Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 73

It’s easy to be tempted to question God as we look at the world around us. So many ungodly people prosper. Many of the rich and elite live easy lives of prosperity, while the poor of the world suffer. If you feel that way today, then psalm 73 is for you.

Psalm 73:2-5
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.  For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.  They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Psalm 73:13-14
All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.  For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.

Maybe you feel this way. You’ve set God’s Word up as your standard for living. Oh, you know you are not perfect and sinless, but you live with God and have His law ever in your mind. What do you do now as you see the ungodly prosper?

Psalm 73:16-17
But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,  until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

The answer is simple; turn to God in prayer and open His Word.

Psalm 73:18-20
Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.  How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!  Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

But when God? When will the wicked get their just due? The Bible reminds us that God is a patient god. 2 Peter 3:9 explains that, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

The truth is that all of us fall short of the obedient life we are called to and as Christians we need to spend more time focusing on growing our own holiness than on worrying about how God treats others. Then we can be the light to the world we are called to be.

Psalm 73:23-26
Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

God is with us. He is holding our right hand and guiding us with counsel. We must stop falling into the place where we do nothing but judge the unsaved.

Our suffering is for the Glory of God.

1 Peter 4:16
Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

We must stop our incessant whining about others and look inward at our own hearts.

1 Peter 4:17-18
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

The answer to the psalmist’s concerns?

1 Peter 4:19
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

God has all this in His hands. No one, and I mean no one, will escape His judgment. But to those who put their faith in Jesus, that judgment, that penalty, was put on Him. Entrust your soul to Him.

Psalm 73:27-28
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.  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.

It is good to be near God. Make Him your refuge and then, rather than gripe about the injustices of the world, tell the world of His good works.