Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 73:1-2 and following. Indeed, the 3rd Book of Psalms begins with a series of eleven psalms of Asaph. It was he who, in David’s time, directed the song and accompanied it with cymbals (1 Ch 16:1-6). Psalm 73 tells us about his harsh experience: Comparing his fate to that of ungodly men, Asaph is well discouraged. It seems to him that God reserves pain and torment for those who fear him (in the form of discipline), while he spares the arrogant and wicked whose verses 3 and following give us an odious portrait. The faithful become embittered and tormented. He is not far from accusing God of injustice and indifference. If this is so – he thinks – what is the point of purifying my heart?
Generally speaking, it has happened to each of us to envy those who can enjoy all that existence offers without being stopped by the fear of God. Young Christians who are studying all know comrades who have both a lot of money and relaxed principles. Let them not forget their own riches, which are not measured on the scale of human values! They must remember this: their hope makes them not the most miserable (1 Cor 15:12-19), but the most privileged of men. The psalmist continues his painful meditation. And suddenly the light comes out! Introducing him into the sanctuary of His communion, God makes him understand where the way of the wicked ends (Ps 37:34-40). The slope they follow is slippery and leads them to a certain ruin; their passage here on earth will have been but a vain dream. Proverbs 23:17-18, which also exhorts us not to envy the wicked, teaches us that for the one who fears the Lord, “certainly there is an end”… how different (Rom 6:17-23).
Yes really! how could the believer have forgotten it? He accuses himself of having been unconscious and stupid. What a contrast between this fate of the ungodly and what he possesses, himself tried! Doesn’t he have the honor of the Lord’s company? “I’m always with you. He knows Him according to the precious expressions of verse 26. And it is in heaven that he has his share (Christ Himself). We quote this reflection made by people of the world to Christians who were involved in politics: “You have heaven; leave us the earth! An ironic but worthy of attention! May our life be summed up by this word which in Jesus alone took on its full value: “I have had pleasure on earth only in you. »
Thus, this psalm retraces with great delicacy and accuracy the path of a tempted soul: His temptation comes to him from the prosperity of the wicked. In verses 13-14, the spiritual storm seems to be at its peak, and in verse 15 appears the first appeasement given in grace by the Spirit. Then one enters the sanctuary – that is, God’s plan for this whole scene is understood, and everything is interpreted in the light of the “end, the light that emanates from the sanctuary and in which the sages walk (Dt 32:29; Ps 90:12). Then we see the work of the Spirit of God in restoration continue, until the unhappy soul considers the path traveled and finds that it has been to its shame, but that it has also manifested the invariable love of God; for “from him who eats has gone out to eat him” – temptation has brought to light the ever richer resources that are in God. The secret of the resurrection is grasped to some extent and the spirit finds rest. The worshipper was like a brute, thinking and reasoning as if the present life was everything. But he learns the power of the resurrection (which Paul had set out to learn more perfectly day by day, see Phil. 3), it throws a new and calm light all over his way, and he sees the One who is invisible (Ps. 77).
Consider this psalm in contrast to Psalm 77. The same object – namely the train of this world and the prosperity of the wicked – occupies the thoughts of the psalmist in both. But there is not in this psalm the serenity of faith that we have in Ps. 77; on the contrary, we find spiritual torments: In Psalm 77 the soothing light of faith and hope haloes the soul from beginning to end, while in Psalm 73 the rest and joy of faith are reached through deep afflictions born of unbelief. Similarly, in contrast to the previous psalm, we can observe how different the things of this “present evil century” are and those of the “world to come.” For in Psalm 72 we have seen that justice, when it is taken revenge for all wrongs, will mark the reign, that is, the world to come, and also that peace and prosperity will then be the assured fruit of piety. Here we see the oppressor prosper through oppression, while tears at full cup are torn off exactly. But many different lessons are learned. This world, in which our God acts and manifests himself, could never have taught us the lessons of the other world. In the present world, we learn that He has treasures of grace to meet our needs, and in the world to come we will know His treasures of glory responding to our joys. The same is true of the blessing entrusted to Aaron, and that entrusted to Melchizedek (Nb 6:22-23; Gen 14:19). Both have a mission to bless, but with a different blessing, each adapted to the successive conditions of God’s people – to the days of their need, weakness and temptation, and then to the days of joy, victory and glory. The first Psalm of this new series, the 73rd, is proof of what we have just said.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
When everything seems to succeed to the bad guys:
· Apparent reasons for discouragement
-The hardness of the path Nb 21.4 They started from the mountain of Hor by the path of the Red Sea, to bypass the land of Edom. The people became impatient on the way,
-The difficulty of the task Neh 4:4 Listen, O our God, how despised we are! Drop their insults on their heads, and deliver them to looting on a land where they are captive.
-The prosperity of the wicked Ps 73:2-3 However, my foot was about to bend, My steps were about to slip; 3 For I was envious of the foolish, Seeing the happiness of the wicked.
-Delay in satisfying desires Pr 13:12 A delayed hope makes the heart sick, but a fulfilled desire is a tree of life.
· Injustice sometimes attributed to God
Jb 12:6 In the old men is wisdom, and in a long life intelligence. Ps 7:14 He directs murderous features at him, He makes his arrows burning. Ec 9:2 Everything happens equally to all; the same fate for the just and for the wicked, for the one who is good and pure and for the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and for the one who does not sacrifice; it is good as well as sinful, he who swears as for the one who fears to swear. Ez 18:25 You say: The way of the Lord is not right. Listen, then, house of Israel! Is it my lane that is not straight? Isn’t it your lanes that are not straight? Mt 20:12 and said: They have worked only one hour, and you treat them like us, who have endured the fatigue of the day and the heat. Rom 9.14 What will we be going to do? Is there injustice in God? Far from it!
· People of God, general references
-Possession cherished as a treasure Ex 19:5 Now, if you listen to my voice, and if you keep my covenant, you will belong to me among all peoples, for the whole earth is mine;
-Chosen by the Lord Dt 14:2 For you are a holy people to Jehovah your God; and the Lord, your God, has chosen you, that you may be a people who belonged to him among all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
-Raised above the nations Dt 26:19 that he may give you superiority over all the nations he has created in glory, fame, and magnificence, and that you may be a holy people to Jehovah your God, as he told you. 1 Sam 12:22 Jehovah will not abandon His people because of His great name, for Jehovah has resolved to make you His people. Ps 29:11 The Lord gives strength to His people; Jehovah blesses His people and makes them happy.
-Led as a flock Ps 78:52 He made His people leave like sheep, He led them like a flock into the wilderness. Ps 100:3 Know that Jehovah is God! It is He who made us, and we belong to Him; We are his people, and the herd of his pasture.
-Prepared for service Luke 1:17 he will walk before God with the spirit and power of Elijah, to bring the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the rebels to the wisdom of the righteous, in order to prepare for the Lord a well-disposed people. Acts 15:14 Simon recounted how God first cast his eyes on the nations to choose from among them a people who bore his name.
-Characterized by the zeal Tt 2:14 which has given itself for us, in order to redeem us from all iniquity, and to make a people that belongs to it, purified by it and zealous for good works.
-The law is written on his heart Hb 8:10 But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel, After those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, I will write them in their hearts; And I will be their God, and they will be my people. 1 Pet 2:9 You, on the contrary, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, an acquired people, that you may proclaim the virtues of him who called you from darkness to his admirable light, Rev 21:3, and I heard from the throne a loud voice that said: Behold the tabernacle of God with men! He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them.
· Trust, examples
2 Kings 18:5 He placed his trust in Jehovah, the God of Israel; and among all the kings of Judah who came after him or preceded him, there was no one like him. Ps 25:2 My God! in you I confide in me: let me not be covered with shame! Let my enemies not rejoice about me! Ps 57:2 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me! For in you my soul seeks refuge; I seek refuge in the shadow of your wings, until the calamities have passed. Isa 12:2 Behold, God is my deliverance, I will be full of trust, and I will fear nothing; For the Lord, the Lord is my strength and the subject of my praises; He was the one who saved me. 2 Tim 1:12 And it is because of this that I suffer these things; but I am not ashamed of it, for I know in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he has the power to keep my deposit until that day.
From all of the above, we note that “Certainly, God is good to Israel, to those who are pure of heart!” – but the faithful were in perplexity because of the prosperity of the wicked and almost missed his feet. Then comes the description of this prosperity of the ungodly; the bulk of the people join them and the Most High is despised; while the pious man is continually chastised and would be inclined to say that it was in vain that he washed his hands in innocence! But by speaking in this way, he would be unfaithful to the generation of God’s children. For carefully weighing this state of affairs was too strenuous work for man: but everything became clear in the sanctuaries of God, in the places where God’s thought was revealed. It will be of all the pretensions of the wicked as of a dream, when one wakes up; – they will disappear when God awakens. The faithful deplore his lack of divine meaning in these thoughts and feelings; however, after all, he is with God holding him by the right hand; guided by his counsel, in this time of darkness he will be received, after the glory has been revealed (Zec 2:8). The result is blessed: The faithful have in heaven none other than the Lord, and he takes pleasure on earth only in himself: this is the effect of the trial; but his flesh and his heart fail: it is nature. It must be so, but God is the rock of his heart and his sharing forever. The end result is that those who have distanced themselves from Jehovah and have fallen into apostasy, perish; but it is good for pious man to draw near to God. He put his hope in the Lord when he did not show himself, so that he could tell all his facts when deliverance came, for those who are blessed later, without having been tested, will not have learned this knowledge of God. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the faithful recall the infidelity of the people of Israel and the faithfulness of God.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.