Psalm 73 - Understanding God’s Wisdom in a Troubling World : Fixing our Eyes on Jesus

Last week we considered Psalm 72, and looking at Psalm 72, we heard

a lot from it about what popular commentary on society can

bombard us with.

Because whenever we watch and listen and look, we see a commentary

that is trying to persuade us from one perspective or another of

how we are to understand society.

And Psalm 72, coming to the end of book two of the Psalms.

The Psalms are in five books.

We were given an understanding of who the true ruler of God's people

is or what that true ruler is to be like.

Now, Psalm 72 came about at the time of Solomon.

It wasn't about King David, but it was about Solomon and every

king that came after him.

And as.

As you would trace all of the kings of both Israel and Judah as

the kingdom split, you'll discover that very, very few ever

lived up to what Psalm 72 wanted them to be.

In fact, Psalm 72 points us to Jesus, the only true king who can

truly rule us.

For all other worldly leaders will fail us in one way or another.

And so it is only to Christ that.

That we must look.

Well, this week, Psalm 73 points us to godly wisdom.

And I suppose in a way that whenever you look at social commentary

that we have all around us, it's trying to give us wisdom on

how to understand things.

But yet now we turn as Psalm changes from book two to book three.

Psalm 73 gives us what godly wisdom is and who it is we're to

look at in life, who it is we are to go to.

And the psalm gives us two perspectives of this.

It quite literally is divided in half with one perspective that

is in the viewpoint of the world and the other perspective that

is from God's perspective.

And the Psalm is ascribed to Asaph, who's leader of one of David's

Levitical choirs.

These would have been the groups that would have gone around

and led the prayers of the people in the temple or at the tabernacle,

or in the gathering of the people for festivals and feasts.

So this would have been led by Israel's singers to encourage the

people to look only to God and seek his wisdom and justice.

And of course, every one of us likes to think that we are wise and

that we're wise, at least in our own eyes.

And sometimes we have to admit how foolish we have been to believe

one thing that turned out not to be true.

And so there is a famous story that Charlie Chaplin once entered

a Charlie Chaplin look alike competition and he didn't win.

Now, depending on the version of this story, he didn't even make

it to the final round.

Now, whether it actually happened or not, we don't know.

Historians in 1918 would blame Mary Pickford for starting this story.

Well, the reason that the story has endured, whether it's true

or not, is that it reminds us how appearances can deceive.

So the story goes that the judges confidently believed that

they knew what Charlie Chaplin looked like, that they completely

missed the real thing, because they judged by appearances back in

1918, what did they have?

Grainy movie reels of Charlie Chaplin.

Not exactly high quality photographs, if any, and certainly

in the press, it was illustrations of what Charlie Chaplin

would have looked like.

And so they were basing it on information that was all very much

secondhand.

And not having actually met Charlie Chaplin.

Well, in this psalm, Asaph makes a similar mistake at the start

of 73, but it's intentional, because this Psalm of two parts is

to allow us to express what we might want to express but feel we

can't.

And then assuring us that even if we do, there is a way that we

can look to God and know his goodness.

See, Asaph judges reality at the beginning by appearances, because

from the outset it looks like the prosperous must be the winners

in life.

The righteous then must be the fools, because the righteous believe

the lies, the world.

But appearances are deceptive, and it is God who reveals his truth

to his people.

And so the psalm begins with a verse of true praise of God, because

Asaph writes, surely God is good to Israel, to those who are

pure in heart.

And this already takes us back to the very first psalm and Psalm

number one, the beginning of the book.

And now we come to book three, and we have a similar theme, this

idea that it is the Lord who truly blesses those who are pure

of heart.

Blessed is the man who seeks after the things of God.

And so book three allows the reader to express the deep truth

of what they believe about God.

And so there's an understanding that the pure in heart,

that is those who love genuinely, who love the Lord and

his ways, will know his goodness upon them forever.

And this is the perspective God's people are to have.

But like all societies and like all cultures, there will come

a time when we utter the words, that's not fair.

And let's face it, we've all done it.

Whatever circumstances we've had to face in life, the words that's

not fair have come from our lips.

They've come from my lips.

Because there are simply times when we don't know what else to express.

And these words will come when we look at the world around us and

determine that what is happening either to us or around

us goes against what we would like or what we would want.

And Asaph, as he leads God's people in praise, allows them to

express the same sentiment.

The next 14 verses explain why someone might have have this perspective

and why someone might cry out.

That's not fair, because verse two tells us of the solid foundation

that the people of God had.

But something has caused them to slip.

And as they looked around them, as they looked to the world,

they saw what they didn't like.

They saw the world of sinful people getting better things than

they were.

And verse three very honestly says, for I envied the arrogant when

I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

In contrast to verse one, their eyes are taken off the Lord

and they are beginning to look at the world.

In the world, they see sinful humanity prospering.

When they determine that this shouldn't be the case, they've become

envious and might even conclude that the whole basis of

godliness is a lie.

As the images of slipping and stumbling tell us, the feet and steps

are common images in the Psalms for a person's life course,

the journey of life, be it for good or for ill. And so now, moving

on into verse four, we're presented with how they are prospering.

From the people of God's perspective.

The wicked world around them have no struggles.

They don't face the burdens the rest of mankind suffers.

While their bodies are healthy and strong like well fed animals.

In verse seven, their hearts are described as hardened and the

result is that they are wicked.

But the description of this wickedness is that it's in their

minds, and that in their minds they have no limits.

They do what they think is right, regardless of God's law or

socially acceptable practice.

They feel, and all those around them are tempted to agree,

that they are able to commit violence and oppression without God's

taking any action.

And so pride is worn as a glimmering necklace around their

necks.

Their pride is their boast.

And this pride leads them to scoff at God and his people, to claim

as their own whatever they see and whatever they crave, and to threaten

anyone who might resist.

Now, I have to be honest.

When I read through Psalm 73 earlier this week, couldn't it be

a perfect report on where society is today?

All you have to do is lift your phone, scroll through whichever

social media platform you scroll in, whether you're in your

teenage years or whether you're a silver surfer in your 80s

and you will come across things that look perfect.

And we are being sold a lie of what it is to be perfect.

We don't see the hardships and even those who want to appear to

be honest and raw in reality we don't see at all.

We are to be very cautious of social media and what it portrays

because there are people there who claim in their pride that whatever

they want to do, they can do without anyone judging them.

And they threaten anyone who might resist them.

And so it happens, particularly for the Christian church

where we take a stand against things that we do not agree with.

A redefinition of marriage, who has the right to live and who

has the right to die, and a many other myriad of social decisions

that are yet to be made that will go against what is the long

standing truth and biblical teaching that the church.

And so we will be threatened, we will be persecuted because we

resist.

But as we will see in this psalm, it is right to resist pride.

It is right to resist the things that are against God's word.

You see, the height of the arrogance of the wicked world comes

to an expression in verse 11.

This is what they say.

How can God know?

Does the Most High have knowledge?

And so when they ask how can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?

They demonstrate thoughts that defy God.

And they want to defy God to prove that he knows their evil and

intends to bring them to judgment.

And they laugh at that, thinking he can't really do it or

he won't really do it.

It's as if they're challenging him to prove Himself and demonstrate

his authority over their lives.

It's almost as if they want him to act now to prove Himself,

regardless of the impact on them.

They of course don't believe that there will be any impact on

them.

And so with such folly they scoff against God.

And verse 12 serves as a nice summary for the whole section of

who these people are.

This is what the wicked are like.

Always carefree.

They increase in wealth.

Let's be honest, wouldn't it be nice to be carefree?

Wouldn't it all be nice to have a little bit more money in our

bank accounts and in our pockets?

And if we're all honest, we would say yes, it would be.

But will it actually be to our benefit and our blessing?

Because these are things that simply pass away, because they're

things that lead us into a false sense of reality.

The reality is that God does judge that Jesus is coming back and

only Those who are found in him and following his way, will be

taken into the heavenly realms.

You see, the wicked are described in Scripture, not just

here, but in other passages, as always being carefree, not caring

about the things of God, or thinking about the eternal effects,

and always increasing in wealth, because that's what they

love most.

And it isn't hard to imagine the frustration that comes from observing

these circumstances, which run, at least in appearance, contrary

to the idea that God rules the world that he made and vindicates

his just rule.

The frustration that the faithful feel is aggravated by the

way in which this arrogant unconcern of the wicked draws even

God's own people away.

Verse 10 highlights that even God's people turn back to these carefree

evildoers and they find no fault in them.

They've lost their ability to discern what is right and what is

true.

So even among the people of Israel, these wicked people find

admirers who will forsake their loyalty to the Lord and to

his people in order to serve wicked purposes.

And it's here that we pause for a moment to think back on these

verses.

I don't think it would be too difficult for any of us to really

bring these words of these verses into the world around us today.

We look around and we see the arrogance of sin and how it either

denies the existence of God or defies him because it thinks it knows

better.

The arrogant of the world care not for him and his ways and set

their own standard for living a way that is right in their own

eyes, regardless of who they hurt along the way.

Yes, there may be moments of kindness in the sinful world, but

at its heart, its desire is for self and self righteousness.

And so this is a word of caution to us.

It might be that you're here and these verses describe you.

You might think yourself to be good and kind, and your actions and

words may suggest that.

But unless you are loving Christ and trusting in him for salvation,

then all your kindness and good is nothing.

Because like the world of Psalm 73, you're focusing on self

and not on Christ.

And this was Paul's reflection on his own life.

Paul had it all.

He did what was right in the eyes of the religious leaders, his

peers, and he had a very successful career with it.

He was self righteous.

He held himself to a standard, but it was his standard and he believed

he met it.

And he was content in his own actions, that everything he did was

right.

But there was a dramatic change in the life of Paul that on

the road to Damascus.

He met Christ, and this is what he says in Philippians 3, verses

Philippians 3:7–9

7 to 9, reflecting on that old life and the new life he now has

in Christ.

But whatever was to my profit, in other words, whatever was in the

old life that I benefited from, I now consider loss for the

sake of Christ.

Christ.

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the

surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for

whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them rubbish that

I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness

of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith

in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

This is the testimony of a man who recognized that the world offered

him nothing when it came to eternal salvation.

He could follow all its ways.

He could fit in, he could do what was right, he could be carefree

and careless, and he could be wealthy.

And the likelihood is Paul was.

But yet he considers it all nothing compared to the greater wealth

of Christ faith in him.

The righteousness comes from God and is by faith.

Paul says that everything of his old life was rubbish when compared

to what he gained in Christ.

And so I urge you today to consider Christ as Paul did.

And I guarantee that in him you will find true delight and true

peace in life.

Isn't that what we want?

We want to know that we are someone who's cared about and cared

for.

We want to have a life where we will know something within us

that is peace and that is delight.

And the world can't give us that, or it can, but for a fleeting

moment, it is only in Christ that we can know this.

And so we are urged, as Paul urges us here, to consider Christ

and what it means to live for him, not just to take his name, but

to live by his standard.

And which might go against everything that you're living today,

but it will be far better in the days that are ahead as you live

for him.

And so that is the first half of the psalm that challenges the

wickedness of the world, and it challenges us to how we perceive

the world.

And so, as the psalm moves on, we now hear the heart cry of the

singer as they look back on what they've just said.

And verses 13 to 14 tell us, surely in vain have I kept my heart

pure, in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

All day long I have been plagued.

I have been punished every morning.

And so here is the faithful worshiper of God, questioning everything

that they've done by way of worship of God, was it worth it to

believe in God for salvation?

Was there any blessing in being faithful to his law?

And again, these are questions that we might ask.

Lord, I prayed and you didn't answer.

Lord, I've lived a good life and why am I being faced with this?

Is all of this faith and trust in you worth it?

You see, Psalm 73 lets our hearts express what we want to express

but are maybe afraid to say out loud, but that's what it's asking.

These are the questions that the faithful worshipper of God is

asking as it looks at the world around them.

And these are questions asked.

And as they are, the psalm takes a turn in understanding because

the singer recognizes that to put his bitter feelings into words

would have betrayed the generation of God's children, undermining

others faith and so letting down his own side, as it were.

And this too torments the faithful.

Ironically, in singing these words, the entire congregation is

allowed to say words that they might think, think but feel unable

to utter a loud and so, having considered the way of the wicked,

Asaph now presents us with the correct perspective, God's perspective,

because this perspective comes from that true and continued worship

of God, as he says he went into the house of the Lord, and in

one move the tables are turned on the wicked.

Rather than the faithful feeling that they are about to slip,

it is the wicked who are in slippery ground and will face ruin,

because listen to what that ruin is like in verses 19 and 20.

How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away

by terrors as I dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies.

God has set the arrogant on slippery places so that they are

destroyed in a moment.

This is the wicked we're talking about, those who reject God.

Now this may imply that they will die suddenly and unexpectedly,

which certainly does happen.

But more likely it speaks of the effect of death as verse 20 then

goes on to describe how God despises them as fantasies, that

is, things that aren't true.

They have made themselves up to be important and big people, but

in the eyes of God they're nothing because they have rejected

him.

And their death occurs when God rouses himself, as it were, as

the present experience of the singing congregation feels like a

time of God's inaction, and it takes great faith to believe otherwise

because he does act.

And so the final section begins in verse 21 by noting that

the singer was like what the singer was like when they harbored

these bitter thoughts, when they almost resented God and looked

after the things in the world, they described themselves like being

a beast towards God, saying that they could rise no higher than

an animal that uses neither speech nor reason.

And yet God still had his firm hold on the faithful servant.

And in verse 23 we read, yet I am always with you, you hold me by

my right hand.

And verse 24 sums up with confidence the singer has in God

by saying that during their earthly life God guides with his

counsel.

And afterwards, that is, after the singer dies, God will receive

them into glory.

For the faithful worshippers of God, they have this truth that

heavenly honour, a home forever with God.

And this leads to the question of verse 25:1 that we will know.

Whom have I in heaven but you and earth has nothing I desire beside

you?

The answer of course is no one.

Nor does the singer require anyone else.

For there's no one in heaven like God.

And so there is nothing on earth that they desire besides God.

And here's the faithful remembering that they themselves

will die, that their flesh and heart will feel as do the wicked.

But they have an everlasting hope, an everlasting portion which

strengthens them for faithfulness in the present.

So the godly can be satisfied because they are near to God, while

the arrogant are now far from God and will remain there forever.

So truly then, God is good to those who are pure in heart, as verse

one tells us.

And it is in their company that the worshippers crave to tell

all God's works, as verse 28 says.

But as for me, it is good to be near the Lord.

I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge.

I will tell of all your deeds.

You see, like the judges in a Charlie Chaplin look alike competition,

we can think we know what to look for in this world, to be truly

satisfied and happy.

And this psalm presents to us the reality of the Lord as people.

Now in New Testament times, we know that the only person who can

fully and truly satisfy us is Jesus.

It is in Christ that we must take refuge and not allow our hearts

and minds to be drawn away by the falseness of the world.

For Christians we need to be careful that we don't slip into sin

and fall away by looking at the world and think that it is better

for us.

The truth for us in this psalm is that there is nothing better than

Jesus.

He is the only one whom we have in heaven who intercedes for

us at the Father's right hand.

So let's look to him always and not be taken by the things of

the wicked and sin filled world as the writer of Hebrews tells

us in Hebrews 12:2, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and

Hebrews 12:2

perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured

the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand the

throne of God.

So what life do we desire?

Are we being influenced by what to buy, by where to go, by what

to do, thinking that that will make us happy, it will make us carefree,

and it will somehow add to our wealth here on earth, because if

that's what we're chasing, well, it will all crumble down around

us.

The second half of this psalm tells us to wake up, tells us to

pay attention to the reality of life, that it's not easy, that

it's hard, and that it is so very easy to look at the world out

there and take our eyes off Jesus.

And yet this second half points us to where our eyes need

to be to fix our eyes on Jesus.

You know what it means to fix something In Holiday Bible Club this

week you will have seen our fish and chip shop at the front.

Best fish and chip shop in all of Anna Long.

The fish and chips were so sweet because they were quite literally

sugary sweets.

But there was a board with our memory verse on it and.

And it fell down every night and every day I would go back in

and try and fix it up because there was just strips put to try

and fix it, to hold it in place.

So you'll know my frustration that I would fix it up and it would

stay for an hour or two and then come back the next day and it

would be on the floor again.

Whenever we want to fix something, we want it to stay, we

want it to hold.

And so there's no mistake that using an image for this series as

the corn mill, whenever you look at it carefully, just take three,

four, five minutes and look at how those stones were built into

what was the stone fixed in place that now, hundreds of years

later, it's still there, it's fixed in place.

How much greater is it to fix our eyes on Jesus so that we will

know we won't fall, even when the hardest and saddest moments come.

And whenever we cry out, that's.

That's not fair.

Because sometimes we may not get an answer.

But what Scripture tells us to do is to fix our eyes on Jesus.

For he is the author, he's the perfecter of faith, and he has walked

this path.

For he too was known as a man of sorrows as he went to Calvary's

cross.

Yet triumphed over it, scorning its shame, and sat down

at the right hand of the throne of God.

You see, regardless of who we are here this morning, regardless

of whether you call yourself a member of the redeemed of Christ,

therefore a believer of Jesus, a Christian, or whether you would

be described as someone of the world who is filled with sin and,

as Scripture says, wicked, we all need Jesus.

Because I need Jesus.

I need to fix my eyes on the Savior so that each day, no matter

what storm comes, I can stand.

And I will be held not by my own strength or merit or carefreeness

or wealth, but by Christ and Him alone.

And so it is to Christ that we are to look.

And in a moment we will be singing a hymn that was written Based

on Psalm 73, Thy hand, O God, has guided.

It's a hymn that speaks of how whenever we look at God and how we

trust in him, he will take us through as he's taken the generations

in the past, as he brings us through many a day of darkness, so

his mercy will never fail us as we look only and ever to Him.

Take hold of Christ.

Fix your eyes on him this day.

Don't allow the noise of the world to influence you in ways that

will not save, will not redeem you, and will in fact send you on

a road away from Christ.

Fix your eyes only in Christ and trust in him and know his goodness.

Let's pray.

Our Father God, as we come to you, a people looking at this psalm

who need to understand who we need to be in this world under Christ.

Father, may we not look to the world and think it has it better,

for it doesn't, for its end is ruin and destruction.

Rather, may we fix our eyes on Jesus.

May we look to the cross of Calvary and know what was achieved

there for us, so that we will know your hand guiding us from age

to age, that even in our darkest of days, Lord, you're the

God who shows us mercy and will lead us home.

So hear us as we pray and as we respond.

In Jesus name, Amen.