(I’ve just written over a page and realise that you’ll not be able to follow me if you have not carefully and reflectively read this Psalm before reading my thoughts. I take over an hour to write and read the Psalm before I take the time to try to write my reactions. You’ll be lost if you don’t have the context of the Psalm itself. It is better than anything I’ll write.)
Some preliminary thoughts and observations which influence my reading of the Psalms and today this Psalm in specific.
Firstly about myself: at the best of times I am psychologically fragile and I have suffered from several mental health problems for as long as I can remember. Reading the Psalms this time around is a bit like picking a scab or at least running your finger over an old scar. I am thinking about revisiting the Psalms again after this initial time through and investigating what Jesus is saying to those with mental health problems. I am proposing to myself to go through 2024 doing a chapter every two days with rest days built in for further prayer and meditation. (Please click the link to have a look at what I’m proposing)
Secondly, we have again today a different writer, Aspah (I consider the author to be God). We have had many Psalms of David and then yesterday it was a Psalm of Solomon which was very different in style, and again today the style changes. I have noticed I am beginning to hear the voice of each man writing. I expect I will find the flavour and rhythm of each Psalm to have a lot to do with the writer, his position in life, his mental make-up and the current national / international circumstances surrounding the writer.
I am heartened each time I realise that at the core, knowing God has always been the same struggle. Everybody will struggle and everyone who falls in love with God will keep coming back to how great He is.
Lastly, before I begin with Psalm 73, I want to ask a question. What was it like for Jesus to learn?
“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”
Hebrews 5:8
Here are some presuppositions I have come to through the years:
Jesus lived on earth like humans were made to be.
Jesus lived His earthly life from birth to death in the power of the Holy Spirit and was dependent on a relationship with God the Father as a 100% human and not as a divine being.
Jesus had to learn; He was not born omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent. Those attributes were not present in the earthly life of Jesus.
Jesus shows us what we can do as humans when we are set free from sin and living dependent on God (Father, Holy Spirit) in Christ.
Jesus shows us that learning, struggling, being tempted, having enemies, having deep emotions and being tired, misunderstood and suffering are not sin.
I absolutely love this 73rd Psalm and think it might be my favourite so far. Mostly because of the real honesty of self examination, where Aspah takes us through his own personal problems of feeling insecure and why he feels so insecure. Asaph does not end up feeling any insecurity at all by the end of the Psalm. Asaph ends up in a totally different state of mind by the end of the chapter. So where does Asaph’s major turnaround come in the Psalm and what changes most about him?
MAIN POINT: Answers to life's hardest questions come when we bring our concerns into the presence of God and allow Him to show us our heart.
I see this from two parallel perspectives while reflecting on this Psalm. Jesus taught us this in His teaching, Jesus himself learned this in his life. Would I put all of Asaph’s words into Jesus' mouth? No. I would not. But I do think Jesus could often see before Him the path that the flesh, the world and satan offered and the path God called Him to walk, and each time He had to choose in faith. Jesus might not have, as Aspah did, looked back and seen bitterness in his own heart but I’m sure he could see the temptation to go down that path as with all the other temptations Aspah brings before us in Psalm 73. We see someone trying to make sense of their faith and discovering how great God is to them.
I’m going to just highlight a few verses that either drive me to the Father as Jesus taught me to do or highlight a few verses where I see the greatness of my Saviour Jesus being brought before my eyes in the Psalm.
I love that Aspah shows us the transforming power of the presence of God.
“Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.”
Psalm 73:17 NLT
I’m not going to go into the big questions plaguing Asaph. You have read them for yourself. But these questions drove him crazy. And the world around him was not giving him the answers that he sought. So what does Aspah do? He goes to God. He enters the presence of God with his concerns. And there he finds out he himself was on the wrong path. He was not wrong for having the questions. He was wrong for believing the lie that the wicked were getting away with something. They didn’t have God. They weren’t coming into His presence open and honest, so they had a terrible destiny before them. How could Aspah have been envious of a godless present and a godless future? And he realises his mistake, the very thing that was making him slip up, and Asaph says the following:
“I was so foolish and ignorant--I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand.”
Psalm 73:22-23 NLT
I could just shout, “amen and wow, amen” to these verses. Asaph, that’s my story. I’m not alone. You understand me. And yes indeed it is about God holding my hand.
The flood of examples and verses from Jesus and His teaching are just overwhelming. I honestly don’t know where to begin.
“Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,
for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand.”
John 10:28-29 NLT
Learning to trust the truth about God is not all about sin. To fail to learn to trust God is definitely sin. But to struggle and need to learn to trust God is normal, natural, there by design and okay. Don’t be upset by having to learn. Even Jesus had to learn and needing to learn is not sin. But since we are sinners, we will also have to deal with that sin as we learn. I know that is a complex thought. But simply put, I am a weak man but I have a strong God. When I feel insecure I go to Him. When I see injustice I go to Him. When I think God isn’t there and isn’t doing anything I go to Him. And I will come away with new insights as to my own heart and as to what God is doing.
I love this honesty in the Bible:
“I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain.”
Psalm 73:14 NLT
Asaph knew God was good. v.1 But Asaph felt insecure. vv.2-3 He even knew it was wrong to envy the wicked. And he didn’t like that but he also didn’t like what he thought he saw. He thought he saw God’s injustice.
“Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?”
Psalm 73:13 NLT
Asaph was falling prey to the same lie Eve believed in the garden. God is not fair. You can’t trust God. God is holding back good things from you. If you do what God requires of you then you will miss out. You can hear it in vv.11-12
11 “What does God know?” they ask.“Does the Most High even know what’s happening?”
12 Look at these wicked people— enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.
Psalm 73:11-12 NLT
And I don’t really know anything about this Asaph yet but I can already see he is a real man of God and a real leader, because even in his own insecurity and pain he is concerned about the people.
10 And so the people are dismayed and confused,
drinking in all their words.
15 If I had really spoken this way to others,
I would have been a traitor to your people.
Psalm 73:10, 15 NLT
I really see the heart of the Shepherd here and it makes me think of how upset Jesus is with the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-39)
Psalm 73:16-19 Asaph learns that it isn’t ultimately him that is on the slippery path but the wicked. And if he envies them then he will be on that slippery path to destruction. But in God’s presence he is given security that God can hold him, and so can conclude:
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart;
He is mine forever.
Conclusion:
The answer to life's hardest questions are found in the presence of God. He shows us our heart so we can trust Him and His heart.
28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God!
I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,
and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.
Let me tell you how God has saved me, it is one of the most wonderful things I know God can do.
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