"God is good to the pure in heart'? Maybe people who walked by and saw the Rich Man & Lazarus were tempted to give up THEIR faith. To begin with, the inverse repetition of the adjective good with God in the opening and closing verses (vv. The opening statement God is good echoes Psalm 25:8 and 34:8 and the phrase pure in heart recalls Psalm 24:4. We'll be back to it some day. He was evil. Put yourself in the position so that God can speak to you. It seemed to many people like he was just continuing to sin and get away with it. So why am I serving God? But because there is an eternity, what happens in this life is not even a speck on the timeline of eternity, and we know that things will be different there. Asaph takes his raw deal to the right place and finds out that he didn't have it bad after all. Asaph went to "church." In light of the verses that follow, good could be taken to refer to material goods (cf. It is just like Psalm 73 says: You have set them in slippery places How they are destroyed in a moment.. Browse by letter: A. Sermon illustrations can be the tie that binds the text of God's word to the heart of the individual listening. He didnt understand what was happening to him: It's remarkable how inefficient these actions are. He took his doubts and confusion to God in prayer. God has SO much to say to us and so many of us are getting so much out of His word every day. Well have you ever watched your dog? We arent told exactly what Asaph experienced, but we are told that when he went to the place of worship his heart and his perspective were changed. Maybe you're still struggling with the injustice you've been dealt and you've felt your commitment to God wane because of it. Consequently, the way of the wicked looks like a viable alternative way to live.24. Asaph is acknowledging what Hebrews 11:6 names as the very essence of faith. Why should I be honest? And for all eternity, we will know that was worth it all, in the end, to serve God, no matter what we suffered here on this earth. According to the twice repeated expression "Happy are those," in verses 1-2, divine forgiveness of sins is the gateway to happiness. Pride Still others assert that it is a wisdom psalm, similar to Psalm 49. But as for me, it is good to be near God. He says, God showed me that what I am seeing around me NOW, is NOT how this story is going to end: He says in :18-20 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. The brief asseveration of divine justice, however, is followed immediately by the poets candid confession that he almost abandoned the faith (vs. 2). 6, 10). Psalm 73:28 Sermons Topics . This God-inspired worship leader is ready to walk away. We're kicking this study off on a bruising, but all-too-common experience that can leave your teeth on edge and bitterness in your heart. But we have to put ourselves in the position where God can speak to us, by opening His word each day and reading it. (Psalms 73:15-16 RSV) Here he is, filled with doubts and despair and almost ready to give up, but something stops him. That poor man was carried away to eternal comfort, but the rich man found himself in agony in this flame. It is just as Psalm 73 says: You cast them down to destruction, How they are destroyed in a moment. How did he get away with this, year after year? Furthermore, to highlight the uniqueness of worship, the beatitude in Psalm 65:4 should also be used because it claims that true happiness consists of God bringing us to his courts where we may be satisfied with his goodness. But Peter answered and said to Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Before he recounts his time of doubt he begins with what he now knows to be true: God is good and He is good to those who are His. May Gods word continue to bless your life! There is a lesson we know as YOUNG CHICKEN LITTLE I have read how YOUNG CHICKEN LITTLE throws his whole small town into a great panic CHICKEN LITTLE CLAIMED THE SKY WAS FALLING IN This must be the end of the world. Change). NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 73:1-9 1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! (1 John 2:17) God completely controls their destiny, not them. Two of the words refer to the people he had been tracking. Verses 4-5 of the first part detail why the wicked enjoy shalom. Battling the Unbelief of Despondency. It's not fair.". It begins with an emphatic causal statement (ki-hinneh) (vs. 26a): because, look, those who are far away from you will perish.49 The fact that this emphatic statement begins with the conjunction because (k) suggests that verse 27 stands in sharp contrast to verses 23-26. Denomination: Methodist. Job was a righteous man who lost all his children, his possessions, and his health. In the opening verse (vs. 1), the meaning of the predicate adjective good is ambiguous. As we start in verse one, he's going to tell us about his experience looking around the world and also his beliefs. How is that right? One of the best known memoirs of the Holocaust is Night by Elie Wiesel. He's not thinking about tomorrow. The Psalms, maybe more than any other part of the Bible, help us to explore the depths of our hearts. II. Traffic was brought to a halt for hours. You certainly don't welcome it. When you did the right thing, but got the back of the hand anyway. And were all in it for the same reasonto fuel the churchs mission of making disciples. Sep 11, 2018. He ceased being concerned about the sin of the successful and starting focusing instead on the success of the sinful. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. ", Asaph had fallen into the trap of loving the world and the things that are in the world. My God, my God; why have You forsaken me? Like David in Psalm 22 He opens it with a truth: Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But then he begins to tell his own personal testimony in :2, But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling. He says God is good; I know that but I came close to stumbling (in the Bible stumbling means to be lost; to give up the faith. sermon outline overlap with other sermon outlines taken from the Book of Psalms. So they say: Dont be on the wrong side of history.. The NIV and the NRSV translate this verse in the past tense and read it with the preceding verse. 1. AOL News (1-29-04); see also BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3437455.stm). 1, 28) form an inclusio and frame within which the painful experience of the poet is unfolded. Surely You place them on slippery ground; You cast them down to ruin. Wicked emphasizes the guilt of those who are actively choosing that which is offensive to God. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning" ( Psalms 73:13-14 ). If we are to defeat envy, we need to change our focus. Dont give up your faith. 8. Lying Because He kept six crematories working night and day, on Sunday and feast days? He became depressed. heard sermons, made prayers, received sacraments, given alms, avoided sins, resisted temptations, withstood lusts, appeared for Christ and his cause and servants in vain": yea, his heart . He didn't pretend everything was okay. Asaph, the author, is the choir leader, whose occupation placed him in constant contact with the people of Israel, and with the sanctuary of God, the temple. I like Asaph already. Sermon. That spoke to a need in my life, or a question on my heart. And I am grateful that God speaks to us through His word! I would urge you to follow his example, tracing the results your words and actions have on your family, friends, lost acquaintances, and church. I want answers, God." The prayers in the Psalms use words of waiting, watching, listening, tasting and seeing, meditating, and resting. Gluttony But the thing is, the Christian has the ultimate perspective on history. Under these circumstances, Psalm 73 helps believers to be honest with God. The speaker of Psalm 73 admits that he was envious. For example, my father recited the beautiful words of verses 24-25 of this psalm to my mother on August 27, 1945, just before she died. The Thesis: God is Good (vs. 1) Psalm 73 is written as Asaph looks back at his time of struggle and doubt. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threate Unload that acid. Baptist, So there I am. Psalm 25:8 Bubbles On The Border. Asaph confessed his self-pitying, self-centered bent. Copyright 2003-2023 | Outreach, Inc., All rights reserved. This switch marks a major turning point in the poem. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Take a look at v. 1: "God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart." Our challenge today is to believe that. 3. 13-14), the poet first embarks on an extensive and vivid description of the actions and words of the wicked in verses 4-12.18. As the truck crawled through that downtown region, with crowds looking on, the whale exploded. A good illustration can paint a picture in the imagination to help clarify the truth of a passage. The speakers extensive description of the wicked in verses 4-12 suggests that he was a careful observer and that he has been intensely occupied with the problem.19 His detailed description consists of two parts, verses 4-6 and 7-11. WHERE YOU STAND DETERMINES WHAT YOU SEE!. He preached in the same church as C. H. Spurgeon over one hundred years earlier. The smell was almost unbearable. 15 Outstanding Quotes To Recharge Your Preaching. This is especially true of Psalm 73. Cars, people, and local shops were splattered with whale entrails. Amen, and Amen ( Ps. Lloyd Stilley is pastor of First Baptist Church, Gulf Shores, Alabama. Read Online Responsorial Psalms For Funeral Liturgy Pdf For Free A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don't Plan to Die Common Worship: Pastoral Services The 1928 Book of Common Prayer Funeral Hymns Holy Bible Common Worship: Times and Seasons President's EditionContinuing Bonds How God guides The Moon by Night Elegy in a country church yard, on the evening of a funeral. CONCLUSION: So when Asaph got this revelation from God, he said Oh, Ive been so foolish. He said in :22, I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You, God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. Your sermons are simple but complex with a very good end lesson. We know where history is going. ", Envy is the tendency to compare yourself with someone else in a way that leaves you feeling deprived. You examples are superb. "It was oppressive to me," he said. God can handle our hardest questions and still love us. May 29, 2017 The Psalms help us express our pain to God, knowing that he hears our cries. Psalms 73:25-26. 6. v2 But (this is what happened) to me. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. 3 Tests Of Plagiarism: Do Your Sermons Pass Them. But it WILL change suddenly and even more dramatically, the moment they enter eternity. Brief outline from a message given at a nursing home, but suitable for any audience. However, the experience of the psalmist proved the opposite. 13-14) into exuberant trust also underscores the need for careful liturgical planning. Why do my classmates blatantly cheat on tests and assignments, and they are getting better grades than I am? SO WHY SERVE GOD? But in the end, God allows Asaph to regain a proper perspective. This psalm is a brutally honest confessional, from the heart of Asaph to the God he felt had given him a rip off. Is it really worth it to serve God? Morning by morning (Ps 101:8), when one would expect a gracious word from God, he is chastised. Psalm 73:28, Tags: Second, the psalmists solidarity with the community did not solve his perplexing problem. a. They have no trouble; they succeed at everything they do; they are so well off they are bulging with fatness; and are at ease and have increased in wealth. He lost his son on the mission field, and he was asking, Is God insane for asking His people to make sacrifices like that? Gods NOT insane; but these kinds of questions are real, and difficult.). What does he mean by this? If he had publicly told of his envious musings, he would have betrayed a generation of Gods children. Here is where Asaph's perspective is expanded. In every fiber I rebelled. That rich man lived in luxury, and wouldnt even give the crumbs from his table to poor Lazarus; and there was that poor man, covered with sores, starving. (616) 526-6088 worship@calvin.edu, On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary, See our related website, Zeteo Preaching and Worship. If it is, then just eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die. If this life is all there is, then it may not be worth it to serve God, because there are people who sin, and cheat, and steal, and seem to get away with it while people who obey God sometimes suffer. In the midst of suffering believers often feel cheated and begin to question and doubt God's goodness. Psalm 73-Smith, Terry L. "A Crisis in Faith: An Exegesis of Psalm 73," Restoration Quarterly 17.3 (1974) 162 . He tells it all in v. 13: Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing? But then he begins to tell his own personal testimony in :2, "But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling.". Hugh Hefner may well have been one of the most evil men in the world in the last generation. He opens it with a truth: "Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.". He wrestles with the tension of holding onto God's goodness and sovereignty while dealing the tragedies he was experiencing. 1. You guide me with Your counsel,and afterward You will take me into glory. Then I perceived their end. There are a couple of things here that Asaph says changed his perspective on what he saw happening around him: A. Sometimes things change very quickly, even here on earth, dont they? In light of the prosperity of the wicked, the poet concludes that his attempt to lead a moral life has been absolutely in vain: Surely, in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence. In either case, questioning and doubts are not virtues, as some have suggested.60 Ultimately, the truth is that continuous questioning and doubt destroys human relationships. ", Building Your Life On The Rock (Matthew 7:24-27 sermon), "This Is My Story: The Woman At The Well" (John 4:1-42 sermon), "The Greatest Verse in the Bible?" I cannot go where He is not. Sermon: When You Get a Raw Deal - Psalm 73. Scripture: Psalm 73. In the sanctuary God was his focus, not his problems. (Nik Ripken, the author of the video were going to watch the next several Wednesday nights, was like that. History is not going to end with secular humanism on the throne. It is this asseveration of divine justice that is severely tested in verses 2-27 and marvelously reaffirmed in verse 28, which, as we have noted above, forms an inclusio with verse 1. Why pray, when I pray these same prayer requests day after day, but it doesnt seem like they are being answered? They are arrogant and wicked, he said. Glorification also refers to our elevation to an exalted state in eternity. The basis for the speakers short admission is the realization of Gods presence, the third reorientation, which is introduced by weani. In the end, it is these nailed hands that will receive us into glory, according to his promise: Oh the happiness of the pure in heart; they will see God (Mt 5:8). He was used more by Satan than perhaps anyone else in his lifetime. When they came to the elephants, the zoo keeper wanted them to have more than a verbal description, so he allowed them each to feel the elephant. Why We Need the Psalms of Lament Dane C. Ortlund. I don't know how it started. Asaph realized that if he went public with his inner struggles, letting his cynicism and anger out in words, he would become a tool of Satan's for the ruin of God's people. it seemed to me a wearisome task. Its the same thing with our daily Bible reading. 15-16; 17-20; 21-22; 23-26; and 27-28. In fact, their existence is as insubstantial as a dreamhere today, gone tomorrow (cf. Your community. This little song is worth several sermons so don't feel bad if we emphasize some parts tonight and not others. Who did something unfair to you at work? As men despise their dreams when they awake from them, so, when God "stirs up himself and awakes to judgment" ( Psalms 35:23 ), he will despise such mere semblances of humanity ( Psalms 39:6) as the wicked are. Youll only regret it if you do. Then he asked in 13:24 Why do You hide Your face and consider me Your enemy? He gives the soul (1) security; (2) happiness; (3) support in the hour of death. Based on this certainty the psalmist then proclaims that even though his health should fail, God is his Rock46 and portion.47 With respect to this confession of trust, Artur Weiser writes: Nowhere else in the Old Testament is the power of faith in God to master life so profoundly grasped in such purity and strength, nowhere so forcefully formulated, as in the nevertheless, uttered by faith, by which the poet of Psalm 73 commits himself to God.48. 5:3-12), Book of James Sermons: What Real Faith Looks Like, Discovering FBCA Membership class lessons, This Week In Paradise (pastors family blog). It is going to end differently. The answer is that these verses serve as a rhetorical foil for the passionate protest that follows in verses 13-14. Envy And then it happened. And it shows us that we can do that with God too; these Psalms give us permission to bring our honest hurts and feelings to God, and say like these Psalmists: ( Psalm 73:1-3) The contradiction between the goodness of God and the prosperity of the wicked. (ESV). Anybody here know what I'm talking about? As Brueggemann rightly notes, this summary is not a condemnation of the wicked. But the NRSV translation of this clause shows that the clause could also mean that the psalmist is restored to his honor. The connection with Psalm 24:4 suggests that functionally verse 1 is not a proverbial statement,16 nor exactly a brief reiteration of the torah piety of Psalm 1,17 but, instead, an asseveration of Gods justice that is formally similar to Psalms 25:8 and 92:15 (cf. Psalm 73:28. Asaph had been checking out the people playing for the other team. I don't go to the clubs, I maintain all this discipline and for what? It literally means peace with God such that your life is fulfilled, tranquil, and complete. In Job 29-31, this broken man struggles with the raw deal he received. It doesnt seem to pay? There may be times when it seems to be going that way and it looks like that a lot in America today but the Bible says it will not end there. This slippery slope leads to utter ruin. Summary: To the ancient writers the word glory meant praise, splendor, brightness, majesty, honor and dignity. Elmer A. Martens. Psalm 73 moves from radical doubt to a robust reaffirmation of faith. How the Psalms Speak to All of Our Emotions Dane C. Ortlund. How they are destroyed in a moment! For example, Psalm 73 shares the prominence of the wicked with Psalm 1.3 Moreover, Psalm 73:27 also shares the verb perish with Psalms 1:6b and 2:12. Jobs questioning and doubt is a case in point. The author of Psalm 73, Asaph, was almost like Elie Wiesel. Why do I cry by day and You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest? Because my wife is out of town visiting her elderly parents, our dog, who is lovesick for her, spends his entire day and night in our bedroom, in some doggie blankets, placed on the Psalm 73 begins with a unique affirmation of faith in verse 1 that functions as its basic premise, which is tested in verses 2-27 and marvelously reaffirmed in verse 28: Surely God is good to Israel,15 to those who are pure in heart. They wear a power-hungry, cutthroat, cynical attitude like a coat. Whom have I in heaven but You? 1:18-24 sermon), "Following Jesus" (Matthew 4:18-22 sermon), "How To Seek The Lord" (Isaiah 55:6-7 sermon), "The Purpose of God's Blessings" (Psalm 67 sermon), "The Importance of Forgiving Others" (Matthew 6:14-15 sermon), Teacher's Overview of Lifeway's "Explore the Bible" lesson: John 11:32-46, "I AM The Resurrection", "The Disciple's Character" series (Beatitudes Mt. And earth has nothing I desire besides You. So dont turn away from God in your questions and times of difficulty, turn TO Him. Hah." An important step in this process is the recognition of the psalmists strident critique of the economic underpinnings of society in verses 4-11. How do you hold to the conviction that God is good when life stinks? 5 stars; 4 stars or more; 3 stars or more; Any Rating . . 3 For I was envious of the . Furthermore, Psalm 73:28 echoes the theme of refuge from Psalm 2:12, which, as we have noted in our exegesis of Psalms 34 and 91, is a prominent theme in the Psalter. In addition to the important connections between Psalm 73 and Psalms 1 and 2, Psalm 73 also shares important themes with Psalm 34. Bring your troubles, bring your questions, bring your doubts to God. Once again he is able to see life from the perspective of eternity and his confidence and contentment in God are restored. 18-20). Envy blinded his vision. 15-16), After this passionate protest the speaker switches audience and addresses God for the first time. We're sorry, an error occurred. Therefore, although the speaker does not deny wisdoms conduct and consequence principle, ultimately he invokes divine agency in the process of just retribution. The challenge for the liturgist and preacher is to incorporate a critical reassessment of our culture in a pastorally sensitive manner. He's on the edge of throwing in the towel. In fact, he was a worship leader. According to Isaiah 48:22, there is no peace for the wicked.
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