Psalm 73. This psalm is a psalm of Asaph.
A psalm by a man who wrote several of these psalms that are given
to us in Scripture. And I've entitled this message,
The Message of a Doubting Saint. The Message of a Doubting Saint. And listen, we know this, that
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, Paul says, and is profitable. For what? For doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction of righteousness. This Scripture
is no different. This Scripture is given of God
for our learning. Learning of what? Doctrine. There's
much doctrine in this Scripture. There's much doctrine to be found
here. But there's also correction, learning, instruction, and righteousness. And we as believers in Jesus
Christ, we desire to live righteously. Isn't that what grace teaches? To live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. So now we come together to worship
Him, to hear His Word. We desire His help. to learn,
to teach us, to take the Word of God and teach us what we need,
to help us in our time of temptation, our time of trials. When they
come in like floods, what do we need? We need help. We need
instruction. We need teaching and doctrine
to sustain us. Remember, that's what Scott had
mentioned this morning, that pastors are given for this purpose.
That they teach you doctrine. They teach you and instruct you
so that you should not be carried away by false doctrine. Because when we are in trouble,
we are susceptible and prone to be grasping for anything. Have you not found that true
of yourself? When you're in trouble and you're
confused, you'll grab a hold of anything. Friends, don't grab
a hold of anything. That's what we're here for, to
give you instruction in righteousness. To tell you what to grab a hold
of. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what you should grab a hold
of. This Word that we teach, it is solid. It is an eternal
Word. It is the Word of God. And I'll tell you this, this
man Asaph in this psalm is going to teach us we are not immune
from sin. We are not immune to falling
into doubts and fears and troubles and difficulties. This man Asaph
was a prophet of God, yet we read by God's inspiration a time
in his life that he fell into such unbelief that he himself
thought he was lost. That his salvation was, he said,
in vain have I cleansed myself. In vain have I washed myself
in innocence. I am altogether lost. This man
had doubts and fears as to whether he was saved or not. So as we
go through this psalm, let us take these things and see what
God... First thing, I want us to see that He lays out some
good doctrine. The very beginning, He lays out
a very firm Understanding. This is a maxim that every believer
should hold fast, no matter what your trouble. Here it is. Truly,
truly, truly, God is good. That's a good thing to hang on
to. God is good. This is a sure doctrine that
is forever and immutable and changeless. God is good. This
is a beautiful truth, isn't it? God is good. God's goodness is not just in
what He does. That's how you judge the goodness
of somebody else, isn't it? By what they do. God does good
because God is essentially good. Therefore, all of His attributes
are good. His holiness is good. His love
is good. His mercy is good. His grace
is good because God Himself is good. Therefore, all God does
and God thinks and God is, is good. Good. In this what Abraham said, shall
not the judge of all the earth just do right. That's just, that's
a maxim that you should hang on to in every trial, every difficulty. David said, praise the Lord for
the Lord is good. And I'll tell you this, God is
good to all. I don't care what men say. They say God isn't good.
God is not good to me. Listen, God is good to every
one of His creatures. Every single one of them. The
Lord is good, David said, Psalm 145, verse 9. The Lord is good
to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. In general
mercies, God is good to both the lost and the saved. Isn't
that right? He's good to all men. How? Don't they breathe? Do they deserve breath? No. But
God gives it anyway. God is good. Do they have food? Do they have clothes? Do they
have shelter? Who does all that? God does. Not because men deserve it, but
because God is good. God reigns His reign on the just
as well as the unjust. God is good. Yet there is more
to this maxim than just the goodness of God. Look, God is good specifically
to who? Israel. Here's another doctrine.
God is good to Israel to such as are of a clean heart. He's not talking about that nation
of Israel. He was good to them, but he's talking about spiritual
Israel. Paul said, not all those of that
Jewish nation, not all those are born of Jacob are Israel. Believers in Jesus Christ, you
are the true Israel of God, the true church of God. And listen,
God is truly good to His church. Isn't He? He's truly good. We
know this by experience, by the experience of grace. When God
created man, He created him what? Good. Everything God made was
good. Behold, when God made man, He
said he is very good. Very good. But what happened? When Adam sinned, all of our
race plunged itself into darkness and death and sin, so that death
passed upon all men, so that all have sinned. And yet God
knowing this beforehand, God determining this beforehand,
gave us to Christ. The purpose that He should save
us, that all the responsibility of all His people's salvation
should rest on the shoulders of the charity, Jesus Christ.
And He gave us to Christ in eternal covenant of grace. And Christ
in love came down from heaven taking the form of a man, the
nature of a man, so that as to represent us before God, He obtained,
by His obedience, righteousness on our behalf. And by His death,
He obtained an eternal redemption for us. Paid the price of our
sins. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. For what purpose? To cleanse
us of all our sins. pay for our sins. Is that not
good? It is the greatest good that
the just should die for the unjust. So that He might bring us to
God. Reconcile us to God by His death. And not only did He do
that, He did that before we were born. He did that before we even
committed our first sin. He did that for us. And then
when we came into this world, we were not worthy of it. We
did not want it. We did not desire it. We did
not love it. I was a wandering sheep. I did
not love the fold. I did not love my father's house.
I loved afar to Rome. But God in grace and love was
good to me. In providence He led everything
in my life to bring me to the appointed time of my spiritual
birth. And in grace He gave me life. He gave me hope. He gave me faith
in Christ that I could not obtain myself. For by grace you are
saved through faith, and that faith not of yourself. It is
a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We
are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. So then God came in mercy and
gave us repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. And so what did we say when God
came to us? Was this not our maxim then?
God is good to Israel. That's good. And you know what?
He not only saved us, He not only redeemed us, He not only
gave us righteousness in Christ and faith in Christ, but He keeps
us. This is His promise, that they shall be kept by the power
of God unto salvation. I'm saved already, but I'm not
yet what I'm going to be. I've not yet experienced the
fullness of it. Unto the day He will come again
and receive us to Himself. God is good to Israel. Notice
this. There's a problem. Verse 2. But, I know this to be true. I believe this to be true. He
says, I know this is so. God's good to Israel, to everyone
that has a clean heart, to everyone who is made pure and holy. But,
as for me. My feet were almost gone, my
steps, and I will sleep. I know God's good to them, but
what about me? I can't see that God is good
to me. There is no way God could be good to you. I see how God
could be good to you. other men. Why are they not plagued
by God? Because they're not sons. Only
sons are chastened. I'll tell you this, Asaph surely
envied they're not being chastened. Isn't that right? We, if we would
be honest with ourselves, we surely don't like chastisement.
We would prefer to be without it. But we must have it. if we are
sons. Verse 6, Therefore pride compassed
them about, as with a chain, and violence covered them with
a garment. These men were wearing something. This garment that
they wore protected them. It was a covering for them. Isaiah
said this about those men. He said they have a refuge of
lies. Wicked men put up refuge of lies. They put up... I think
of an old man, a homeless man, putting up a cardboard box. getting
ready for a hurricane. There he is in the middle of
the street, cardboard box, he just as happy as a lark. Hurricane
coming off the coast thinking he's safe. It's not going to
touch me. I got this box. That's what men
do, they cover themselves. They cover themselves with violence,
hatred, lies. They cover themselves. That's not sufficient for us,
is it? You see, I need a refuge for
my soul that's more than my works. I need a refuge for my soul that's
more than my religion. I need a refuge for my soul that's
more than I can do for myself or any man could do for me. I
need God to be my refuge. I need Christ to be my refuge.
It won't work. Unless I'm in the ark, I have
no hope. Just like that day in Noah. Except
they abided in the ark. There was no hope for them, except
I'm in Christ, there's no hope for me. And here Asab was, thinking
he was outside of Christ. How painful was this for him?
He saw them, they're happy with their little shack, their little
refuge. They have no trouble. Verse 7, covetousness. He saw
their covetousness. He said their eyes stand out
with fatness. They have more than their heart could wish.
He saw their... First of all, those first ones that I told
you about are attitudes. The attitudes of the lost. He
envied their attitude. Now then, he's not just looking
at their attitude toward death or their attitude toward sin,
but now he's looking at what they have. He's envying not what they feel,
but what they have. He said, their eyes stand out
with fatness, they have more than their heart could wish.
You see this on TV. You turn on television, you see
this. There's a man, he's a wicked man. He's an evil man, you know
it. And yet he has more than any
man could wish for. And not only that, he keeps getting
more. And more. and more. I read this
one article, some Hollywood celebrity went out one night and spent
$20,000 on food and drink. One night, one instance, one
evening. Four hours time, $20,000 on food
and drink and thought nothing of it. Most people make, some people
make in a year. They spend in four hours, there's
nothing to it. I'm not knocking rich people. Look, you got riches,
that's not the thing. The thing is their eyes trust
in their riches. If a believer has riches, I'll
tell you this, his eyes should not be fixed on his riches, but on Christ. But the world,
their eyes are fixed on their riches. They have more than they
want. Now what happens when a believer fixes his eye on his riches?
What happens to them? They take wings and they fly
away. Isn't that right? And I'm not talking about just
money. I'm talking about family. If your family takes precedence
over Christ, what will God do? He will take your family. If you set riches and earthly
treasures above Christ, what will He do? In chastisement,
He will take the thing you love the most. Why? He will be first. He will be
first. And this causes great sorrow. You see the conflict in Asaph
yet? Can you see it? Now, can you see it in yourself?
Is this not a mirror image of ourselves? Verse 8. Go back to my text. Verse 8. If I find the right one. There we
go. They are corrupt. They speak
wickedly concerning oppression. They speak lawfully. They set
their mouths against the heavens and their tongues walketh through
the earth. What does it say? They set themselves
up to be God. They speak loftily. Like they have authority and
power. You ever hear somebody talk in
this world of a lost man? They just think that everybody
should just bow down and listen to what they say. They know what
they're talking about. They speak loftily. And especially
in religion. In religion. In false religion,
men, they say, I know what God is. I know who God is. I know
what God says. God says who He is in this book.
Yet they say, I don't care what that book says. I know what God
says. As a matter of fact, I heard
this myself. I'm sure he's dead and in hell
by now. The founder of that TBN network. I don't know what his name is. It doesn't really matter. One
time he was holding that Bible in his hand and he said, I don't
care what this book says. My experience is this. That's
lawfully, isn't it? They set their mouth against
heaven, against God's Word. I don't care what God says. This
is how I feel. This is what I think. Now what
do you think should happen to a person who says that? I'll
tell you what happens. Just the opposite of what you
think. You think that God would just
strike them dead. But what happens? He said their
tongue walks through the whole earth. Unimpeded, their gospel of free
will works religion has walked through this earth without stopping. It is believed by the masses
of people in this world that man has a free will. Opposed
to what God says. They speak lawfully as though
they have some authority other than the Word of God. And yet,
what is God's gospel? A friend said this, a pastor
friend said this, he said, a lie will go around the world twice
before truth gets its shoes laces on. Isn't that right? They're unimpeded, and yet the
gospel is rejected by the masses. This at times stirs conflict
within the believer's heart saying, Lord, how can this be? They don't
fear your death. They don't have guilt. They grow
in wealth and desire more. They speak lies and everyone
accepts it. Look what happens to God's people.
Verse 10, "...therefore His people returned thither with waters
of a full cup wrung out to them." They say, God's people say, how
does God know? And is their knowledge with the
Most High? these are ungodly who prosper in the world and
increase in riches." In other words, God's people, they come
back to this, to what he's saying, they come into my position, that
with doubts and confusion, they don't understand. They're saying,
look, God, do you even see this? Don't you know what's happening?
Can you not see they're ungodly and yet they prosper? Can you
not see that? and the cups of water are wrung
out to them. Tears is what he's saying. Sorrow
is wrung out to them. Pain is wrung out. Poverty is
wrung out to them. Everything evil comes upon God's
people, and everything good comes upon the wicked. Don't you see
this? Why? Why? Do you not love us? Do you not
care for us? Why do the righteous suffer and
the wicked prosper? Are you listening? Do you not
care? Now behold what happens to him. His faith is gone. Verse
13, Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my
hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been
plagued and chastened every morning. They prosper and I suffer every
morning. Surely, I am lost to feel this
way. Surely, to feel anger and resentment
toward God, surely I am lost, and I've done this. My religion
is vain. Everything, my faith is vain,
my hope is vain, and I have cleansed my hands in innocency in vain. Now listen, if I speak thus,
behold, I should offend against the generation of thy people.
He said, look, if I tell God's people this, surely I will offend
them and they will become as I am. If I start telling people
this, they're going to be in trouble just like me. I don't
want that. What does it say? This is too
painful for me. Is there anything more painful than to feel as
though God has abandoned you? Believer, is there anything more
painful? To think God has left you. Let me ask you, are you here?
Is this your plight? Do you fear that God is abandoned
by what you see and what you experience? It seems that way. Are you chastened every morning
with doubts and fears? Have you taken your eyes off
Christ and placed them on the world? Do you have this same
problem of reconciling God's goodness with the prosperity
of the wicked? Listen, Jeremiah had the same problem too. I can
go through a couple of the prophets. They've asked these same questions
over and over again. Jeremiah said this, "...righteous
art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee." Yet, let me talk
with you. Let's commune a minute about
this matter of judgment. I've got something wrong. There's
something that I just can't understand. Wherefore doth the way of the
wicked prosper? Why are they happy? I don't understand. Why are they so dead-gum happy?
And why are we so dead-gum miserable? You know what God said? This
is His answer. He said, if thou hast run with
the footmen and been wearied, how can you run with the horses?
He said, look, if you can't understand your one local little situation
you got going on there, how in the world are you going to understand
what I'm doing in a bigger picture? It would blow your mind. You
wouldn't be able to understand. In other words, God says, just
trust me. Stop trying to run with the horses.
You won't run with them. You won't be able to understand
this. You won't be able to reconcile this. My thoughts are higher
than your thoughts. My ways are higher than your
ways. You don't need to understand.
All you need to do is trust. You just need to know who I am
and what I've done. That's all you need to know.
If you know Christ, what else do you need to know? If you have
Christ, what else do you need to have? You don't need to know anything
else. You don't need to understand
and reconcile. And so if you are confused, where
do you go? Verse 17. He said, I was all
this until... Here's a turning point. Right
here. You want a turning point? Here it is. Until I went to the
sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Until I went back
to the Word of God and took my eyes off the world and looked
at the sanctuary, the place of sacrifice, the place where Christ
died. Look and see what happens to
sin. When you look to the cross, what happens to sin? You see
it punished. What's going to happen to them
outside of Christ? I understand now their end. So how then the world can I be
envious of them? See the pig, right? And he's getting extra slop.
There's some old pigs over there and they're not getting anything.
There's one pig, he's just getting extra all the time. I'm sure
those other pigs over there are just looking at his slop and
wanting some of it. But you know why he's getting
the extra slop, don't you? He's fattening him up for the
kill. That thing's going to be eaten. Don't you know their end? Don't you know? Look what he
said, "...surely thou didst set them in slippery places." and
cast them down to destruction, how they are brought into destruction
in a moment, how they are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream
when one waketh. So, Lord, when Thou wakest, Thou
shall despise their image. Remember the rich man, Lazarus? The rich man all his days received
good. And Lazarus, all his days, he received evil. He was sick. He didn't have any money. He
begged every single day for crumbs to fall from that rich man's
table, to eat what the dogs left over. That's what he had for
every day of his life. What happened in the end? Lazarus,
because he knew Christ, because he was in Christ, he received
good in the end. But the rich man who despised
Christ, who lived only for himself and for his sin, in the end he
lifted up his eyes being in torment. That man's been there for over
2,000 years and it's just begun. His torments are just begun. And you know what? Lazarus' joy
is just begun. It's just starting. Lazarus is
just now getting warmed up to joy. rich man just getting warmed
up to hate over and over why my friend will be in the them
at all what he say about himself when he learned this thus my
heart was grieved and i was pricked within my range soul foolish
was a and it i was lads of the east before the i would uh... as a box of rocks stupid ignorant beast he was convicted of his cn in being the week nevertheless act in continually
with the that was holding my right hand Thou shalt guide me
with Thy counsel, and afterward lead me to glory." Here's some
doctrine for you. Here's some more doctrine for
you. I am continually with thee. You
know this? You have always been in Christ. Even when you were acting like
a beast. Here's your comfort. You were always in Christ. Even
when you felt like you weren't in Christ, you were in Christ. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday.
How long was yesterday? What are you talking about yesterday?
Not just yesterday, the 25th of January, 2020. Not just that
yesterday. Yesterday eternity. Jesus Christ
was the same yesterday in eternity. He's the same now, ever presently
today, and He shall be the same throughout eternity. And you
know what? You are always in Him who is
the same. He loves you the same. He's redeemed
you the same. He keeps you the same. He's with
you the same. Always with you. That's why He
said, He will continually guide me. Give me His counsel. Where
do you find this counsel? Here it is. You find this counsel. It's always in the same place.
You don't need to look anywhere else. Stop looking around you.
Look in here. Here's this counsel for you.
Rejoice always. I say again, rejoice. That's
a counsel, isn't it? Don't matter what you feel like
doing. Rejoice. Believe me. That's some counsel,
isn't it? Believe me. Trust me. That's what Christ says to you. Trust me. I am always going to do you good.
Always going to do you good. I swore to covenant that I will
always do you good. How that I, who cannot lie, shall
do anything but good for you. I know my thoughts towards you.
Thoughts of peace and not of evil, sayeth the Lord. I know
my thoughts. Stop telling me what I think.
I know what I think. He guides me, gives counsel to
me. And afterward, listen, he'll lead me to glory. Now then, whom
have I in heaven but thee? Ever living to make intercession
for my beast-like sins. Ever living to make intercession
for me. And not only in heaven, but on
earth. There is none on earth that I desire besides thee. Here's some more doctrine. My
flesh and my heart faileth. You don't trust in that? You
don't look to that? My flesh and my heart. They're
always failing. You cannot lean on them. You
cannot trust them. They're no good. My flesh and
my heart faileth. But here's my hope. God is the
strength of my heart and my portion forever. Forever. Don't you know that you belong
to Him forever? For lo, they that are far from
thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them
that go a-whoring from thee. Those that I envy, guess where
they're going. 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 thy works. What's the purpose of
all this? Don't you see the purpose of
God letting His foot nigh well slip? You see the purpose of God, even
in His sin, even in His sin, God had a purpose. to draw Him
closer. Nearer. Nearer to Christ. That's what you're being chastened
for. That's what you're suffering for. That I might draw you closer
and that you might trust Me more. You that believe. Do you not
long to believe more? Because I know you don't believe
enough. You just don't. You don't trust enough. You don't
love enough, do you? You don't. You want to? There is one way that happens. Suffering. God always puts us
in the fires of affliction so that we might trust Him more. When are you going to trust Him
more, in prosperity or suffering? When are you going to love Him
more, in prosperity or suffering? I know the natural tendency is
to think prosperity. You'd think if everything was
going well, you'd love Him more. No, you'd be running. Prosperity
intoxicates the believer. Suffering brings us into reality,
doesn't it? You wake up. You really see what's
going on when you're suffering. And in the end, you're always
drawn closer to Him. Is that not our experience? I got a maxim, God is good, to
Israel. Listen, when sin comes, you say,
I don't know about that for me. You envy the wicked, you look
around you, you see the suffering of the righteous and the prosperity
of the wicked. Only when you come to the house
of God and hear the word of God will you see the reality of it.
There perishing! And God has only good for you. Eternal life, glory. And this
suffering draws us close to him. I pray that he would draw us
closer. As individuals and as a church. Draw us close to Him and each
other. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.