Family Night (Psalm 73, Joel Giesbrecht)

Thank you, Joe, for those kind words.

Good evening, everyone. Please turn with me in your

Bibles to Psalm chapter 73. In the previous Sunday family

Psalms 73 · chapter mention

nights, we've been studying in the Book of Psalm.

Summer of Psalms, I believe, was the way that Pastor Jonah put

it. So in keeping with that,

although it's technically no longer summer, we'll be looking

at Psalm 73 tonight. Psalm 73 is a Psalm of Asaph.

Asaph begins by lamenting how the wicked seemed to prosper.

He struggles to reconcile the ideas of evil people thriving in

God's faithfulness to his people.

Asaph was a musician and a prophet in the time of King

David, so he no doubt knew of the faithfulness of God.

But in this Psalm, his writings show a feeling that is common

for many Christians. And that is, why do evil people

seem to have less problems than the godly?

But he doesn't remain there. He moves on to see the flaws in

that way of thinking and the ultimate fate of the evil doers.

And so with that, let's read Psalm 73 and I'll be going

through the whole chapter. Truly, God is good to Israel, to

those who are pure in heart. But As for me, my feet had

almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slept.

For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the

prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until

death. Their bodies are fat and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are.

They are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Therefore pride is their necklace.

Violence covers them as a garment.

Their eyes swell out through fatness.

Their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff and speak with malice lawfully.

They threaten oppression. They set their mouths against

the heavens and their tongue stretch through the earth.

Therefore His people turn back to them and find no fault in

them. And they say, How can God know?

Is there a knowledge in the Most High?

Behold, these are the wicked. Always at ease they increase in

riches. All in vain have I kept my heart

clean and washed my hands and innocence.

For all day long I've been stricken and rebuked every

morning. If I had said I will speak thus,

I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me

a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God.

Then I discerned their end. Truly.

You set them in slippery places, You make them fall to ruin.

How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by

terrors like a dream when one awakes.

Oh Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as

phantoms. When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant.

I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually

with you. You hold my right hand, You

guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to

glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my

heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far

from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who

is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near

God. I have made the Lord God my

refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Let's pray as we ask God to lead us through His Word.

Lord, you are a just and merciful God.

Your ways are higher than our ways.

Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

Thank you for the word that you have given to us by which we we

may learn and grow in You. Amen.

Located in Tanzania at 19,300 feet above sea level, Mount

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.

Each year, thousands of experienced and beginner hikers

attempt to approach the summit and ultimately reach it.

Of those thousands of hikers, roughly 10 people each year die

while attempting to climb this mountain.

There's a YouTube channel called Smarter Every Day run by a

former NASA engineer named Dustin Sandlin, and in one of

his latest videos, he depicts his journey as him and his wife

and along with a small group of friends, attempt to climb Mount

Kilimanjaro. During the climb, he talks about

and shows the different dangers that are present, namely the

rocky areas, the low oxygen levels, and the high winds.

All these things can quickly turn your expedition into a life

or death scenario. But beyond the physical dangers

present, Destin and many others online claim that one of the

hardest parts of the whole climb is the mental portion.

Keeping your attitude up and not caving into the fear and

exhaustion exhaustion that your body is feeling, especially when

there's so much less oxygen present.

At one point on the trip, about 2000 feet away from the summit,

Destin shares how they saw a man being rushed down the mountain,

barely conscious and clearly dying if the guides don't get

him down in time. He talks about the solemnness in

the group as the reality of what could be just went right by

them. But before the whole group loses

all contentment, the guides and the porters leading Destin's

group break out into song. They start singing as a way to

refocus the group and prevent them from being paralyzed by

fear and from discontentment. The guides are keenly aware that

if the mental focus is missing, then there's a high chance that

the whole group won't reach the summit.

And so there's a lot of similarities to everyday life

and analogies that we can draw from a story like this.

But what sticks out to me is how easy it's to lose sight of the

path ahead of us and become discontent which can lead us

astray. Our mentality plays such a huge

role in the actions we take. We just celebrated Thanksgiving

last weekend and if you ask any mental health expert, they will

be quick to point out to the positive effects that being

thankful can have in your life. But as believers, we already

know this. We know that we should be

finding our contentment in the Lord and in His Word.

But if we're honest with ourselves, that can be pretty

difficult. If we don't get the raise we

feel that we deserve, our contentment wanes.

If we come home after a long day and the only thing ready to eat

is last week's leftovers, our contentment is in short supply.

They this is only worsened when we see the unbelievers doing

seemingly well. They drive the new vehicles.

They eat at the expense of restaurants.

Their families seem to get along well.

So as believers, we know it can be hard to find contentment in

God, especially when we see unbelievers thriving.

As we look into Psalm 73, we see the psalmist struggling with the

same thing. But as he records his thought

process, we see a shift in thinking.

He sees the path and the outcome of those who find their

contentment only in worldly things and warns not to follow

down that path. Instead, because God is

faithful, we should find our contentment in Him.

So how do we find contentment in the Lord?

Using the metaphor of climbing a mountain alongside Psalm 73, I

want to lay out three actions that we can take to find and

keep contentment in the Lord. We need to focus on the path, be

aware of the dangers, and seek refuge in the Lord.

As believers, we need to focus on the path.

The path we need to focus on is the Word of God and who He is.

We focus on that path to avoid stumbling, avoid jealousy, and

avoid temptations. When we see the psalmist declare

in verse one that truly God is good to Israel, to those who are

pure in heart. He recognizes the attribute of

God, the goodness of God. Right from the beginning, God is

good. Similar to the Acts prayer model

that we've learned as a church, the psalmist begins with

adoration, glorifying God. But as we go to verse 2, we read

what can be seen as a confession of the thoughts he had.

He explains in verse 2. But As for me, my feet had

almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped.

Not focusing on the goodness of God can cause us to stumble if

we continue with the imagery of climbing a mountain.

It isn't the giant boulder that you see 100 meters ahead of you

that will cause you to stumble. It's the small stone right in

front of you that will cause you to slip.

Focusing on the Word of God, then, allows us to see that God

remains faithful and prevents us from stumbling.

We also need to focus on the path to avoid jealousy, he

writes in verse 3. For I was envious of the

arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

When we take our eyes off the Word of God and turn to the

things of the world, it can be so easy to be jealous.

We stop seeing things in light of eternity, and instead we see

them for the here and now. Being a Christian can mean

saying no to opportunities that would bring prosperity but don't

align with God's Word. It's difficult then to see the

arrogant and those who openly despise God become prosperous

while believers are struggling. It's tempting to resent God for

allowing this to happen, but we need to focus on the path to

avoid that temptation. Verses 4 to 12 highlight some of

those temptations to be envious of.

They have no pangs until death. They're not in trouble as others

are. Pride is their necklace.

Their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff and speak malice. They threaten oppression.

These all culminate into a summary of how the psalmist sees

the wicked in verse 12. Behold, these are the wicked,

always at ease. They increase in riches.

I relate to this verse because it seems so often to be the case

that the wicked have no worries and they only increase in

prosperity. But if I or you only focus on

the supposed fortune of the wicked, it leads us to taking

our eyes off the path, the truth of the scriptures and causes us

to lose contentment in God. A few weeks ago we went on a

family vacation to Tennessee. While driving from Gatlinburg to

Pigeon Forge, there's a small tunnel that you have to go

through. Right before the entrance to the

tunnel, there's this big yellow Rd. sign that reads No honking

in the tunnel. I think you can guess what I

wanted to do as soon as I got into that tunnel.

And I wasn't alone in that thinking.

Because once we were in that tunnel, you know what we heard a

lot of honking. Had it not been for that sign on

the road, I would have never had that temptation to honk.

But by focusing on that sign and wondering what it would sound

like to honk in the tunnel, I became discontent just driving

through the tunnel normally without honking.

And that's a threat we face in many areas of our lives.

While honking in a tunnel may be of little consequence, focusing

on our neighbors, new cars and big house, for example, may be

more serious. By focusing on material items,

we can become hyper focused on making more money or leveraging

large amounts of debt just to appear wealthy.

We can find many examples in the Bible that this will not bring

true contentment. Paul writing to Timothy and

first Timothy 66 writes. But godliness with contentment

is great gain. For we brought nothing into the

world and can take and cannot take anything out of the world.

But if we have food and clothing with these, we will be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation, into a

snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge

people into ruin and destruction.

Paul isn't saying that wealth is a sin.

But those that desire to be rich fall into temptation which can

lead to sin. Paul says that godliness with

contentment is great gain. So in our Christian walk we

should focus on godliness rather than the temptations of the

wicked on our walk. As believers, we also need to

remain mindful of the dangers, the danger of only focusing on

us, the danger of causing others to stumble, and the danger of

unrepentant sin. Being self focused is dangerous

because it leads to self pity. Asaph laments in verse 13.

All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in

innocence. He's saying that if the previous

verses are right and that only the wicked prosper with no

hardship, then it has been worthless for him to practice

faithfulness. ASA felt like the life of the

ungodly was much easier than the life of the faithful.

But this thinking is dangerous, as it can cause others in the

faith to stumble. We see a shift in his thinking

in verse 15. If I had said this, I will speak

thus. I would have betrayed the

generation of your children. In other words, if he acted on

those thoughts, he could undermine the faith of younger

believers. It's difficult to avoid these

thoughts, but what we do as a response to them is of greater

importance, Asaph writes. He tried to understand it by

himself, but he wasn't able to until he went into the sanctuary

of God. Similarly, until we go into the

Word of God, reading it, studying it, praying through it,

and talking to others about it, we will not see the dangers.

The danger of unrepentant sin is the worst of all, Asaph, again

in verses 18 to 19, writes. Truly, you set them in slippery

places. You make them fall to ruin.

How? They're destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly by terrors. The end result of the wicked is

not a lavish life and no troubles.

Instead, it's a place of ruin and destruction.

That ruin may or may not happen here in this life, but without a

belief in God and repentance, it is guaranteed in eternity.

As Paul wrote to Timothy, we brought nothing into this world

and we will take nothing out of the world.

We can see the impact of not remaining mindful of these

dangers and the story of Adam and Eve.

They were told by God that they could eat from all the trees in

the garden except one, Genesis 216 to 17.

And the Lord commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of

every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of

good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat it,

you shall surely die. They were warned of the dangers

ahead, but ultimately they didn't remain mindful of them

because Adam and Eve both focus on themselves and what they

would gain from eating the fruit that caused all of mankind to

stumble. And the death and the danger of

death entered the world. Sin and death entered the world

through disobedience and man has been disobedient to God ever

since. And because of our disobedience,

not merely the the disobedience of Adam and Eve, we too are in

danger of death. If we are not in Christ by

ourselves, we still face the same dangers of self focused,

causing others to stumble and death from unrepentant sin.

And it is only through Jesus and His work on the cross that we

can avoid these. Focusing inwardly leaves us

blind to the outside world. There are believers all around

us in our daily life, and if we only focus on their supposed

prosperity, we will not see, or worse, not care about the

dangers that lie in store for them.

As believers, we need to read what the Bible says about those

who are separate from Christ and warn them of the danger to come.

It is our duty to share the gospel with them.

If we find our contentment in Christ, we will naturally want

to share that with others. In doing so, we'll set an

example for those younger in the faith and encourage them to do

likewise. We cannot do this by ourselves,

though. As mountain climbers, we'll take

refuge near big rocks. As believers, we seek refuge in

God, the Rock of Ages. As we seek refuge in God, we see

that God is our sustainer, our strength, and our Savior.

Asaph turns his thoughts to thankfulness for God for

sustaining him. Nevertheless, I am continually

with you. You hold my right hand, You

guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to

glory. Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

Asaph is thankful that although he had almost stumbled, God was

there to to sustain him and hold his right hand like a good

Father. God sustains and holds us as

well. We do not hold God up, but He

holds us. Asaph valued this so much that

he says nothing on nothing else on earth is of greater worth

than God. And as I've heard Pastor Jake

preach, everything minus God equals nothing, but nothing plus

God equals everything. God is our sustainer and God is

also our strength. Verse 26 the Psalmist writes, my

flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever. As fallen creatures we are

destined for ailments, sickness, and physical death.

Asaph acknowledges the fact that on earth his body might fail

him, but his true strength comes from God.

What joy, what great contentment to be able to say that come what

may, my strength isn't found in my money and my job or in

myself, but my strength is in God.

And to not worry about the temporary prosperity of the

wicked. But to say, as Asaph does in his

final verse, But for me it is good to be near God.

I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all

your works. God is our Savior.

It is good to be near Him. By seeking refuge in God, we are

sustained and strengthened to tell all people about our

Savior. Our response then to God should

be 1 of praise and Thanksgiving. If we find contentment in Him,

we cannot help but be thankful and share that with others.

Jesus says in Matthew 12 that out of the abundance of the

heart the mouth speaks. When we speak then do others

hear thankfulness and contentment, or that do they

hear complaining and gossip? Complaining is contagious and

misery likes company, but thankfulness encourages and

builds up. Gossiping is enslaving, but

contentment in God is freeing. I was speaking with a friend a

few weeks ago and he reminded me of the story of Horatio

Spafford. Horatio was a famous lawyer and

businessman in Chicago in the 1870s.

He was a devout Christian and close friend of the prominent

evangelist DL Moody. Life seemed to be pretty good

for Horatio, but it took a tragic turn when the Great

Chicago Fire devastated the city.

Because he had much of his investments in real estate, most

of his wealth was destroyed by the fire.

A short time after the financial disaster, Horatio and his wife

suffered another heartbreaking loss when their only son died at

the age of four from scarlet fever.

But despite these tragedies, Horatio's fate, Horatio's faith

remains strong and along with his family, they continued their

charitable work. In 1873, two years after the

fire, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a

trip to Europe, where they had planned to assist Moody with his

Evangel evangelistic work. But business obligations arose

and Horatio decided to send his family ahead on a steamship.

While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship crashed into

another ship and sank very quickly.

All four of Horatio's daughters died that day, alongside 222

other people. His wife was one of the few

survivors and knowing that Horatio would hear the news on

the sunken ship, sent a telegram from England that simply read

Saved Alone. Overwhelmed by with the news,

Horatio sailed to England to join his wife.

While crossing the Atlantic near the area where the shipwreck had

happened, Horatio was inspired to write the words to the now

popular hymn, It Is Well with My Soul.

The hymn shows his unwavering trust and God's sovereignty even

during such sorrow and pain. The opening verse of the that

Horatio wrote reads like this. When peace like a river

attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever

my lot thou has taught me to say, it is well.

It is well with my soul. In the darkest moments of his

life, Horatio sought comfort in the Lord and found contentment

in him. It would have been easy and

frankly, no one would have questioned if he had solely

focused on his losses. He could have looked at the

unbelievers that survived and been angry at God for allowing

his daughters to die. But while there was undoubtedly

much grieving, Horatio decided to keep his focus on God.

He focused less on himself and continued to serve the poor and

suffering. In that moment of deep loss,

Horatio took refuge in God, knowing that it was God who

would sustain him, strengthen him, and ultimately save him.

When sorrows like sea billows roll in our own life, can we say

it is well with our souls? Do we have the courage to say

whatever my lot, it is well with my soul?

The only way that we can truly say those words is if we find

our contentment in God. The second verse of the song

reads. Though Satan should buffet, the

trial should come. Let this blessed assurance

control that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and

hath shed his own blood for my soul.

If we believe in the Lord Jesus and put our trust in Him, we can

have the assurance that our souls have been saved.

It can be well with our soul because our soul rests safely in

the arms of our Savior. We can strive on by focusing on

the path ahead, remaining mindful of the dangers and

seeking refuge and seeking our refuge and God so that we can

join in with the psalmist and say, my flesh and my heart may

fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I'll close with a benediction from Jude chapter one, verse 24

to 25. Let's pray now to Him who is

able to keep you from stumbling. And to present you blameless

before His presence, before the presence of His glory, with

great joy to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ

our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before

all time and now and forever. Amen.