Daily devotion – Psalm 73 part 1
Psalm 73 is one of the greatest psalms in my opinion in the Bible. One Bible commentator wrote, “In the commencement pf our spiritual life, our hardest task is to bear with our neighbours, in its progress, with ourselves and in the end, with God.
Asaph, the author of this Psalm, commences writing about his personal problems with God.
Psa 73:1 [[A Psalm of Asaph.]] Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
Asaph was not an atheist neither was he an agnostic and he knew that the God he worshipped was good.
But it was these foundational beliefs he first mentions that created the problem for him. He wondered why unbelievers don’t face problems that believers do. If God had made a covenant with His people Israel Asaph wanted to know why His people were suffering and yet the godless were seemingly prospering!
Psa 73:2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
Psa 73:3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
In. Verse 2 Asaph explains that the more he measured his situation with the ungodly, the more he began to slip from his firm foundation in the Lord.
We need to know that there is a chasm between doubt and unbelief . Doubt comes from a struggling mind, while unbelief comes from a stubborn will that refuses to surrender to God.
Psa 73:7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
The unbelieving person WILL NOT believe, while the doubting person struggles to believe he cannot.
In verse 4 -14 From Asaph’s perspective he thought the ungodly had it made. Life was easy for them, so it appeared. They were healthy, had no struggles with either life or death and they were proud of their wealth.
But Asaph came to a wrong conclusion in thinking this way. He was thinking he had wasted his time and energy maintaining a godly lifestyle – Psa 73:13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my
hands in innocency.
But if Asaph had ever read the book of Job he would have learnt we do not serve God because of what we get out of it but because God is worthy of our worship and service regardless of what He allows to come to our lives!
Satan and much of modern Western Church has a commercial view of the life of faith. People are sadly encouraged for what they might get out of God.
Asaph was almost sucked into this false Philosophy.
Today as you went to worship the Lord, did you do so because of wanting God to fix something in your life that was broken, or to have God reward you in some way for being in Church?
Or did you long to be in fellowship because you are aware of the wonder of God, His holiness, His majesty and His worthiness. We are to be thankful we are able to gather to worship Him!
Psa 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psalm 73 warns us beautifully of the danger of being drawn into foolish thinking.
Each time I stand in worship of God in Church I am awestruck with being able to attend Church and be there in the first place – because I know I do not deserve to be there nor to be in God’s presence with God’s people.
Psa 84:10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Tomorrow we will finish off Asaph’s thoughts as he comes to the realisation of the truth of what he has been talking about. Its a complete turn around!