greater gift than eternal life. You and I can own
the whole world and lose our own soul. My friends, we can
owe nothing in this world and possess the glory of eternal
life. May we then be able to come to
a right consideration of the precious things of God and the
vanity the things of this world, remembering what Solomon said
when he tried to find happiness in this world. He did all that
he could, and his conclusion was vanity of vanity, all is
vanities, and vexation of spirit. There was no real satisfaction
in the poor things of this sinful world. They may appeal for a
time, but they pass away. There's no true peace. There's
no true satisfaction, there's no true comfort, and therefore
may we be found looking forward to those blessings which are
to be found in Christ. Well, the psalmist, he goes on,
he tells us there are no bands in their death, but their strength
is firm. You perhaps may have seen people
die, die in the world, and apparently without a care, at least, that's
how they appear. We know of course that they have
a conscience, they have a fear inside, but no doubt they appear
to be brazen and brazen out the things of God and to try and
convince themselves and those amongst them that there is nothing
after death. Well, they will and they do wake
up. It was tremendous shock when
they awake, open their eyes in eternal hell and so They are
not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like
other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain. Violence
covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could have wished. They are corrupt,
speak wickedly. Concerning oppression they speak
loftily. They set their mouth against
the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. We
see the pride of man. Yes, not fearful to speak. against God. We see how many
take the name of the Lord in vain today. And they have no
fear of God before their eyes. And they ask the question, how
does God know? And is their knowledge in the
most high? Well then, Asaph comes and tells
us who these people are. He said, these are the ungodly. who prosper in the world, they
increase in riches. And as he goes on, and he tells
us, when I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against
a generation of thy children. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me until, and it's a blessing when you
and I in our lives have some untils perhaps, And here was
an important until. Until I went into the sanctuary
of God, then understood I their end. He realized then there was
a sad end to the wicked. They prospered in this world,
but only for a very, very, very short time, and then eternity. So the psalmist understood then
when he went into the sanctuary of God. And it may be good if
the Spirit of God comes and speaks into our heart and shows us the
emptiness of the things of the world and by comparison the fullness
of the things of God. There is a fullness resides in
Jesus our head. ever resides to answer our need. Remember that great truth that
the hymn writer speaks of. And so the psalmist goes on and
speaks and tells us a situation how they're brought into desolation
as in a moment they're utterly consumed with terrors in a moment
that brought him to desolation, as a dream when one awaketh.
So, Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. He comes and says, thus my heart
was grieved and I was pricked in my reins. Then he comes down
to these words, so foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast
before thee. Now it's good when the Lord gives
us grace to be honest. And as we read the Psalms, we
find that the Psalmists, David and Asaph and Moses, they wrote
from their hearts. And they didn't hide things.
They told us how they were convicted in their hearts. And as we read
such accounts, may we be encouraged today, as we may pass through
a similar pathway, a similar experience, to be able to trace
out the effect of those experiences. Because it had a good effect
upon the psalmist Asaph, and of course it had a good effect
upon David, and may it have a good effect upon us, as we realise,
so foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee.
A beast of course has no soul. a beast just dies and therefore
it has no concern about spiritual issues. And so as Asaph comes
and he speaks in this way, he was foolish, he was ignorant
and he was as a beast before God. Now it would be a favour
if God shows us our true condition and I'm sure the Spirit of God
works within us we will come to this realisation that we are
foolish and that we are ignorant and that we are as a beast before
thee. I wonder if we are willing to
confess that's true or whether we perhaps find that we rise
up against such a statement and think, well, I don't think I'm
really as bad as that. Well, we are as bad as that.
We are great sinners. And it's so true of us, we are
foolish. And look back in our lives and
see the many foolish things we've thought about, the many foolish
things we've said, The many foolish things we've done, is that true? Well, I believe if you and I
are taught by the Spirit of God, we'll have to say, yes, Lord,
that's me. I've been so foolish. I still
am foolish. I still make wrong assessments. I still come to wrong conclusions. I'm still envious when I see
other things occurring, people walking, perhaps, what I estimate
as an easier path. I'm still envious at their situation. Well, foolish we are, aren't
we? And here was Asaph confessing
he was foolish and ignorant. How ignorant we are, aren't we? Well, I hope we recognise we
are ignorant. Bless God if we have some spiritual
understanding. But we never stop learning. this side of the grave, I believe
we never stop learning. We never come to a perfect knowledge.
We're learners yet. And the Lord graciously comes
and teaches us by various scenes, various situations. And he shows
us something of the true state of our heart, that we're foolish
and we're so ignorant often of God's ways. And it will be good
if words like this direct us to Study the Word of God to be
able to find similar cases, similar situations, similar words that
suit our case, so that we have an evidence that we are amongst
the Church of God, rather than remaining in an ignorant state.
We were born ignorant of the things of God. My friends, we
knew nothing until our spiritual eyes were given to us. We were
ignorant. Bless God if the Lord has opened
our eyes so that we behold, as it were, wondrous things out
of his law. And if those spiritual eyes we've
been blessed with do have some understanding, but we need to
be continually on the stretch after God that he will give us
a greater understanding. The Word of God is full of glorious
truth and my friends, There's a great deep, a great depth in
the Word of God. You and I read the Word of God
and we can read the words, and they're good words and they're
sound words, but my friends, there's a wonderful depth beneath
the surface of the Word of God. And you and I need to pray that
God will reveal to us something of these depths, the depths of
understanding, this wonderful blessing so that we might indeed
desire not to be ignorant in the things of God, but he will
lead us into all truth as it is in Jesus. You only have to
just meditate for a few moments upon Jesus, upon his birth, upon
his life, all his life, upon his death, upon his resurrection,
upon his ascension, and upon his intercession. That's a vast
subject, isn't it? To meditate upon. And we're ignorant,
to a large extent, of the precious truths that are contained in
those experiences. The knowledge of Christ, the
blessed knowledge of Christ, in all those points, my friends,
will be food and drink to your soul. And so we have to come,
we have to confess with Asaph, so foolish as I am and ignorant,
I was as a beast before thee. Well, it's a sad condition, but
it's a true condition. We seem sometimes to forget that
we have a never-dying soul that must live forever. Sometimes
we seem to just live for time rather than living for eternity. And you see if we're living just
for time, what does that mean? We're living like a beast which
only lives for time. And so how true it must be in
our lives that very often we're no different to Asaph. And if we're honest, we might
feel to be worse. It's always good to be instructed
to show how bad we are. rather than how good we are,
because don't forget in our flesh dwells no good thing. No good
thing in our flesh. Our flesh is sinful. And so here
we have the confession of Asaph. And I hope my friends, all of
us tonight, possess that grace to be able to confess, just like
Asaph did, that we are foolish and ignorant and like a beast
before God. You see, it's God who looks at
the heart. God sees how we are. Other people
don't really understand. See, no one really understands
what you're like. No one really can look into your
heart. No one can really see the evil
and the foolishness and the sinfulness and the ignorance in your heart.
God knows, and blessed be God if he shows us something of our
true state before him. So we may try and impress people. Many people today try and impress
people. They try and give the impression
that they are a holy person. And my friends, it's what is
in the heart. It's the work of the Spirit of
God. And it's that blessed work which he gives us, which he instructs
us in. And then, as he gives us that
grace then to declare what he's done for our souls. Yes, we are
encouraged to speak of his mercies, of his grace, of his love and
his favour. Why? Because it honours and glorifies
the great name of our God. To declare his work, it's a sovereign
work. It's the work of a king. It's
the work of almighty God. And my friends, ponder and think
the greatness of that work. What is it? It brings life from
the dead. That's the greatness of the work.
Isn't it wonderful to think of? If God has brought you life from
your dead state in nature, to know what it is to be born again
of the Spirit of God, what great things we have to declare, do
we not? Here is Asaph in this situation,
confessing his true position. But you see, he's able by God's
grace to look forward and to recognize, although he's been
so sinful, although he's been allowed to look in this way,
this sinful way, nevertheless, we see God's grace shining out
in the life of Asaph. my friends, it'll be a blessing
if it's true of us. Now Asaph confessed his weakness
and his sinfulness but he also confessed his faith in God. It wasn't just negative. My friends,
true religion has a negative side but it also must have a
positive side. You and I cannot go to glory
on a negative religion. My friends, you and I need the
assurance that Christ has died for our sins, that we have an
interest in his death and to know that he has gone to repair
a place for us. And as he said, if I go and repair
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself
that where I am there, ye may be also. And so he comes and
says, nevertheless, Although I've been like this, although
I confess I'm foolish and ignorant and as a beast, yet nevertheless. Now, have we in our lives a nevertheless? And what does he say? I am continually with thee. Thou hast hold me up by my right
hand. It's a very precious testimony,
isn't it? As he's able to tell us that
he is continually with the Lord. My friends, God is with us. So
how humbling it is to realize that God is with his people.
He's round about us. He doesn't leave us. He said,
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. and how true that
is. And because it's true, this word
is true, I am continually with thee. What a comfort that is,
surely, to think of that as you and I travel on through life,
to think Almighty God is continually with us. Yes, he doesn't leave us. My
friends, if we did, we'd fall, we'd perish. No, says Asaph,
notwithstanding that, nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Well, do you feel that to be
an encouragement, a strength, a support? God is with you, and
if God is with us, God is for us. If God be for us, who can
be against us? Men may appear to be against
us, of course they will. Men will rise up against us,
of course they will, but if God before us, who can really be
against us? That's the favour and blessing
of the Church of God, to have the confirmation that God is
with us. And then he goes on to say, nevertheless I am continuing
with thee, thou hold me by my right hand. The Lord takes us
by our right hand and holds us, held by the hand of Almighty
God. Ponder that, think of that. You and me, just like Asaph,
sinful creatures, foolish, ignorant, and yet to have that blessed
spiritual confirmation and understanding that God is holding us by our
right hand. I think we probably don't recognise
it as often as we should. Perhaps we very seldom realise
the greatness of our God and the compassion of our God. To think that amidst his vast
concerns, he could not me forget he's with us, holding us by our
right hand. Thou hast holden me by my right
hand." Well, have we that blessed comfort to think the Lord is
holding us? He's holding us up. We might think sometimes we're
going to sink. We pass through many trials, many temptations,
many oppressions. Many things to discourage us,
and we think perhaps we shall sink under them, but remember,
underneath are the everlasting arms of our God. And also, the
Lord holds us up. Oh, my friends, what a powerful
arm and hand Almighty God has. We might feel to be very weak,
You might feel we're about to fall, about to give in to temptations,
about to leave the God we love. Well, this confirmation, thou
hast hold of me by my right hand and the Lord is continually with
us, day by day, to bring us safe through life and to bring us
safe into glory. Oh, what a wonderful thing it
is to realize. And you see, in this way, what
we should experience is this, the instruction of our God. And
Lord indeed instructs us and encourages us and teaches us. And so in another Psalm of David,
Psalm 32, he says, perhaps verse 7 first, thou art my hiding place,
place of refuge. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble.
Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance, Selah.
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt
go. I will guide thee with mine eye. The Lord will be round about
his people as we read on. Nevertheless, I am continuing
with thee. Thou shalt hold me by my right hand Thou shalt guide
me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. To think
that the almighty God, we need to have right views of God, to
realise how great he is and how mighty and how powerful and yet
to realise that that great, great God condescends in his love and
mercy to look down upon us individually and in that individual state
to guide us with his counsel. Guide us with his counsel. James
tells us, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who
giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not God's counsel,
God's help. Well, Good thing, isn't it, if
you and I have proved that in our lives, when God has helped
us. He's given us perhaps the counsel
we needed. We may not have known what to
do, what to say. We've cried unto God Most High.
He's heard our cries. We've sought for the wisdom from
Almighty God. He's remembered us in our lowest
state. He hasn't cast us off. We may
have feared he would have done. We know we deserved not to be
heard. But oh, what a mercy it is to
recognize the Lord has come and blessed us. Thou shalt guide
me with thy counsel. Now, my friends, in this path
of guidance, what does the Lord do? He guides us to revere himself
unto us as he does not unto the world. He guides us. He leads us into all truth as
it is in Jesus. What a wonderful blessing that
is. We have such a God who reveals himself unto us. And we do need
the Spirit of God to reveal the Lord Jesus to us, to have that
revelation of what he really is. to your soul and to my soul
as our all-sufficient salvation. There's nothing lacking with
that knowledge of the Saviour. Be blessed then in this way,
taught by the Holy Spirit, guided and with thy counsel. Almighty God never makes any
mistakes. We make mistakes. We sometimes
make mistakes because we don't want to follow the guidance of
our God. Yes, we follow, perhaps, a wrong
way. And the Word of God tells us,
doesn't it, so solemnly, there is a way that seemeth right to
a man, but at the end thereof are the ways of death. Seemeth
right. Sometimes the right way appears
to us to be the wrong way. And I say that because it may
appear to be the hardest way. Well, when the way is hard, yes,
when the journey is difficult, when there are many obstacles
in the way, and it may seem, therefore, that it's the wrong
way, well, what does that way cause us to do? It causes us
to pray to God. It causes us to cry unto Him.
If the way was easy, no difficulty, what would there not be? No prayer,
no communion with our God. We just carry on in our own strength. We have to depend upon the strength
of God to lead us in that right way. And in these paths, in these
difficult and trying paths, what does it do? It directs us to
the Saviour. and we then have some little
insight into the cost of our salvation. That's how the Spirit
of God guides us with his counsel into these ways to reveal himself
unto us as he does not unto the world which we would never see
otherwise. Then we come and as we look back
we bless God for the way he's taken us, for the way he's guiding
us, for the way he's directing us, guiding us with his counsel. And so you see in this path,
in perhaps this dark path, what are we to do? Well, we walk by
faith and not by sight. Natural man loves sight. The Spirit of God gives faith.
We walk by faith and not by sight. In Proverbs, We read in the third
chapter encouraging words, trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
not just a little bit. We might sometimes perhaps be
willing to trust a little. No, says the word of God, trust
in the Lord with all thine heart. What does that mean? It means
casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you, all your
care. Trust in the Lord with all thy
heart and lead not unto thine own understanding, no, the understanding
of almighty God, because he, my friends, will lead and guide
in that right way, which will reveal Christ to your soul, and
that's the great necessity, and that's the reason for God's leadings
and directions in our little life. In all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths. It's a blessed path to
acknowledge the Lord's leading and the Lord's direction because
it brings honour and glory to our great and blessed Saviour.
And so says the Proverbs, and he says, in all thy ways acknowledge
Him. Everything you do, day by day,
come to the end of the day, do you acknowledge the goodness
of the Lord to you? in helping you in providential
things, perhaps in blessing you with spiritual revelations. Oh,
my friends, acknowledge His goodness towards you, His favour, His
blessing. And so we're able to come and
recognise these words are so important and so encouraging
indeed to the living Church of God. We're thankful indeed. And so thou shalt guide me. He had a confidence, didn't he?
Thou shalt guide me. And if the Spirit of God has
given us life, his gift, his life, surely then we can come
in this way and be able to feel a confidence in our God. This
is not a vain hope, my friends. This is a good hope in our God.
Thou shalt guide me. with thy counsel." Yes, what
a wonderful thing it is. And you know, when the Lord guides,
He speaks. Sometimes He does. Speaks very
confirmingly to us, to encourage us. How many occasions we have
in God's Word, where there were those occasions when God spoke.
God spoke. It was needful, my friends. And
God doesn't speak unless we need it. God doesn't waste words. My friends, God gives words,
encouraging words, blessed words. And what a favour it is then
when that Holy Spirit of God speaks to us in that way, through
the voice of the Lord. And the Lord shall cause his
glorious voice to be heard. His glorious voice to be heard. I wonder if we've heard sometimes
the glorious voice of our God. It may have been just like Elijah,
a still small voice. You know that voice which came
to Elijah wasn't what he expected because it put him in his place.
What did it say? What doest thou hear Elijah?
Yes, Elijah was spoken to by Almighty God in a still small
voice. My friends, nevertheless, it
was the Word of God. And how humbling for you and
me if we have heard God's voice. God's voice in guidance, thou
shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Now, it's good, isn't it, when
we're always able to look beyond this life. You see, for God's
people, this life is a preparation for our eternal life. And that preparation may take
a long time, it may take a short time, but nonetheless no one
enters into glory who has not been prepared by the Spirit of
God. And so we have such a word of
encouragement And afterward, receive me to glory. Receive me to glory. I mentioned
earlier in that 14th chapter of John's Gospel, where the Lord
said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am there, ye may be also. It's a very encouraging
word to think that God awaits to receive us. each one of us,
if we're amongst those who know the Lord. Yes, individually. To thank Almighty God again,
may we be humble to thank the greatness of God, Almighty God,
there to receive us into glory, into that mansion he has prepared
for his people. And afterward, receive me to
glory. Well, the Lord has indeed gone
then to repair a place for his people, and he's gone to that
place to receive us unto himself, that where he is there we shall
be also. To spend then eternity in glory. And so, again the psalmist tells
us, he says for But God will redeem my soul from the part
of the grave, for he shall receive me, Selah. David had an anticipation
of that which was to come. He tells us about the wicked,
like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them,
and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and
their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
But God will redeem my soul from hell. How solemn it is to be
laid in the grave as a sheep and yet not be one of God's sheep.
And there are those who've been laid in the grave just like that.
You know, they've given the impression they know the Lord, but there's
no life in their soul. but God will redeem my soul from
the power of the grave, for he shall receive me." My friends,
how confirming that is to realise we have a God who will receive
us when we finish our life upon this earth and are found then
in that place of glory. with our Lord and our Saviour. We'll spend eternity there forever
and ever and ever. No veil between them. Everything
will be wonderful and clear and all the mysteries will be solved.
And so as the Apostle Paul tells us, for we know, and he did know,
and I believe the Church of God know by his grace, for we know
that if our earthly house, this tabernacle, were dissolved, we
have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. And then he tells us what our
position is in this earth. For in this we groan. Well, do you groan? The Church
of God does groan because of their sins. In this we groan. earnestly desiring to be clothed
upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being
clothed, we shall not be found naked. And of course the Lord
gives us his robe of righteousness to cover our nakedness. Let us
not be found trying to cover ourselves, because all our clothes
are as filthy rags, all our righteousnesses are of no value. For we that
are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened. Not for that
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality might be
swallowed up of life." Well that was the testimony of the Apostle
Paul. And what was the testimony of
God's servant Peter? In very similar terms really. Wonderful it is to have the epistle
of Peter. He said in his first chapter
He said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope, a real hope, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you. precious statement
to realise that God has reserved in glory a place for every one
of his people. We'll never get to glory and
find there's no place. There's a place reserved. How humbling to think of it,
especially if we come in with the apostle, sorry, with the
psalmist, when he comes and confesses, so foolish was I and ignorant,
I was as a beast before thee. Asaph is a place reserved in
heaven for you, my friends, then to view his face, the face of
our Redeemer, the face of that one who has given his life so
that we might have life. the one who has shed his most
precious blood, to take away all our sins, all our foolish
sins, all our ignorant sins, all our terrible sins. What a
saviour. And so I have had this good hope
and afterward received me to glory. Well, may that be our
hope, may that be our desire, our continual concern day by
day as we journey on through life looking for that blessed
hope and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. Amen.