A Right View of God

Well, we can turn back to our reading in the book of Psalms and Psalm 73.

! We're going to look at the whole of this psalm together.

You can just read the first and last verse at the moment.

Psalm begins, it's a psalm of Asaph.

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

And then in verse 28,

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.

Very positive verses at the beginning and the end of the psalm,

where Asaph sees in verse 1 that God is good.

He is a great God who is good to his people, to those who are pure in heart.

And then at the end of the psalm, he's saying,

It is good for me to draw near to this God, this God who is good to me.

In so many ways I have found there my refuge, and I will tell of all his wondrous works.

You have that at the beginning and the end.

But what you see throughout the psalm is a little like what David speaks of in Psalm 39.

In that second half of verse 12,

There's a lot going on.

There's a lot of challenges, a lot of struggles that he has.

And it's a real sense of looking at the Christian's life in so many ways.

And what you see in the psalms so often is just that, the reality of life.

One thing you can say about the psalms is that they reflect a real sense of honesty.

From the author of the psalm, whoever that is, we know a number of different people wrote the psalms.

David, many of them, but here we have another, a psalm of Asaph.

And we see that they come across just with that sense of, this is the reality of life.

It's Asaph who was one who was a worship leader in the temple.

You read of him in 1 Chronicles chapter 15, where you're seeing an outline of what the community's worship looked like

1 Chronicles 15 · chapter mention

and who was involved in it.

And Asaph is there mentioned as one of the worship leaders.

And so he was one who led people into that worship in the temple.

And part of his task was, it was through song.

It was through music.

It was through leading them into the praise of God.

But what you see in this psalm and so many others, it's just not always a cheery chorus.

It's not always, don't worry, everything's fine.

And there's very much a sense of the reality of all the different ups and downs.

And in Psalm 73, Asaph has a lot of these questions of someone who is finding the way difficult,

of someone who is looking around, seeing all that's going on around him and wondering,

well, we're saying God is good.

But yet how in reality is God good when this is what we're seeing around us?

He's in a host of others you find in Scripture who had questions.

You think of Job in the Old Testament and his life and all that he went through in his life.

It would be easy to question the goodness of God, easy to question everything that's going on around him.

Or many of the prophets, Jeremiah, all the prophets, they all had their own different questions of what was going on.

What's happening around us?

How can we see the goodness of God in the midst of this?

And yet always, always they were able to come to that point where their focus, their attention comes to the reality of God.

And the reality that yes, God is good.

God is gracious.

God is merciful.

Seeing the fullness of God.

And that's what Asaph does in this psalm.

He sees the fullness of God.

He sees a right view of God and who he is and all that he does, no matter what's happening around.

And so as we look at this psalm, we see that fullness of God.

But how do you see God?

Do you see God as good tonight?

When you reflect on his word, when you reflect maybe on your own situation,

when you reflect on things that are going on around,

are you able to say with confidence,

God is good.

God is gracious.

God, as we sang in Psalm 93,

his throne is enduring.

His throne is secure.

Everything about him is firm.

He is from eternity.

He is to eternity.

He has all things in his hands.

Or do you have the questions?

Do you have the niggles?

Do you have the doubts?

God is good, but...

Well, this psalm, and so many of the psalms, as we say, the whole of Scripture,

helps us to find answers to these challenges,

helps us to find that confidence that we can have in God.

When we see the fullness of God,

not just a part of God,

but the fullness of God.

One day there was three blind men who were taken to a zoo.

They wanted to go and experience the zoo.

Even though they couldn't see the animals that were there,

they wanted to experience the occasion.

They wanted to experience the sounds that they would hear.

And they had a guide with them,

taking them around the zoo.

And they were hearing all these noises,

and the man was describing the animal that was making the noise,

their habitat,

what they were eating,

what they were doing,

all of these kinds of things.

But during their tour of the zoo,

they came to the place where the elephants were.

And because they had a little bit of time,

the zookeeper decided that instead of just describing

what was in front of them,

he would allow them to reach out and touch.

And so one by one,

the blind men went up.

And being blind,

they came to different parts of the animal.

The first one reached out and grabbed the tail.

And having experienced other things,

he said,

it's like a rope.

It's not what I expected.

It's just like a rope.

Second man came and reached out

and felt the elephant's leg.

He said,

it's not like a rope at all.

It's much bigger than a rope.

It was more like a tree trunk.

And the third one walked up

to reach out to the animal

and just walked into it,

into the side of the elephant.

And he said,

no,

it's just like a huge wall.

Just a massive wall.

That's the only way I can describe it.

It's not like the way you're describing it.

They were just seeing,

well,

they weren't seeing,

they were just feeling out in part.

They were describing a huge animal,

but only in part.

For one,

it was just like a small rope.

Another like a tree.

Another like a wall.

They've only got a part description.

And for ourselves with God,

that's the way we can be

depending on our experience

or what we're going through

or what we're,

the challenges that we're facing.

Maybe we're only just seeing a part of God.

And we're not seeing the fullness of God.

And that's what leads to our questions.

If God is so,

why doesn't he do this?

We're not seeing the full picture.

It's often the question,

if God is real,

why does he allow suffering?

If God could have stopped death,

why didn't he?

Why does God allow war?

Why does God allow evil?

We're seeing God in just our own little box

instead of seeing the fullness of God.

The bigger picture.

Because when we see the fullness of God,

we realize we don't deserve any mercy from him

because we are sinners.

But he graciously gives us mercy.

And the mercy that he gives,

we need to see in finding him

and seeing the goodness of God

and coming to him

and walking closely with him.

And so that's what Asaph is doing for us

in this psalm.

We are often guilty

of not seeing God for who he is.

But here we are brought to see,

here is the fullness of God

who knows,

who understands,

who takes us,

who leads us,

and who has great things in store

for all of his people.

And so we're going to look at

the fullness of God

as we find it in this psalm

in three different ways,

taking us on that pilgrim's walk,

as it were,

when we see,

first of all,

the toiling nature of the psalm.

And then we see the turning point.

And then we see the thrusting.

The toiling,

the turning,

and the thrusting.

So first of all,

we're going to think of the toiling.

Asaph,

he says here in verse 1,

truly,

God is good to Israel.

God is good.

And yet as you go on,

you see his struggle.

You see how he is toiling.

Straight into there in verse 2,

but as for me,

my feet had almost stumbled.

My steps had nearly slipped.

But he is,

we're not,

he's struggling with what he sees around.

He's struggling with all that's going on

as he sees the wicked,

as it says in verse 3,

the prosperity of the wicked.

And his eyes become envious towards them.

How are they getting on so well?

Why are things going so right with them?

Is that not just the way that I should go

and I should point others to go as well?

It takes him down a dangerous part.

But his confession of truly God is good,

is in light of his own struggles.

You see in verse 1,

it's almost like he's standing

on that solid ground.

And yet as his steps goes on,

he's going into the sinking sand.

He's starting to flounder.

I was envious of the arrogant

when I saw their prosperity.

They have no troubles like others do.

They are not stricken

like the rest of mankind.

And so he goes on.

He's describing them

in all these different ways.

He even says in verse 9,

they set their mouths against the heavens

and their tongue struts through the earth.

Therefore his people turn back to them

and find no fault in them.

There's this sense of,

why bother?

Why bother trying to live a good life

in the light of a good God?

What's the point?

When we're struggling,

when we're having it hard,

when things are going against us,

and yet these wicked people,

they're flourishing,

they're prospering,

and everything's going right for them.

Why bother?

He even goes to the point

where he says in verse 11,

and they say,

how can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?

It's like a sense of mocking against God.

How can God know?

He's not that good a God.

He's not that great a God.

So there's a sense of toiling.

There's God who is good.

He is questioning.

God is good,

and this is through Jesus himself.

It testifies to that.

In Matthew 19, verse 17,

Matthew 19:17

there is none good,

that is, but God.

And so in the goodness of God,

why do hard things come our way?

Because God is good,

there's an expectation

that good things will follow.

And you could say,

well, that's scriptural,

that the Lord blesses his people.

And we know that.

It tells us in Psalm 84,

for example,

in verse 11,

for the Lord God is a sun and shield.

The Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you.

So no good thing does he withhold.

So why is there no blessing?

Why do people struggle as Christians?

Well, because we are sinners.

And you see Asaph's sin here

in verse 3,

for I was envious.

I was envious of the arrogant.

Envy comes in.

Greed comes in.

Jealousy comes in.

All of these things.

And what does that mean?

It means we are not walking uprightly with God,

as Psalm 84 says,

where he does not hold good

from those who walk uprightly.

So we are at fault so often.

We cannot blame God,

that he is not good.

It is us.

There are things that come in

to our hearts,

that mar our relationship,

where we end up toiling

in our struggles with him.

He had stumbled, it says,

and he had fallen

because there was sin in his heart.

He wanted to enjoy life.

He wanted to have just as they had

prosperity and fullness

and all of these things.

You can almost get a sense here

that they were going hungry,

as his people,

and yet those who were wicked

were prospering like verse 7.

Their eyes swell out through fatness.

Their heart overflow with follies.

There's a sense they're getting on well.

Why am I?

Why cannot I be blessed

and enjoy all of these things?

Why should I have all of these struggles?

What is the issue here?

There is envy, jealousy,

all of these things,

but the bigger issue,

he's looking to the people around him

and measuring the goodness of God by them.

His focus is not on God,

but circumstances.

And that is what so often

causes us to toil

and to stumble as well.

When we take our eyes of God

and just look to the circumstances around us

and say,

where is the goodness of God?

Why isn't he blessing?

Why are all these wicked people

getting on so well?

Because we take our eyes of God,

we stumble.

We see this so often in Scripture

where a people or individuals

looking to God,

trusting him,

going forward in his strength.

You think of the children of Israel

coming out of Egypt

on the border of the promised land.

They go in and they have a look around.

What do they see?

They see giants.

We cannot defeat them.

Their eyes are taken off God.

Only Joshua and Caleb say,

but we can.

They're looking to God.

They're trusting God.

David and Goliath.

Goliath cannot be defeated

because they're looking at the circumstance,

not to God,

but David looks to God.

You think of Peter

in the New Testament

when he was out in the boat

with other disciples

and they saw the Lord

coming towards them

in Matthew 14, verse 28.

Matthew 14:28

He said,

Lord, if it is you,

command me to come to you on the water.

And Jesus said,

Come.

So Peter got out of the boat

and walked on water

and came to Jesus.

But when he saw the wind,

he was afraid.

And beginning to sink,

he cried out,

Lord, save me.

And what happened?

Jesus reached out his hand,

took him,

hold him,

saying,

Oh, you of little faith,

why did you doubt?

Took his eyes off the Lord

and look to the circumstances.

It's what we do so often.

Are you doing that?

Are you one tonight

who is taking your eyes off God

and just looking at your circumstances

and saying,

it's too difficult.

It's too hard.

Thinking the goodness of God

only means blessings

and not struggles,

while we are wrong.

There will be difficulties.

And that's the reality

of what Asaph shows us here.

There are hard times.

There are times when we see

what's going on.

We take our eyes off God

and we start to sink.

We start to stumble.

We start to toil.

But the second thing we see here

is there's a turning.

There's a turning.

What we see with Asaph

in this psalm

is a turning point comes.

He has all these questions.

Just like we all do.

We all want the answers

to life's big questions.

But we don't have them.

And Asaph certainly

didn't feel that he did either.

He seemed weary.

He seemed to be struggling in this.

Look at verse 16.

But when I thought

how to understand this,

it seemed to me

a wearisome task.

It seemed to me

a wearisome task.

How?

How am I going to understand this?

How can I ever understand

this world that we live in?

How can I ever understand

why the wicked are prospering

while I am struggling?

But yet he found a way.

It seemed to him

a wearisome task.

In verse 17,

until,

until I went

into the sanctuary of God,

then I discerned

their end.

It's a great thing

to be able to draw near

to God.

To draw near to God

and see that God's word

gives us answers

to all these important questions.

We might not

have a full explanation

why

do

wicked people prosper.

We don't maybe have

an answer to that,

but we have an answer

to their end.

And that's what

Asaph sees here.

I discerned

their end.

And that's seeing things

in the bigger picture.

That's seeing the fullness

of God

that it's not just

for the here and now,

but it's for the whole

of eternity

that we're thinking of God.

I discerned

their end.

And then

verse 18,

truly,

you set them

in slippery places.

You make them

fall to ruin.

So he was close

to stumbling himself

until he draws near

to God

into God's house.

Where did he find answers?

He found them

when he came

to look

to the fullness

of God

and discerned

their end.

Where are you

turning

tonight

for your answers?

Where are you

turning

in your struggles

to the wisdom

of the world,

to the wisdom

of others,

or to the wisdom

of God?

To discern

the bigger picture,

to discern

the fullness

of God,

that he has a plan,

he has a purpose

in all things.

A slippery

place

that would

lead them

to ruin.

Verse 19,

you see this,

how they are

destroyed in a moment,

swept away utterly

by terror.

There's a fearsome

thing there

when you think about it.

It's that end

for them.

It's an eternity

in hell.

That's what it's

telling us here,

destroyed.

Destruction

is their end.

And then you begin

to see things

in perspective.

You begin

to see things

in the fullness

of life

and the fullness

of God.

That God

is good.

That God

is the one

who has answers

to all of these

big issues.

It may seem

weedy some,

but it says,

until

I went into

the sanctuary

of God,

until I listened

to what the word

of God

is showing me,

until I listened

to what the word

of God

is saying,

everything

seemed

wearisome.

And you see

here,

he is turning.

He is turning

to God.

He is seeing

that, yes,

we've got our

struggles,

but God

has answers,

answers beyond

anything that I

can understand

by myself.

all I see

is a little

bit of God,

until I come

near to him

and then I see

the bigger

picture.

Turning it off

always reminds me

of the prodigal

son.

I mention him

often,

but when he

comes to himself,

he says,

in my father's

house are these

hired hands

and they have

enough to eat,

but I perish

here with hunger,

so I will

rise and go

to the father.

It's the very

same thing here.

Until I went

into the

sanctuary of

God,

until I came

back to God

and saw

within the

fullness of

all things,

the wisdom

that he has,

the blessings

that he is

able to

bestow.

We're so

often distracted

in this world.

You came in

here tonight,

you feel

distracted.

You feel

there's so

many things

going on

in your

mind.

There's so

many things

just clamoring

for your

attention,

but wouldn't

it be

great if

every time

we came

to worship

God was

a Sunday

or a

midweek or

just in

our own

time,

no distractions,

nothing to

take our

focus away

from God

and just

focus on

his word.

But the

reality is

that so

often,

even this

evening,

there's so

much clutter

in our

minds.

love

to

come.

Isn't it

good to

come and

draw near

to him,

to come

into the

sanctuary of

God and

to hear

the word

of God,

to see

God and

the peace

that he

can give.

God and

God and

turn to

God and

turn to

himself.

But remember

what his

role was.

His role was a

leader in

worship.

And so in

turning himself,

he is also

pointing others.

That's where it

says at the

very end of the

psalm, that I

may tell of

all your

works.

That's what he's

doing in this

psalm, telling

of all the

wondrous

works of

God.

So he's

turning himself,

he's causing

others to

turn.

So we come

here this

night to

this psalm

written so

many years

ago and

we are

seeing our

need to

turn to

God, a

God who

is good.

He's focusing

our attention

on the

fullness of

God.

If you've

ever been on

the ferry

coming across

the mints,

you're sitting

in any one

of the number

of places you

can sit and

there's somebody

over at the

window looking

out.

All of a

sudden you

start to

hear gasps.

Oh, they

start to

look.

And all of

a sudden

people's

attention is

drawn in

that direction.

They're

saying there

must be

something of

interest over

there.

Maybe they're

seeing dolphins

jumping and

all of a

sudden people

just gathering

around wanting

to see.

How?

Because someone

was there to

see it.

Someone was

looking in

that direction

and saw what

was happening

and starts

to exclaim

about what

is happening.

Other people

come to

see for

themselves.

That's what

Asaph is

doing here.

He is

looking to

God and

he's exclaiming,

here is the

God who

is good.

Will you

not come

and look

for yourselves

and see

and know

of this

goodness?

Turning,

turning to

him and

seeing the

fullness of

God, the

beauty of

God.

That is

what we

need.

That's

what he's

pointing us

towards.

Turn,

come,

draw near.

When

everything

seems

wearisome

as we

see here,

there's no

answers until

I come

to God.

So there's

a need

to come.

The third

and final

thing we see

here is

where that

leads us

to and

it's a

sense of

trusting in

God.

You see

this in

verse 23.

It's a

wonderful

verse.

Before that

you come

in verse

21.

When my

soul was

embittered,

when I was

pricked in

the heart,

I was

brutish

and ignorant.

I was

like a

beast

towards you.

He's

recognizing

himself

here as

one who

had looked

away from

God.

I was

ignorant.

I was

brutish.

I was

arrogant.

I was

questioning

all of

these

things.

And that's

the way

we can

end up.

That's

the way

we can

go

ourselves.

When we

take our

eyes off

God,

we end

up brutish,

ignorant,

arrogant,

all of

these

things.

So what

do we

need to

do?

What do

you need

to do?

Well,

here are

the words

of verse

23,

where you

have this

confidence.

It's one

of these

turning

points that

you so

often find

in the

Psalms.

He's

seeing a

sin,

and yet

he realizes

God is

there.

Nevertheless,

I am

continually

with you.

You hold

my right

hand.

You guide

me with

your

counsel,

and

afterwards

you will

receive me

to glory.

What a

sense of

trust.

You see,

he has

discerned the

end of

the

wicked,

their

destruction.

But yet

he looks

to God,

he shows

his trust

in him.

I am

continually

with you.

You guide

me with

your

counsel,

you receive

me to

your glory.

There is

this confidence,

this trusting

in God,

the goodness

of God.

So when

we draw

near to

God,

we realize

just how

good he

is.

From

doubting

and

questioning

in verse

16,

things that

seem too

hard to

understand,

such a

wearisome

task.

Now I

see,

now I

understand,

because I

have drawn

near to

God.

I am

worshiping

God in

the fullness

of him.

What he

does is he

realizes three

things.

He realizes

the future

of the

sinner in

verse 17

to 20.

Their end

is destruction.

And he

realizes the

foolishness of

self,

of just

looking to

himself.

When I

was embittered,

pricked in the

heart,

brutish,

like a

beast,

all of

these things.

He realized

the foolishness

of that.

But then he

realizes in

verse 23

to the end,

the fullness

of a

saviour.

The fullness

of one who

is able

to save.

I am in

your right

hand.

You are

guiding me.

And you

see all his

desires,

his desires

initially,

jealousy and

envy is

towards those

who are

prosperous.

What does

he realize

when he

sees the

fullness of

God?

In verse

25,

whom have

I in the

heaven but

you?

And there

is nothing

on earth

that I

desire

besides

you.

There's this

wonderful

transformation.

Envy

towards the

wicked is

now no.

Nothing

compares to

the surpassing

worth of

knowing Christ

Jesus,

my Lord,

as Paul

puts it in

Philippians.

Nothing in

this world

compares to

you.

My flesh

and my

heart may

faint and

fail,

but you

are my

strength of

my heart

and my

portion

forever.

Everything

here is

pointing

towards the

fullness

of God.

Understanding

that fullness

of God

is good.

And

therefore he

says in

conclusion,

it is good

for me to

draw near

to you.

It is

good for

me to

come and

worship

you.

Rather than

turning away

when I don't

have answers,

I need to

come.

To come

and see

the end

of the

wicked.

To come

and see

the foolishness

of self

and to

come and

see the

fullness

of the

Savior and

offer in

Jesus

Christ.

So that

we might

understand

our end,

turn and

know the

life that

we have

in him.

And as

we turn,

he is

able to

bless.

Bless us

with that

peace,

bless us

with that

knowledge,

not always

with prosperity

and all of

these things

that the

wicked were

enjoying,

that he

was envious

of,

but blessed

with that

assurance

that you

will receive

me to

glory,

that you

will hold

me,

that you

will guide

me.

All of

these things

we are

blessed.

There was

a minister

by the

name of

Robert

Chapman,

a minister

in England

in the

1800s.

One

morning as

he was

walking

along the

street,

he was

asked by

somebody,

how are

you?

And he

answered,

I'm

burdened

this

morning.

And the

man who

asked the

question

said,

but you

don't

look

burdened,

you look

as if

you're

full of

the

joys.

So how

are you

burdened?

He said,

well,

I have a

wonderful

burden.

It's an

overburden

of

blessings.

And he

said,

where do

you find

that?

And he

said,

well, I

find it

with God.

And I

find it

in the

words of

Psalm 68

Psalms 68:19

verse 19,

who daily

with his

benefits

as

plenteously

doth

load.

The

Lord

burdens

!

But in

a way

of his

daily

benefits,

who daily

with his

benefits

as

plenteously

doth

load.

That there

are burdens

beyond

describing,

burdens

beyond

numbering.

The

Lord pours

out his

blessings

on us.

And to

know them,

what are

we to

do?

To

draw near

to him,

to come

to him

and see

and understand

and discern

all that

God

shows,

the end

of the

wicked,

but the

blessings

that are

ours

in

Christ.

So he

goes through

this

pilgrimage,

a time

of toiling,

a time

of questioning,

but a

turning

to the

Lord.

And then

this

trust,

nevertheless,

continually,

I am

with you.

You do

hold me

by my

right hand.

You guide

me by

your

counsel,

and

afterwards,

you will

receive me

to glory.

He loads

us with

his benefits.

So may

we find

in all

our

questions,

in all

the challenges

that we

have,

the fullness

of God,

and look

to him,

and see

that in

the midst

of everything

that goes

on around

us,

he shows

us the

end of

the wicked,

but the

end that

is ours

who

trust in

him.

Let us

pray.

Lord,

our

gracious

God,

we thank

you that

you are

indeed a

God who

loads us

with your

benefits on

a daily

basis,

that you

are one

who we

can come

to with

all things,

all our

cares,

all our

questions,

even the

questions that

feel

wearisome

to us,

and we

can find

our

understanding

when we

draw near

to you.

And may

you guide

us,

Lord,

by your

counsel.

May you

remind us

of your

continual

presence.

May you

hold us

by your

right hand,

and may

you keep

us for

all of

our days

and all

of eternity.

Lord,

we look

to you,

we seek

your

blessing,

we seek

your face,

your peace

upon us,

as all we

ask,

we ask

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

We're

going to

conclude

singing

some of

these

verses

in

Psalm 73

in the

Scottish

Psalter,

page

316.

We'll

sing from

verse 23

to verse

26.

Psalm 73

on page

316.

Nevertheless,

continually,

O Lord,

I am with

thee,

thou dost

me hold

by my

right hand

and still

upholdest

me.

We'll

sing

four stanzas

to God's

praise.

Never

the

less

continually,

O

Lord,

I am

with

thee,

thou

dost

me hold

by my

right hand

and still

upholdest

me.

The

width

I

can

step

while

I

live

!

Let

be

strong

!

God

can

guide

and

to

thy

glory

afterward

receive

me

to

abide.

!

may

may

may

!

Besides, to there is none.

My flesh and heart doth faint and fail,

but God doth fail me never.

For of my heart all is the strength and portion forever.

After the benediction, I'll go to the door to my right.

We'll close in the benediction.

Now may grace, mercy, and peace from God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

rest upon and abide with you all, now and forevermore.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.