Whom Have I In Heaven But You (Nov 14) Ed Gregorcic

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists.

Glorify God for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

The spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Hey, good morning, everyone.

Wonderful to be here with you.

I don't know about you, but every time I see that it hits a little too close to home at times, you know.

Glad glad that you're uh here with us and joining us.

And those of you online, glad that you can join us online.

But I want to just shout out to you online.

Those of you who are joining us, we got lots of room for you here, man.

This is community.

So let me encourage you to in the days ahead to consider joining us here live and in person.

So we're gonna be in Psalm 73 this morning.

Psalm 73, so fire up your Bible apps, load up Psalm 73.

We're gonna go through all 28 of those verses today.

Or if you're like me and you have a Bible, then turn to Psalm 73 this morning.

I'm looking forward to uh bringing a message from God's Word from Psalm 73.

So, you know, it's said that the average person spends about 80 years on this earth, give or take.

We spend uh actually we spend about 26 of those years sleeping, and and just seven years just trying to get to sleep that leaves us with about 47 waking years of life.

And in the context of those waking years, on any given day, apparently we can think as many as 50,000 individual thoughts.

Don't ask me how they measure that, but be that as it may, right?

And in fact, on any given day we can make as many as 200 individual choices every single day, most of which you don't even realize you're making, right?

Because it's habit.

It becomes habitual.

And so what's the point of that?

Well, the point of that is we really are what we think.

You know, the the book of Proverbs says, as a man thinks, so shall he be.

And our thoughts are greatly influenced by people and by our surroundings, right?

And and and if we're not careful over time, what we see, influenced as it is, as it were, by people and surroundings, what we see can distort our vision.

Because there's a difference.

Because what we see, we see through the lens often of our expectations.

Right?

This, I expect this, as was illustrated on that video, I expect this, but I got that.

We we see things through our expectations to try and satisfy our own desires.

And it's not long thereafter or therein that you know what begins to happen?

We start to make comparisons.

Right?

We start to make those inevitable comparisons that happen.

Often I've done it, I'm sure you have too.

I start comparing my life with your life, what I have, my possessions with what someone else has, and on and on it goes.

And you know, the interesting thing with those comparisons, if you know, if in my mind I win, quote unquote, I win that comparison, then I can become pretty arrogant.

You're a little boastful.

But if in my mind I lose that comparison, it's not long before you know what happens?

Envy.

Envious.

And in envy and envious leads to becoming embittered.

Embittered.

We're gonna see that today in this Psalm, Psalm 73.

So envy, the word itself, Webster's dictionary describes or defines envy this way: a chagrin or discontent at the excellence of good fortune of someone else.

You know that that that uncomfortable feeling that comes upon you?

It's called envy.

When somebody else is doing well, and so oftentimes you feel it's at your own expense.

That's called envy.

You know, God's word, God's warns us in his word about envy.

Listen to this, Proverbs 14, verse 30, the word of God says, a tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.

Proverbs 14:30

Proverbs 14, verse 30.

Proverbs 14:30

Man, I love that.

God gets right to the heart of the matter here, and he's warning us, he's saying, you know, if you do this, you're gonna bring a whole lot of hurt and pain on yourself.

Here's another one, Proverbs, Proverbs 23, verse 17 says, Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.

Proverbs 23:17

Right?

So there's a warning, there's a caution there for us to be careful about this envy and how we approach this envy.

So we're gonna be, as I said to you, we're gonna be in Psalm 73 this morning.

I love the Psalms.

Sure you've read them or you're familiar with them.

There's 150 Psalms in God's Word.

It's a collection of praise and prayer and prose and a heartfelt expression of emotion.

We we read that in the Psalms.

I love them.

I I read one every day, at least one every day, and I encourage you to do the same.

Theologian Walter Brugeman, in his book called The Spirituality of the Psalms, he says that most of the Psalms can be categorized under one or three categories.

There are the Psalms of orientation, right?

It's ordered, it's it's good.

Then there are the Psalms of disorientation, disorder.

Man, somehow, somehow, things just kind of went off the rails, and there's a whole lot of uncertainty, a lot of confusion causing a whole lot of pain.

Does that sound familiar?

These last two years?

Then there are the psalms of reorientation.

And you know what those are?

The psalms of reorientation?

That you know what that is?

That's that's right back to refocusing back on God.

We see examples of that in the scriptures, right, through the wilderness experience, through the dark night of the soul, God uses those experiences to remind us.

Strip it all away, man, strip it all away.

What matters most is your relationship with God through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

So we refocus, refocus.

What we see can distort our vision.

So you refocus back on God.

There's a fourth category of the Psalms that I would add, and they are the imprecatory psalms.

Psalms of imprecation.

Well, what is that?

Imprecation.

Imprecation is a way of expressing my bitterness, my frustration, even my anger.

We see that in some of the Psalms, right?

You know, like, yeah, Lord, just Lord, just strike them down, right?

You see that in some of the Psalms.

And and quite frankly, the the language can be pretty graphic at times.

And in Psalm 139 is a good example of imprecation.

David, who author of Psalm 139, after after he expresses his imprecation and his frustration and anger, he says this, Lord, search me and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see if there's any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

You know what David is saying in that?

He's getting it off his chest, man.

It's good to lament.

It's good.

It's good to express your frustrations, but then he says at the end of Psalm 139, it's not good to stay there.

That's not a good headspace to stay in.

So he says, search me, know my heart, see if there's a grievous way, a way that grieves you, Lord, lead me away from that.

That's why it's important to do that.

So, why do I tell you all of that?

How is that applied to today?

Because we're gonna see examples of all four of those things in Psalm 73.

Orientation, ordered, disorientation, disorder, new orientation, refocus back on God, and even expressions of anger and bitterness.

We're gonna see examples of that today in Psalm 73.

Alright, so as we continue, just kind of laying the framework of the context of this, Psalm 73.

Who wrote it?

Well, the Holy Spirit authored it, we know that, but but the Holy Spirit used Asaph specifically.

It's attributed to Asaph.

And who is this man, Asaph?

Asaph was uh uh one of the Levites, he was of the Levitical priests.

He was assigned by King David to be the worship leader in the tabernacle at the time.

So he's a contemporary of King David.

And he's assigned by David to be the worship leader in the tabernacle at the time.

A footnote as it relates to worship.

Worship is not just the beautiful songs that we sung or sang here or have sung here on a Sunday.

Beautiful.

But that's not it.

Worship is every moment of every second of every day.

Worship is a redeemed heart fully occupied with God, and now the things I do reflect that, or not so much.

And I get it, some days are better than others.

So Asaph is assigned by David to be the worship leader in the tabernacle.

1 Chronicles 16, verse 37, we see this.

1 Chronicles 16:37

It says, David left Asaph and his brothers in the tent, in the tabernacle, before the ark of the Lord, to minister regularly before the ark as each day required.

His duties are described in great detail in 1 Chronicles chapter 16.

1 Chronicles 16 · chapter mention

You can read that on your own later.

And both David and Asaph, contemporaries, are skilled singers, poets, and musicians.

In fact, Psalm 50 and Psalms 73 to 83 are called the Psalms of Asaph.

So God highly esteems this man.

He was gifted.

He was a gifted man.

He understood where his gift came from.

He used his music, his gift, to praise the Lord, to proclaim the Lord's goodness forever and ever and ever to a needy people then, now, and forever.

And yet, this man, Asaph, he struggled.

Just like us.

He struggled.

He struggled with envy, as he's about to tell us.

So join me in a word of prayer and we're gonna dive right in.

So Father, I thank you that we can gather here in person, online as well, Lord, to open your word and to hear from your word, to have your Holy Spirit use your word to refine us, to consider us and to encourage us in the days ahead, Lord, that we would indeed refocus.

These days are unique as they are, and there's all kinds of stuff that we're being bombarded with.

Set it aside now, set it aside for the sake of Jesus Christ, for the sake of your word.

Lead us in this, Lord.

We love you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

So we laid the front the framework there, okay?

Are you ready?

Strap on your seatbelts now because we're gonna dive right into Psalm 73.

So here we go, Psalm 73.

Verse 1.

Now, before we go into verse 1, I have to just kind of give you a heads up about verse 1.

But verse 1 is the most important verse out of the whole 28 verses.

In verse 1, Asaph is not only setting a literary introduction to the rest of the psalm.

He's doing that, but he's also making a powerful theological declaration in verse 1.

You know what it is, man?

Like it's a mic drop moment.

He is making this powerful declaration, and we have to come to terms with this declaration if we're gonna really grasp the essence of the rest of the song, okay?

So just bear with me.

I'm gonna spend a little bit of time on verse one right now.

So verse one, Asaph says this.

He says, truly, God is good.

Let me stop right there.

Truly, most assuredly, okay?

This there is no doubt about this.

Most assuredly, man, you can take this to the bank.

God, Yahweh in heaven above is good.

Now, what does he mean by good?

I don't know about you, but I can hear that word or read that word and pretty quickly come to a conclusion.

Good means it's not bad.

Right?

Good means, well, it's not bad.

It's the opposite of bad, right?

Well, that's true.

But you know what?

It's far more detailed, far more nuanced what Asaph is telling us here.

The Hebrew word for the word good is called Tov.

T-O-V.

Tov.

And it's, as I said, it's way more detailed, way more nuanced than simply meaning that it's not that.

Now, think with me if you will.

Just stay here in Psalm 73, but think with me if you will.

Back to Genesis chapter 1.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

Okay?

Genesis chapter 1, the very first verse says, In the beginning, God.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

In the beginning, God created.

Hebrew word for created here is bara, b-a-r-a-bar.

You know what it means?

It means to bring order out of disorder.

And then in Genesis chapter 1, we read the seven-day account of creation.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

You follow me there?

Remember, God's word says God created the the heavens above, and it was good.

It was Tove.

God created the earth below, and the birds in the air, and the animals on the land, and the fish in the sea, and it was good.

And God's crowning glory is mankind.

He created men and women, mankind, he created us as image bearers of God.

As image bearers of God.

And by the way, there are certain aspects of God's image that are unique unto themselves for men, certain aspects of God's image that are unique unto themselves for women.

And when men and women complement, are mutually beneficial to each other, come together in unison, we form a more complete picture of the image of God.

Functions are different, roles are different, yes.

But there are aspects of God's image that are unique unto men, unique unto women, and when we come together, we form a more complete picture of God's image.

Shouldn't be squabbling.

It's not about good or excuse me, it's not about better or worse, it's about God's image.

And it was very good.

And then we read this in Genesis chapter 1, verse 31.

Genesis 1:31

It says, when God saw all that he created, all everything that he created, Genesis 1.31, when God saw all that he created, it was very good.

So everything God created, everything is good, is told.

And when everything is spoken into existence, when everything is accomplished, when all the intricate, intricate harmonies are formed and fashioned together, God's goodness echoes throughout all creation.

That's what he's saying here.

We've got to understand that, otherwise, the rest of the Psalms just gonna seem kind of silly.

Alright, so God, so we got that.

Truly, Yahweh in heaven is good as told.

But but look what else he says here in verse 1.

He says, to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

So that declaration is true.

God is good.

That declaration is true to whomever and whatever for eternity.

There is no denying that.

But he makes this very interesting distinction.

He says to Israel, and Israel, this distinction, by the way, is based on their desire.

He says, God, truly God is good.

He's told to Israel, Israel, God's covenant people, right?

We read that in the book of Genesis as well.

Remember?

He chooses Abraham, God, and God says of Abraham, he says, your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and from you, those who bless you will be blessed, those who curse you will be cursed.

Right?

And and to Israel, God's covenant people, were entrusted the very oracles of God.

God's word was entrusted to them.

And and what?

For what purpose?

So that you, you, God's covenant people, they would display the goodness of God.

And then the surrounding nations, the pagan nations that surrounded them would look and say, Look, the God of the Hebrews is the one true God.

He is good, God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

The God of the Hebrews is the one true God.

That's what Asaph is saying here.

Truly, God is good.

He is.

There's no denying that.

He says to Israel, to his covenant people, whose desire, pure in heart, he says here, to those who are pure in heart, desire is linked to their identity.

Their desire is linked to their identity as the covenant family of God.

It's not the other way around.

When it goes the other way around, when my identity becomes uh secondary to my desires, I get a whole lot of trouble, man.

Why?

Because today I desire this, so I identify myself as that.

A month from now, a year from now, my desires may change.

Now I no longer identify myself as that.

I now identify myself as this.

And on and on it goes.

We're seeing that before our very eyes, aren't we?

There's a whole lot of confusion out there as it relates to identity.

Why?

Because it's all based on your desire.

All right, I spent a lot of time on that, but it's important that we establish what he says in verse one as we go through the other verses now.

So keep that in mind.

Let's go.

Let's go.

He says, truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure heart, verse 2.

But as for me, yeah, man, not so good.

Not so good.

Why?

Asaf, what's up?

My feet had almost stumbled.

My steps had nearly slipped.

Slip sliding away.

How come?

Near to God, part of God's covenant family.

I almost cashed in those chips.

I almost said, I've had enough of this, man.

I'm going over here because it's a walk in the park over here.

Really, Asaf, what's up?

How come?

What's the problem?

Well, he says, verse 3, well, I was envious.

Look, there it is, there's that word.

I was envious.

That uncomfortable feeling, that sense of bitterness about someone else's good fortune.

I was envious specifically now.

He's making another distinction here.

The group of people now, he's making this distinction, he says, of the arrogant.

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked, you see, what you see can distort your vision.

He says here the arrogant, the boastful, right?

The boastful.

And he's talking, he says further, he says, the prosperity, they're doing pretty good.

They seem to have, they seem to have a lot more stuff than I do.

And he says they're wicked.

Boastful, arrogant, wicked.

Wicked are those people who who intend to do you harm.

They make no bones about it.

There's a sense of evil in there.

They they intend to do you harm.

All right, let's go, let's keep going.

Then verse 4, he goes on and he says this in verse 4.

For they, those boastful, arrogant, who seem to be doing quite well, thank you very much.

He says, They have no pangs until death, and their bodies are fat and sleep.

So why does he use this as his first illustration?

Pangs.

Has anybody ever had like hunger pangs come upon you suddenly?

Maybe you skipped a meal or something, and you, you know, in the moment nothing else seems to matter.

You just got to satisfy that hunger.

You ever had that experience?

Right?

And I think for most of us, it's fair to say, for most of us in this room, when that happens, no big deal.

Just walk down the hall, go into the kitchen, grab the handle of your, you know, on your fridge, you open up the fridge, you know, help yourself.

Certainly not the case for him then.

And by the way, that is not the case for a lot of people in our own community today.

I've traveled all across Southern Ontario in the last number of years, and the last two years specifically, doing this and serving in different churches.

There is a huge amount of food insecurity out there.

These last two years have highlighted that.

That's true today.

It was even more so the case for ASAF at his time.

How do I put food on my table?

How am I going to feed my family?

That worry consumed.

Him and many people.

Okay?

That's why he uses that first and foremost as his illustration.

Look, let's keep going.

He said, They have no pangs until death, their bodies are fat and sleek.

He says, Man, they got more than enough.

Verse 6.

Therefore, pride is their necklace, violence covers them as a garment.

Another illustration here.

These people, boastful, arrogant, who seem, in his mind, this is the conclusion he's drawn based on what he sees, because what he sees, distorting his vision.

Based on what he sees, you know, they got more than enough, and they walk around displaying their pride like you would a piece of jewelry.

That's what he says here.

You wear a necklace, you wear a piece of jewelry, not so much for your own benefit, right?

So that others would see it and admire it.

He's saying this of those people who are boastful and arrogant, they're walking around displaying their pride, wanting you to see it, wanting you to admire it, like you would a piece of jewelry.

You know what he's talking about here?

In one word?

It's called ego.

That's what he's talking about here.

Look what he goes on to say, verse 7.

He said, Their eyes, their eyes, what they see, what they see, distorting their vision.

Their eyes swell out through their fatness, through the through the abundance of their ego, their hearts overflow with follies, foolishness.

You remember what the apostle Paul told us about foolishness?

1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 18.

1 Corinthians 1:18

Remember that verse?

He says, The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

Verse 8, he's going on.

Let's go.

Verse 8.

He says, They scoff and speak with malice.

Loftily they threaten oppression.

Scoff, speak with malice, ridicule, mocking.

Ha ha ha.

It's a big joke, right?

And he says, he uses the word malice.

Have you ever heard the expression malice of forethought?

You ever heard that expression?

Malice of forethought, legal term, basically means there's no accident here.

There was intent to mock and ridicule and threaten oppression and to threaten you and to cause you harm.

No accident about that.

That was the very intent.

That's what he's saying here, of them, of them.

They set their mouths against the heavens, verse 9, these know it alls.

Their tongues strut through the earth.

Apparently, not only have they made themselves the highest authority on matters of this earth, but even a higher authority than God in heaven above.

Foolish.

Foolish.

Verse 10, he says, Therefore, his people, this is really interesting because he's making another distinction here.

He says, His people turn back to them and find no fault in them.

Who's he talking about?

There's two different groups of people.

Talking about his people, God's people, those who were near to God, part of the covenant family of God.

And they turn back, they're saying, you know what?

They're looking around, they're going.

Again, it's a walk in the park over here, apparently.

It's a struggle over here.

You know what?

I'm just, I'm going to cash in my chips.

There's another metaphor for you.

I'm going to hitch my wagon over here.

I'm going over here.

And he says they find no fault to them.

They're going, there's no big deal.

What's the problem?

Look, look, verse 11.

He says, and they say, these people who were once near to God and have now removed themselves because they're what they see has distorted their vision.

Right?

He says, and they say, How can God know?

Look at the quotation marks, verse 11.

Quote, how can God know is there knowledge in the Most High?

End quote.

And those quotations in verse 11 likely mean Asaph would have heard them say this to him in defense of their leaving, once near to God, and now going over here far removed.

You know what they're saying?

Asaph, what's the problem, man?

Like he may have, he may have even tried to intervene.

He may have even tried to help out.

And they said, Asaph, what's up, man?

Don't worry about God doesn't know.

He doesn't know.

He doesn't care.

Come on, let's go over it.

Eat, drink, and be merry, man.

Get your piece of the action while you can.

It's very tempting.

It's very tempting to think that way.

That way of thinking, right?

That way of thinking, that framework for the way of thinking actually has a name.

It's called theodicy.

You see, because what happens over time is not only the order, but the one who is the guarantor of the order is now in question.

Remember I told you about the Genesis chapter 1 account, it's all good.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

Unfortunately, there's Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Sin.

Sin entered into the equation.

Because of the active rebellion of our forefathers, we have inherited that.

Jesus has removed the penalty of sin, but we're still dealing with and living with the effects of sin.

Creation itself, marred now, stained by sin.

And there seems to be this dissonance, right?

This disconnect.

Ace asking, wait a minute, God is good here.

But but not only the world is in total opposition to this.

The world opposes God and the word of God.

But not only that, there are certain people over here who have who have camped out over here, maybe once near God, far removed.

They're doing quite fine, thank you very much.

And it's just not fair.

You gotta be careful with that way of thinking, right?

It can come upon you suddenly over time because what you see can distort your vision.

Alright, let's keep going.

They say, How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?

Verse 12.

He said, Behold, man, he said, like, check this out.

These are the wicked, always at ease, they increase in riches.

Carefree, so it seems.

That's not entirely true.

It's not entirely true.

He says, carefree, always at ease, they increase in riches.

And by the way, their increase in riches is often at your expense.

That can't happen.

Verse 13.

Okay, now notice this.

From verse 2 to verse 12.

You notice where his where his thoughts are?

They, they, them, they, they.

Everything is they.

Verse 13 now to verse 25.

You know where his attention turns?

To himself.

They, they, them.

Now it's I, I, I.

Because clarity is beginning to set in.

Clarity is beginning to set in.

Look what he says here.

In verse 13, all in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

Clean hands and a pure heart.

He's saying it was a waste of time.

Or so it seemed.

You see, he's he's just he's getting this off his chest, right?

He's lamenting, he's expressing his frustration because he's he's become embittered.

He said that.

He was envious.

He's gonna describe it even later on here about being bitter.

He says, Man, I kept my heart, my heart clean, my hands washed, and this is it was vain, it's like a waste of time.

Verse 15.

If I had said, quote, I would speak thus, I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

You know what he's saying here?

He recognizes his position as a leader within the church, within the congregation, as it were.

And he has a responsibility as a leader.

What is leadership?

Leadership is influence through relationships towards God's purposes or away from God's purposes.

It's that non-anxious presence.

That's who we are.

And get, I get it, man.

Some days I'm better at that than others.

So he's saying, man, if I if I would have just kind of just blurted this out or expressed my frustration to the wrong person, maybe the children, those the young kids are new in the Lord, I may have influenced them away from the Lord.

See, so so clarity's beginning to set in for Asaf.

He's going, I gotta be careful here.

Now look, verse 16 and 17.

Here it is.

Everything pivots from this point on.

Verse 16 and 17.

Crucial verses.

Look what he says.

You can almost, you can almost, I don't know about you, but every time I read this, I can almost picture Asaph kind of just kind of sighing, you know, like, oh man.

Glad I got that off my chest, you know?

Man, it's just not fair.

A little bit of woe is me happening there.

You know, you can almost see him kind of going.

Then he says this, look, when I thought how to understand it, it seemed to me a worrisome task.

So much uncertainty, man.

There's just so much uncertainty.

It just sucked the energy right out of me.

I'm trying to figure this out.

Like, what's up, God?

I'm over here, clean hands and a pure heart.

I'm serving you.

And I look over there, and it seems to be pretty easy compared to this.

So, as was the case then, as is the case for us today.

Forget about certainty, okay?

There's too much uncertainty.

Go for clarity.

What you see can influence your vision.

Our posture is one of optimism.

Absolutely.

But our hope is in the gospel, in the word of God.

And in that comes clarity.

Things change, I mean, seemingly hour by hour, these last, especially these last two years, right?

Focus on clarity.

That's what he's saying here, man.

I went into, so look at 17.

Until, until means change.

I went into the sanctuary of God, I discerned their end.

The cloud's starting to dissipate.

Clarity setting in.

He said, I went into the sanctuary of God.

You know what he's doing?

He said, I, you know what?

I gotta remove myself from all this distraction.

He goes into the sanctuary of God where he was one of the worship leaders.

He went in, just him and God, no distractions, and he's going to open his heart to God.

We have the privilege of being there with him in the moment.

It's like he's turning to us and saying, Come on with me, come on with me, pull up a seat, we're going into the sanctuary of God, and we're going to call out to God in prayer.

We're going to lament and open our heart to God and pray.

That's a good thing, man.

That's a good thing to do.

And look what he says.

He's expressing his heart.

Until I went to the sanctuary of God, then I discern their end.

These people here put all their hopes in the here and now, in their possessions.

Right?

You know?

Do the means justify the end?

Or maybe it's the other way around.

Do the ends justify the means?

Their destiny.

Far removed from God.

Ah, so what?

It's okay, man.

We're gonna enjoy.

We're gonna grab, grab the brass ring.

Well, whatever.

Whatever cliche you want to use.

He said, that's that's what we're doing here.

Don't worry about that.

Tomorrow has its own.

We'll worry about tomorrow another time.

No.

No, but look, but look, he's not there yet.

Look at this, verse 18.

Now he's in the presence of God, he's in the sanctuary of God, he's called, and he's he here comes this expression of lament.

He said, Truly, God, truly, you set them in slippery places, you make them fall to ruin.

Right?

Those who have put their hopes in the here and now, in their possessions.

Man, it like a mist.

Gone.

Right?

You know, crash and burn in the delusion, in the ditch of their own delusions.

Can happen, can happen.

And remember what he says in verse 2.

I almost, I almost did that, man.

I almost did that.

I was here and I almost joined up over here.

Right?

And then he says in verse 19, how they are destroyed in a moment, swept utterly away by terrors.

It's fleeting.

There's no substance.

And then look at this, verse 20 to 22, he's going to talk about himself here, 20 to 22, the way he was thinking.

How his thoughts were clouded by this envy and this bitterness.

Remember what I said?

What you see can cloud and distort your vision.

Look what he says here in verse 20.

He says, like a dream when one awakes.

That's how I was thinking.

You know that?

You know when you wake up, the first thing, that that first second or two when you wake up, you're half asleep, half awake, kind of suspended reality.

Your thoughts are kind of clouded, you're still trying to gather yourself.

He said, That's the way I was thinking, because my thoughts were clouded with all this envy.

He says, like a dream when one awakes, oh Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

That was the thought that he had in his mind that God thinks of them in that way.

He says, Rouse yourself.

Now God is not sleeping.

Rouse yourself means activate, like you were activating yourself, Lord.

He says, you despise, you, you, you, you, you held them in contempt.

He says you despise them as phantoms, right?

Phantom, like a mist.

No substance, nothing.

These are his thoughts.

He's expressing his thoughts to God in the moment, in the sanctuary.

He's getting it off his chest.

Look what he says in 21.

When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was convicted of that.

What am I thinking?

That's what bitterness can do.

Envy can lead to that sense of bitterness.

And you can think ill will about your friends, neighbors, families, whatever it might be.

Those who were once near and are far removed, move themselves far removed from God's presence.

Look what he says of himself in 22.

Verse 22 I was brutish and ignorant.

Like a beast towards you.

Brutish.

Like a brute.

He says, ignorant, by the way, ignorant is different than ignorance.

Ignorance is not knowing any better.

Ignorant is knowing better and choosing not to do it.

That's what he's saying here.

He says, I was like a beast towards you.

He's describing himself, man, my thoughts were like similar to that of like of an animal.

And you know, animals, their whole purpose, their whole, their whole intent is to just gratify their instincts.

Because that's the way I was.

He's describing himself.

Man, that's my thoughts were consumed, were clouded.

I thought this way, and then I was convicted in the presence of God.

What am I thinking?

And then here it is, 23.

Look at this.

Oh, yeah, man.

Praise God for verse 23.

Look what he says.

Nevertheless, I got this off my chest.

I'm expressing my frustration to you.

And look what happens.

Clarity is beginning to set in, right?

Remember?

Remember, I said, forget about certainty.

Go for clarity.

Here's what he says.

Nevertheless, however, I am continually with you.

You hold my right hand.

Almost slip-sliding away.

He tells us that in verse 2, man, I am, I came this close.

Man, I'm continually with you.

He says, Of God, what a picture of grace.

Isn't that beautiful?

What a picture of God's grace.

He says, You hold my right hand.

It's like a picture of a father taking his child by the right hand and saying, What are you doing over here?

Get away from here.

You're going to hurt yourself.

Come over here.

You guide me.

Verse 24.

You guide me with your counsel.

Afterwards you will receive me to glory.

You know what he's talking about?

Right here.

Right here.

He's talking about this.

The word of God.

You guide me with that.

Your word.

You speak to me, God.

Every time you open this book, every time you download your app, every time you read the word of God, God is talking to you.

He is guiding you.

He is counseling you.

What are you going to do about it?

And by the way, this is not a self-help book.

This is the supernatural, living word of God, divining joint and marrow, as Hebrews 4 tells us.

Dividing thought and attention of the heart.

God will lead you, He will guide you through His Word.

There's a lot at stake here, folks.

A lot at stake.

Don't take it for granted.

The Word of God.

He says, afterwards you will receive me to glory.

Remember, we talked about, he said about their destiny.

Do the ends justify the means?

He said, You'll receive me to glory.

Now the means justify the ends.

See the difference?

Talking about the word of God, the counsel of God, God's word, right?

And then look at this now.

Verse 25 to 28.

Now his his focus initially on them, them, them, then I, me, I.

Now look, his focus is now on you, on God.

Them, me, God.

Verses 25 to 28, I love this, man.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

I love this, man.

He's come full circle.

You see that?

And he's pretty bold here, man, because he just like he just gets it off his chest, and then he comes to this conclusion.

I got nowhere else to go.

Whom?

Where am I going to go?

It kind of reminds me of, you remember the story with Peter and Jesus after Jesus does his teaching and John's gospel, and Jesus does some hard teaching, and a number of people say, Man, this is too hard.

And they cash in and they walk away.

Remember that?

And then Jesus looks to the apostles and says, What about you guys?

What about you?

You want to leave?

Remember what Peter says to?

Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the very words of life.

Amen.

Similarly, Asaf says, I got nowhere else to go.

There's nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

Here we're back to that desire, you see?

My desire linked, linked to my identity as a child of God.

You start thinking the other way around.

Next thing you know, it starts to creep around the other way.

And it's not long before you say, Oh, I'm no longer this, I'm that.

Whom have I in heaven?

But there's nothing on earth I desire besides you.

And in verse 20, he's going to talk about his hope now.

Look at this.

He says, My flesh, my heart, my physical strength may fail.

It's true.

Every single day, every 24 hours we pitch our tent that much closer to eternity.

Right?

And eternity waits for no one.

Physical strength may fail, but look what he says.

Oh, yeah, oh yeah, but God is the strength of my heart, my spiritual strength.

Stronger, stronger.

And my portion forever.

Portion is your part of something bigger.

Asaph saying that his part of something bigger is of the kingdom of God, their part of something bigger is of the world and all that the world has to offer.

And it's gone.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

Then he says this in 27, verse 27.

He's talking about his desire, his hope, now his motivation.

Look at this.

For behold, he says, Man, look, check this out.

Those who are far from you, once near, but they've moved themselves, shall perish.

Why?

Because they put their hope in the here and now, in their possessions, in the things of this world, they shall perish.

He says, You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

It's going to come to a crash and burn end.

But here's the challenge, folks, for all of us.

As was true of them at ASAP speaks of them, those who were arrogant and had these many possessions, and they were arrogant about their possessions.

We too can become arrogant about the one who possesses us.

That's not good.

Right?

We can become smug.

You know, you get that envy, that embitterness, and a smugness comes over.

You look down at that person, maybe somebody you know for a long period of time, or somebody new, maybe somebody at your workplace, and you look over and you don't say much.

And you think in your heart and your mind, yeah, yeah, easy street now, huh?

You watch, you're you're gonna get what's coming to you.

Maybe you haven't thought that way, but sorry to say, but sometimes I've thought that way, and it's wrong.

It's wrong.

Remember what Romans chapter 12 tells us?

Romans 12 · chapter mention

As far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone.

Be that influence, be the salt and light.

Spread the sweet aroma, the fragrance of the gospel, 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Be that ambassador to the Christmas.

Christ.

Speak as much and as best as you can, especially those who were once near and have gone far.

So watch out.

So he's talking about desire, hope, motivation.

Now he's going to conclude with his faith.

He's going to express it here.

Look what he says.

Verse 28.

For me, it's good.

See that?

See the word?

Remember Toph?

Good.

Orderly.

Harmony.

Perfect.

It's good.

He says what?

What's good?

Asaph, what?

To be near God, not far.

I have made the Lord God my refuge.

That ever-present help in times of trouble.

My desire linked to my identity.

He's my refuge, man.

When the storms are crashing, when things are going, God is the place of my rescue, of my security, of my refuge.

That I may tell of your works.

That I may tell of your works.

You see how he's come full circle here?

Man, I love this.

As we wrap up this morning, let's let King David have the final word.

Let's let King David have the final word and remind us of the importance of refocusing back on God.

Okay.

David said, The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

For you are with me.

Your rod and your staff comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil.

My cup overflows.

Surely.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23.

Close in a word of prayer.

Father, thank you.

By the power of your Holy Spirit, by your word, the reminder of how important it is to refocus back on God.

Keep our hearts right, our vision and our and not distorted by what we see, Lord, but to keep our our focus on you, Lord Jesus Christ.

We love you.

Your word lead us.

Forgive us, Lord, for the times that we can be so fickle and finicky.

And lead us in passive righteousness for your name's sake.

We love you, Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.